BY: John Davies, Cold Climate Housing Research Center
Energy Focus: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner June 19, 2008, Section A3
From time to time, we get calls at the research center asking if it makes sense to shut down one’s oil-fired boiler during the summer, and provide hot water using an electric hot water heater instead. Of course, the answer is “It depends.” A straightforward calculation comparing the cost to heat water using electricity versus oil shows that it is more expensive to use electricity on a cost-per-BTU basis. A BTU (British Thermal Unit) is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of water one degree Fahrenheit. Continue reading