U.S. Natural Gas Supplies

[Servicetech571]

Don't forget about ONG charging a minimum $13/mo service fee. (twice that if a heavy user) At our last house with a NG 40 gl WH my wife just checked and our bill in the summer was always close to $38/mo. So the math does work for a Hybrid WH IMO.

ONG does lay the base meter charges on thick, but the gas itself is quite cheap. Once you pay the hefty monthly service charge, run as much on the cheap NG as possible. This is why the HP water heater doesn't make economic sense for those on ONG. Neither do dual fuel heating systems for that matter.

[stick47]

ONG does lay the base meter charges on thick, but the gas itself is quite cheap. Once you pay the hefty monthly service charge, run as much on the cheap NG as possible. This is why the HP water heater doesn't make economic sense for those on ONG. Neither do dual fuel heating systems for that matter.

I won't belabor the point too much but I'll disagree with you about the choice of NG over total electric. My bills in a house half the size of our current one were more when paying for NG and electric than they are here now with total electric.

[Servicetech571]

I won't belabor the point too much but I'll disagree with you about the choice of NG over total electric. My bills in a house half the size of our current one were more when paying for NG and electric than they are here now with total electric.

Your savings comes from ditching the $350/yr in fixed ONG meter charges, not from the heat pump water heater. Unless you are converting your house to total electric a heat pump water heater doesn't make economic sense.

[RadicalModerate]

I won't belabor the point too much but I'll disagree with you about the choice of NG over total electric. My bills in a house half the size of our current one were more when paying for NG and electric than they are here now with total electric.

The day that I would consider going totally electric would be the day after they put all of the supply lines underground.
(can you say "ice storm power outages"? . . . that can last for weeks?)

[ou48A]

The day that I would consider going totally electric would be the day after they put all of the supply lines underground.
(can you say "ice storm power outages"? . . . that can last for weeks?)

While not totally fool proof living in a large neighborhood with underground utility's helps a lot.
In my case I am on the same main line as a major OG&E maintenance facility....
In the 12 years in this home we have been without power for a grand total of 6 to 7 hours and most of that was due to a copper thief.

[ou48A]

ONG does lay the base meter charges on thick, but the gas itself is quite cheap. Once you pay the hefty monthly service charge, run as much on the cheap NG as possible. This is why the HP water heater doesn't make economic sense for those on ONG. Neither do dual fuel heating systems for that matter.

The high monthly ONG charge is one small reason why I switched to a 100 % electric Geothermal heat and air system....It also provides me with free hot water when the unit is running.
Geothermal is a great way to go in most new home construction in our area IMHO.

[Servicetech571]

The high monthly ONG charge is one small reason why I switched to a 100 % electric Geothermal heat and air system....It also provides me with free hot water when the unit is running.
Geothermal is a great way to go in most new home construction in our area IMHO.

Geothermal is EXCELLENT, just wish it wasn't so expensive!! Do you miss gas water heater/stove at all?
Ground loops are a large part of the Geothermal install cost, but are much cheaper at time of home construction.

[ou48A]

Geothermal is EXCELLENT, just wish it wasn't so expensive!! Do you miss gas water heater/stove at all?
Ground loops are a large part of the Geothermal install cost, but are much cheaper at time of home construction.

Personally I have never missed any of my NG appliances and I am someone who worked in the natural gas transmission business for about 15 years. The performance in extreme weather has been very good. Unlike many people I keep the thermostat wherever it feels comfortable and don't worry about my bill is being 10 dollars higher that month because of it.

The up front cost are high, although the tax breaks and rebate did help a lot.
I look at this as an investment that pays me back a dividend with a lower utility bill each month.
It will add just a tad extra to my homes value and perhaps make it an easier sell?

Much to many of my neighbor's amazement we had the Geothermal wells drilling in our front yard. Some thought we were drilling for oil. The pipe in the wells and ground, that is the loop, is guaranteed for 50 years. Even if our home is blown away in a tornado the ground loop / wells would make our lot more desirable to buy.

Another very big reason why I elected to go with Geo thermal is that it would act as a hedge against future NG price spikes that were 100% sure to come at some point with the way our Government has been interfering with the NG business.