The worksheet assumes that youâll need to replace about 80 percent of your pre-retirement income. Social Security retirement benefits should replace about 40 percent of an average wage earnerâs income after retiring. This leaves approximately 40 percent to be replaced by retirement savings. Keep in mind, this is an estimate and you may need more or less depending on your individual circumstances.
Equipment Costs. The average price for a new gas furnace ranges from around $2,300 to $3,000 depending on manufacturer according to a November 2012 article by Consumer Reports. Qualitysmith.com estimates the cost of a new electric furnace at $1,000 to $1,500 as of December 2012.lectric space heaters all have AFUE ratings of 100 percent. Assuming an electric heater with 100 percent efficiency, homeowners should expect to pay roughly $34.32 per million BTUs of heat. Natural gas is generally sold in therms, where one therm is equal to 100,000 BTUs.
I did the measurements for the space heaters, but not the write-up. In reverse question order, you are correct that for an electric heater, all of the input energy gets converted to heat. One can talk about and compare thermal mass and heat distribution, but not efficiency. The latter is 100% (for electric heaters). Electric heating is more expensive than, say, natural gas heating, even with the unavoidable inefficiencies of gas heaters.