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Gerald
12-15-2010, 09:02 AM
I will be moving to the villages and having a new home built. How do you handle the cold weather with the electric heat that I believe is installed by the builder? Can we install a gas heater or fireplace supplied by a gas tank outside?

eremite06
12-15-2010, 09:16 AM
You can't have a tank outside. I have natural gas with a furnace, also an electric fireplace.

mulligan
12-15-2010, 09:47 AM
You can have a tank, but it must be of the larger type, buried in the front yard.

gongoozler
12-15-2010, 09:58 AM
New areas do not have gas and TV/TECO have broken off their contract for extending the gas pipeline. I've been told by an engineer that electricity in Florida is actually cheaper than gas per unit of heat . . . I haven't been able to verify that fact.


:welcome:

Ohiogirl
12-15-2010, 10:29 AM
I have had both electric and gas heat at various places I've lived. Usually have been told that electric heat pumps are "more efficient" but that is not the same as less expensive. It's hard to get the straight version, but at current prices, I believe the cost of gas heat is still less than the cost of electric heat pumps.

I have gas heat here in The Villages - you can't get it in new construction but if it's really important to you there would be many resales that are less than 5 years old to choose from. I am not sure when they stopped using gas in new construction here in TV - I think around 2007?

I agree that gas heat feels warmer than electric, but really, you are not normally using your heat here that much, except maybe at night. When it's really cold here it is usually sunny and you would be surprised how much your house can warm up by just opening the blinds during the day. Everyone's different though, on what temperature they find comfortable/tolerable.

What I'm trying to say is that even though I prefer gas heat and gas for cooking, I wouldn't make my decision to buy here on that. You will be using your a/c far more than you will be using your furnace and for weeks in spring and fall, not using either, unless you have special health concerns.

spk7951
12-15-2010, 10:36 AM
We bought an electric fireplace for the living room last year. It has a adjustments for heat level and blower speed. The manual says it is best used in an area of less than 400 sq ft in size. During the course of the evening it will heat the living room up 2 maybe 3 degrees higher. The unit did require a separate dedicated wall outlet. When we had SECO do an energy audit in October they told us it cost $0.17 per hour to run the fireplace and he suggested running it while we were in the living room to cut down of the house heat on cold nights.

Gerald
12-16-2010, 09:33 AM
Thank you to all for your answers.

Rob Stevens
12-21-2010, 10:28 PM
Your electric heat pump can pull heat out of the air until the outside temperature gets down to 34 or so then the auxilliary electric heat strips come on. Its like heating your house with a very large toaster. Your heat pump will be very economical. Remember that whether you heat with gas or a heat pump your house will be at the temperature you set. 70 is 70. What IS different is the temperature of the air coming out of the vent.