New homes with Electric / Gas or all electric

[KEVIN & JOSIE]

Can any new Villagers in the new sections reflect on their gas and electric utilities as well as those with all electric. Is there any difference in costs between the two or do you prefer the gas tankless heaters compared to the electric heaters? Cooking experience on gas versus electric? Thank You

[Tom359]

We’re in Monarch Grove, have the tankless water heater and gas range. We did opt to convert the gas dryer hookup to electric. I’ve never had a gas dryer, and it made us a little nervous. We LOVE the water heater. When we have visitors, we can all shower and not run out of hot water! My wife didn’t think she would like the gas range...until she started cooking on it. I’ve always preferred gas, but our previous house was electric. She is now a complete convert to gas cooking...she loves it. Not sure about cost differences since we don’t have any comparison, this is our first house in TV.

[Toymeister]

I have two homes in TV, one all electric one with gas.

I have been trained my entire life gas is cheaper. For most Villagers it is not. The exception is if you have a gas heated pool.

Gas comes with the standard array of service fees which are too much to overcome the savings from using gas.

Of course you may have a preference to cook with gas, but to most it doesn't matter if you dry clothes or heat water with gas.

The actual measured cost to operate an electric water heater in TV for a couple is 13.00 to 16.00 a month based upon my years of electricity monitoring (Sense: Track energy use in real time to make your home more energy efficient. (http://www.sense.com) for more info). The water heating is by far your biggest electric consumer that could be performed by gas.

An electric heat pump is more efficient than a gas furnace in this climate.

[Toymeister]

Oh, I might as well cover this while I am here.

No, tanked electric water heaters DO NOT cost much to keep the water hot. The opposite is a myth that refuses to die.

How do I know? Over a eight weeks period on a vacant home here in TV I compared sequential weeks (1 week on, 1 week off) of a water heater on 24/7 vice a timed heater. I controlled the heater remotely with a smart switch.

Conventional wisdom would have the timed heater as much cheaper to operate as there would be no cost to keep the water hot in off hours. It was, averaging one dollar and 68 cents a Month at current SECO electricity rates. That does not meet my standard of significant.

Gas or electric water heater, your call but don't think that you are getting much more efficiency without a tank. Space savings but not efficiency or cost savings.

[vintageogauge]

The nice thing about having gas is if you prefer electric you can easily change over with an all electric home you cannot change over to gas without burying a propane tank which costs from what I was told near $5,000.00. As far as cooking everyone has a preference one or the other, we prefer gas and would never want another electric stovetop but the other side would never want gas again. Cost wise I doubt if there is much difference as the utilities are inexpensive here at least compared to where we came from so I wouldn't let cost come into the picture. One more thing, without a hot water tank you get extra closet space in your garage furnace room which really comes in handy.

[Viperguy]

Stuck with an electric cooktop? Get induction. Fast, cheap, and safe. The only alternative to gas for those that hate cooking on conventional electric. Love ours.

[bluedivergirl]

Stuck with an electric cooktop? Get induction. Fast, cheap, and safe. The only alternative to gas for those that hate cooking on conventional electric. Love ours.

Absolutely agree. I've always had natural gas or propane. Hated the range that came with this all-electric house. Did my research, chose induction. Heating nearly as fast as a good gas range. A real plus is that the induction heats the pan, not the surrounding air.

Installation ~ we slid out the original range, sold it on Craig's list, and slid the new unit in. Same cord.

You do have to have magnetic pans. Cheaper pans will work if they are magnetic, but I've had great results with All-Clad.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

I’m in new section , I don’t ever use the gas stove and I mean never , I would prefer all electric , reason being you still have a minimum charge every month for gas so if your out of the home for months you still pay it , it’s not a big deal but if , no big deal but for me it’s just tossing money out door

[Toymeister]

I’m in new section , I don’t ever use the gas stove and I mean never , I would prefer all electric , reason being you still have a minimum charge every month for gas so if your out of the home for months you still pay it , it’s not a big deal but if , no big deal but for me it’s just tossing money out door

Well if that is the case get an electric stovetop (just in case) or at the bare minimum keep the (now unusable) stovetop and run a 60 amp (minimum) 220 line to your tankless water heater, remove the gas one and replace with electric, finally call to disconnect the gas service and stop the bill.

