Switching from Propane to Solar Electricty

[hefy_jefy]

Hi everyone, having read a few posts I am hoping for some practical answers to few questions, unlike the baloney spouted by the various vested interest companies with which we are forced to deal.

The house is about 20 years old, 1500sqft located on California Central coast, we need heating about 2 months each year and never need A/C.  The main form of energy is Propane (no mains gas).

Both the Warm Air Furnace and Water heater (propane) need replacing.  We would like to go for solar, the solar deal here seems pretty good but our electrical usage doesn't justify it right now.

So the plan is to move to electricity both for water heating and the warm air furnace.  We are doing this to mostly to maintain the value of the property, (my wife and I manage quite well with the occasional fan-heater and a wood fire)

It seems that replacing the Propane furnace with a direct electrical unit is a non-starter, so we are looking at a heat-pump solution, I understand the theory here but would like some thoughts on how much power such a unit might consume in a year?

The water heater could also be electric of course - any thoughts on how much power that might use in a typical year?

Almost any solution is going to cost less than Propane, but I need to get some idea of how much solar power would be needed...

Baloney example: When my wife asked a local solar company these questions they responded that solar energy didn't make propane!!!

Geoff     

[BuildingFrugalHabits]

From a strict financial point of view, it's difficult to beat fossil fuels on $ per BTU basis so I would be surprised if electricity came out cheaper than propane.  The reason is that a fraction of the energy released by burning fuel is converted into electricity.  There are of course other ecological reasons to switch to electricity especially if you can use a non-carbon emitting source. 

If I lived in your climate and was trying to go zero net energy, I'd go with PV panels or purchase renewable energy from your utility if they offer that option.  Then go with a heat pump for your furnace (far more efficient in moderate climates then electrical resistance heat).  For hot water, check into solar thermal which can have a relatively quick pay-back.  Weight that against going with extra PV panels to power an electric HW heater.  I've got my electrical needs covered with PV but it would be cost prohibitive to displace our natural gas fired furnace with electric/renewable at this point but my climate requires a lot more seasonal heating days.

Good luck and let us know which direction you end up going.