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Transcripción del abstract original del autor: Natural gas heating systems are widely used for residential space heating where the fuel is available and the climate requires such equipment. Several technology improvements were achieved over the years with respect to energy efficiency, noise reduction, design, or electronic control. In all cases, new natural gas systems still require a secondary source of energy (electricity) to operate the controls and the output energy distribution devices, either in the form of warm air or hot water. At the same time, severe climate conditions, such as the January 1998 ice storm in North East America or unreliable distribution network, could easily disrupt electricity distribution and thus the operation of the heating system. An autonomous system connected solely to the natural gas network is therefore an interesting option for end users. The Natural Gas Technologies Centre (NGTC), on behalf of the Gaz Métropolitain Limited Partnership (GMLP), developed, built, and tested several new autonomous concepts. Each heating system use natural gas as the fuel and the source of electricity is either produced from natural gas or obtained from a stored form (battery). The new autonomous heating systems were based on the following concepts: ; a natural gas powered generator, ; a battery coupled with electronic control devices or ; new concepts of cogeneration producing heat and electricity simultaneously (two concepts were developed).