You can run the numbers. It would be minium of 550.00 as a DIY project just for the water heater, wired by you with a cheap tankless heater.

[John_W]

I rented a house in Pensacola and I needed it for about 4 months while I was building a home. I didn't have a big choice on rentals. Found a home that was about 30 years old, a little brick rancher but it had a brand new garage, all new ceiling, dry wall, new water heater, new doors. I asked why was the garage all new. They said a neighborhood kid was cutting the grass and when he filled the lawn mower with gas, he sat the can down but didn't put the cap back on the can. The fumes from the can floated across the floor to the water heater pilot and it exploded taking out the garage and killing one person in the kitchen. From then I said, I never want gas.

[vintageogauge]

I rented a house in Pensacola and I needed it for about 4 months while I was building a home. I didn't have a big choice on rentals. Found a home that was about 30 years old, a little brick rancher but it had a brand new garage, all new ceiling, dry wall, new water heater, new doors. I asked why was the garage all new. They said a neighborhood kid was cutting the grass and when he filled the lawn mower with gas, he sat the can down but didn't put the cap back on the can. The fumes from the can floated across the floor to the water heater pilot and it exploded taking out the garage and killing one person in the kitchen. From then I said, I never want gas.

They don't have pilot's any more.

[C. C. Rider]

They don't have pilot's any more.

Even with electronic ignition, a gas water tank could cause gasoline fumes to ignite and explode. The only real difference is that a tank with a pilot light has the pilot light on all the time, while the tank with electronic ignition only has an open flame when the burners are heating the water.

[CFrance]

Absolutely agree. I've always had natural gas or propane. Hated the range that came with this all-electric house. Did my research, chose induction. Heating nearly as fast as a good gas range. A real plus is that the induction heats the pan, not the surrounding air.

Installation ~ we slid out the original range, sold it on Craig's list, and slid the new unit in. Same cord.

You do have to have magnetic pans. Cheaper pans will work if they are magnetic, but I've had great results with All-Clad.
You are making me drool. I had a wonderful Jennair stove in Michigan that was gas burners and two electric ovens. Man do I miss that stove. Currently we have a Whirlpool double oven stove, all electric. Came with the house and is only four years old. My cookware is mostly All Clad plus two copper pots. I understand that if a magnet adheres to your pots, they will work on induction.


We have no gas to the house. My pipe dream is to find an induction cooktop stove with two ovens. My other pipe dream is to convince my husband we need it.


I severely dislike electric burners.

[Boilerman]

Stuck with an electric cooktop? Get induction. Fast, cheap, and safe. The only alternative to gas for those that hate cooking on conventional electric. Love ours.

Agree 100%
They’re a bit pricey but we prefer our induction stove after 40 years of using gas.

[bluedivergirl]

You are making me drool. I had a wonderful Jennair stove in Michigan that was gas burners and two electric ovens. Man do I miss that stove. Currently we have a Whirlpool double oven stove, all electric. Came with the house and is only four years old. My cookware is mostly All Clad plus two copper pots. I understand that if a magnet adheres to your pots, they will work on induction.


We have no gas to the house. My pipe dream is to find an induction cooktop stove with two ovens. My other pipe dream is to convince my husband we need it.


I severely dislike electric burners.

I don't mean to torture you ~KitchenAid (https://www.kitchenaid.com/major-appliances/ranges/double-oven-ranges/p.30-inch-4-element-induction-double-oven-convection-range.kfid500ess.html)

My purchase was a close call between the KitchenAid and Samsung. Samsung won.

[M2inOR]

In Marsh Bend, we have gas oven/stove, on demand gas water heater, and gas dryer. Heatpump HVAC with gas backup heat.

I'm the cook in the family, and using gas stove for the first time. Took some getting used to. In our Oregon home I had to Miele induction cooktop, microwave/convection, and full size convection oven for last 5 years. Loved it!

I hope to replace gas stove with induction next year. Why? Gas harder to clean, and so much wasted heat. When I switched from conventional electric to induction, it was heaven, so I miss it. Induction will not work with aluminum pots/pans, so you do need to consider that. Conventional electric that glows red on the burners is something my son learned to never touch. ������

Love the heat pump.

Note well if you have gas stove: seems the newer home no longer bring in the 220/240v circuit if you want to change to electric or induction in the kitchen. Will need to add a circuit.