Supply Chain Conundrum

SUPPLY CHAIN CONUNDRUM - By PSG Energy Team

Due to supply chain problems, a church in Goldsboro is facing a long lead time for a replacement boiler. They were considering installing electric heat to support their heating needs, instead of replacing the boiler. The site is served by a local electric utility co-op with an electric rate of nearly 11 cents/kwh, and the customer wants to know how the switch will affect their energy costs. The graph here shows the customer's energy consumption profile, and the winter spike in gas used for boiler heating. By evaluating the cost of these BTUs if generated from electric strip heat, it is estimated that switching from their existing boiler to electric heat would increase the customer's utility cost by $9,000 per year.

Though electrification may be the "green" option, the costs under current rate structures support this building moving forward with the boiler replacement so that they can keep their utility costs down. Sometimes it can pay off to wait out these extended lead times for the correct HVAC solution.