Does electric heating have an environmental impact?
• By changing your oil heating system for an electrical system, you could economize CO2 by up to 5042 kg annually; • By changing your natural gas heating system for an electrical system, you could save 3480 kg of CO2 annually.
Baseboards and radiators are everywhere in our homes.
However, there are other ways to use electricity: heat pumps, for example, are used to extract calories from the air, water or soil (through geothermal). These devices are more energy efficient and therefore increase the value of electrical energy. We can classify electric heating systems into three categories:
100% électrical
Geothermal
electricity + earth calories
Air Pump
electricity + air calories
Baseboards
Horizontal sensors
Thermopump air/air
Radiant flooring
Vertical sensors
Thermopump air/water
Hydronic boilers
Open sensors
Multi-spit
Air furnaces
Remember that 96% of electricity in Quebec is produced by hydroelectric dams (Source : Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife of Quebec and Statistics Canada, 2009).
This technique, which has low greenhouse gas emissions compared to fossil fuels, helps ensure price per kWh among the lowest in Canada. But it is also controversial because of significant impacts on the landscape and biodiversity. Nevertheless, electricity remains a reliable and markedly renewable energy source. In Quebec, electric heating is often regarded, and rightly so, as being more environmentally friendly than oil heating.(Source : ecohabitation.com)
