Your company is building a new office space of 40,000 square feet. you are to decide if they should heat with electricity or natural gas. the hvac engineer estimates that it will require approximately 3,600,000,000 btu's to heat the building during the coldest month. electric hvac units will operate at 100% efficiency, that is 100% of the electricity will actually be converted to heat. new gas furnaces will operate at 95% efficiency, that is 95% of the gas will actually be converted to heat. the electric company charges $0.042 per kwh plus a 2% fuel recovery charge. the gas company charges $1.45 per therm plus a distribution charge of $3,000.

Question

Keaton Peck

Mathematics

24 January, 09:03

Your company is building a new office space of 40,000 square feet. you are to decide if they should heat with electricity or natural gas. the hvac engineer estimates that it will require approximately 3,600,000,000 btu's to heat the building during the coldest month. electric hvac units will operate at 100% efficiency, that is 100% of the electricity will actually be converted to heat. new gas furnaces will operate at 95% efficiency, that is 95% of the gas will actually be converted to heat. the electric company charges $0.042 per kwh plus a 2% fuel recovery charge. the gas company charges $1.45 per therm plus a distribution charge of $3,000.

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Answers (1)

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Judith Kent · Answer 1

Using the gas

C = (3,600,000,000 btu) (1 therm / 10,000 BTU) (1 / 0.95) ($ 1.45 / therm) + $ 3,000

C = $ 552,474

using the hvac unit

c = (3,600,000,000 btu) (1 kwh / 3412.14 btu) ($ 0.042 / kwh)

c = 44312.36

plus a 2% fuel recovery

C = 44312.36 (1.02) = $ 45199

so its much cheaper to use the electic hvac unit than using the gas furnace