this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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That's a misleading number. In most other cases where we are using electricity--motors, CPUs, lighting, etc--we consider the heat generated to be inefficiency. It might be more accurate to say that electric resistance heating is 100% inefficient.
If you're using resistance heating to heat your home, using electricity that's originally produced by natural gas, then you're using more natural gas compared to burning that gas for heat directly in a home furnace. Now, electric resistance heating can be a choice when it's fed by clean electrical sources otherwise. Even then, though, you would prefer a heat pump if possible.
And a heat pump powered by a natural gas power plant will bring more heat into the house for the same amount of gas, including losses in transmission. It will likely be more expensive to install and run, though.
But the heat is the goal.