Heat pumps, while not unheard of, are not common in the US. Most people especially those in older homes are using gas or electric furnaces which results in higher bills.
Hence my comment about inefficient heat. The real killer in terms of cost is electric resistance heaters. Luckily, those only make up 20-25% of homes in the USA.
That’s kind of besides the original point though. Most people only run heaters regularly in cold climates and heater cost is proportional to the temperature difference. If it’s an average of 20f outside it will only cost ~10% more to heat the home to 70 instead of 65 and that can be a pretty big difference in comfort for the occupants for a relatively small proportion of extra cost.
Heat pumps, while not unheard of, are not common in the US. Most people especially those in older homes are using gas or electric furnaces which results in higher bills.
Hence my comment about inefficient heat. The real killer in terms of cost is electric resistance heaters. Luckily, those only make up 20-25% of homes in the USA.
That’s kind of besides the original point though. Most people only run heaters regularly in cold climates and heater cost is proportional to the temperature difference. If it’s an average of 20f outside it will only cost ~10% more to heat the home to 70 instead of 65 and that can be a pretty big difference in comfort for the occupants for a relatively small proportion of extra cost.