Breaking down Badger’s latest research on home heating
“$19,900 extra in operating costs over the 15-year life of the unit.”
If the government were to ban conventional home heating in Wisconsin (like the natural gas and propane used by more than 75% of the state), the price tag on the leading alternative would be enormous.
Director of Policy Pat McIlheran is making the rounds to share what a team of economists calculated in Badger Institute’s latest research.
Switching to heat pumps in a northern climate will prove much more expensive
At least 147 local governments nationwide have some kind of “decarbonization” ordinance or rule, as have six states. One state, New York, has banned outright any gas and oil hookups in new homes.
Gas isn’t banned anywhere in Wisconsin now, but when the Legislature in 2023 passed bills prohibiting such restrictions on homeowners’ freedom, Gov. Tony Evers vetoed them, claiming that if the state or cities couldn’t ban natural gas heat, it would “diminish our collective ability to help combat climate change.”
Hanson and Hawley, the authors of our latest report, model the cost of such a ban — effectively, a mandate to use heat pumps for home heating. Not only do they find $232 million in higher annual operating costs statewide, but also a significant reduction in new home value under a heat pump mandate.
