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Natural Gas vs. Electricity vs. Geothermal – Heating & Cooling

Natural Gas vs. Electricity vs. Geothermal – Heating & Cooling

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Executive Summary
When deciding upon a heating and cooling source for a new home, people often ask, “what is the best bang for my buck”? The cost of energy continuously increases as the years go bye due to inflation and the cost of non-renewable resources. Since more than half of additional costs in owning a home comes from heating and cooling, people have begun to look into alternative methods. As a typical consumer there are a few different avenues to choose from in this decision that fit within their needs.
With technologies advancing and efficiency increasing constantly, making a decision between natural gas, grid-based electricity, or geothermal heating and cooling may be difficult. Many vendors claim that their products run on minimal energy and that long-term monetary savings with the reduction of the energy bills will justify initial costs. How does one choose between these three options? The variables that affect this decision depend greatly on location. Natural gas is becoming abundantly available everywhere in urban communities of all major cities and towns. However, for rural communities this resource may not be an option. Grid-based electricity can be found just about everywhere in the United States. Other than the increase in prices every year, many have concerns with how the electricity is being produced. Concerns such as; the system is deteriorating, inherently unstable, and the carbon footprint from fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and petroleum), which take up 68% of electricity generation. Power production concerns bring forth another option for the homeowner, geothermal heating and cooling. Although geothermal technology is a relatively