Is Natural Gas available in new homes?

[amexsbow]

My wife and I are looking in TV, but we would like to have natural gas service for hot water and heater. Which new areas have natural gas service?
If no NG service is available in new areas, what is the cost for solar panels? Will the roof handle the load?

[Kenswing]

St Catherine for sure has natural gas. Not sure about the other new villages.

[kansasr]

Hawkins also appears to have gas service. Although not shown in the listing, if you look at the pictures of the kitchen, it's pretty easy to see if it is a gas range or not. If so, you'll also have the gas instant water heater.

[mikreb]

Gas water heaters are tankless, not instant or on demand. It takes 45-60 seconds for the hot water to reach the master bath shower. A lot of wasted water.

Edit: you do have endless hot water once it arrives.

[Kenswing]

Gas water heaters are tankless, not instant or on demand. It takes 45-60 seconds for the hot water to reach the master bath shower. A lot of wasted water.

Edit: you do have endless hot water once it arrives.

It doesn't take any longer for a tankless system to get hot water to a faucet than a tanked system does. If you have a tankless heater with a recirculation function you CAN have hot water on demand.

[mikreb]

It doesn't take any longer for a tankless system to get hot water to a faucet than a tanked system does. If you have a tankless heater with a recirculation function you CAN have hot water on demand.

It takes tankless heaters 15-30 seconds to bring water to temp. It then has to deliver the hot water. Tank water heaters simply have to deliver the already hot water. Units in the villages do not come with recirculation pumps.

[Kenswing]

It takes tankless heaters 15-30 seconds to bring water to temp. It then has to deliver the hot water. Tank water heaters simply have to deliver the already hot water. Units in the villages do not come with recirculation pumps.
That's not my experience at all and I've had a tankless system for over 15 years. The tankless water heater is basically a blast boiler. It heats water immediately then sends it through the system.

The home we're having built in The Villages does indeed have a recirculation pump along with a dedicated return line to circulate the hot water. Yes, we spec'd that and paid extra.

[vintageogauge]

My wife and I are looking in TV, but we would like to have natural gas service for hot water and heater. Which new areas have natural gas service?
If no NG service is available in new areas, what is the cost for solar panels? Will the roof handle the load?

The homes with natural gas do not use it to heat the home in the winter. It is only for hot water, cooking, clothes dryer, and outside grilling if desired. The backup heat is electric. Utilities are very fairly priced here, we have a 2,700 sq. ft. home and have never had a electric bill over $100.00, winter or summer. I don't know what solar panels cost but as far as the roof holding them there are plenty of pools heated with roof panels that I would assume are pretty heavy.

[vintageogauge]

Gas water heaters are tankless, not instant or on demand. It takes 45-60 seconds for the hot water to reach the master bath shower. A lot of wasted water.

Edit: you do have endless hot water once it arrives.

After you pay for that wasted water it is re-cycled at the treatment plant and you pay for it again when you put it on your lawn.

[Two Bills]

Due to my wifes cooking, I produce industrial amounts of natural gas.
Plumbing the supply into the system is the problem!

From what I have seen of the roof construction on the majority of houses in TV. none would be strong enough to support solar panels without major strengthening.

[Leadbone1]

The homes with natural gas do not use it to heat the home in the winter. It is only for hot water, cooking, clothes dryer, and outside grilling if desired. The backup heat is electric. Utilities are very fairly priced here, we have a 2,700 sq. ft. home and have never had a electric bill over $100.00, winter or summer. I don't know what solar panels cost but as far as the roof holding them there are plenty of pools heated with roof panels that I would assume are pretty heavy.

My home in Polo Ridge is heated with gas. Assuming you were talking about the newer homes? Solar panels a bad investment in my opinion with energy prices as low as they are here. The payback on that type of investment would probably take decades.

[jimkerr]

You don’t want solar panels. You’re just treading one bill for another. The roofs are strong enough to support them if you have the $$$ burning a hole in your pocket!

[MandoMan]

My wife and I are looking in TV, but we would like to have natural gas service for hot water and heater. Which new areas have natural gas service?
If no NG service is available in new areas, what is the cost for solar panels? Will the roof handle the load?

Instead of natural gas for hot water, have a look at a high efficiency heat pump water heater. It takes heat from your already hot garage and turns it into hot water. They tend to cost around $1400, I think, which is expensive, but they are significantly cheaper than even natural gas. Likewise, heating and cooling with a high efficiency heat pump makes great sense in Florida. Compared to the costs of installing solar energy panels, these will have you saving big money very fast. They pay for themselves in savings in a couple years, even over the cost of natural gas. Again, the high efficiency heat pumps do cost more than the usual ones people install, but they pay for themselves fast.

[allsport]

Do you not use air-conditioning or is it set at 80.

[crash]

My wife and I are looking in TV, but we would like to have natural gas service for hot water and heater. Which new areas have natural gas service?
If no NG service is available in new areas, what is the cost for solar panels? Will the roof handle the load?

Are you from Florida the cost of electricity here is very inexpensive you will never get payback on solar panels.

[vintageogauge]

My home in Polo Ridge is heated with gas. Assuming you were talking about the newer homes? Solar panels a bad investment in my opinion with energy prices as low as they are here. The payback on that type of investment would probably take decades.

We are talking about building a new home and all of the new homes have electric heat.

[sallyg]

Marsh Bend has natural gas.

[TandHSTAR@AOL.com]

Tell your real estate agent that you want a house with gas. Not all areas have gas. In my village some areas have gas and in the same village we do not have gas. No we do not have it in the street on my section of Santo DOmingo. So just because one area in a specific village has gas does not mean the whole area has it.

[mrf6969]

Here is an excerpt from an article in Consumer Reports. Who here in The Villages is going to be around to see the savings when switching to a Tankless water heater?

Tankless: We factored in an installation cost of $1,250 for a gas tankless and slightly less, $1,150, for an electric. Using a natural gas rate of $10.86 per 1,000 cubic feet, we calculated that the payback time for converting from a storage tank gas water heater to a gas tankless ranges from 22½ years to 27½ years. For an electric model, assuming energy costs of $0.132 per KWh, the payback time to replace a conventional electric tank with an electric tankless ranges from 12 to 20 years.

Caccia, the third-generation plumber, says that once you make the switch, labor costs are less for replacing an old tankless water heater with a new one than for replacing an old storage tank with a new one. In part that's because removing a large tank takes more time and effort than removing the much smaller tankless units.

The Bottom Line
While tankless water heaters run more efficiently than storage tank water heaters, replacing a tank water heater with a tankless can be expensive, and the payback time can be longer than the warranty. “If you have a warranty of 12 to 15 years, which is typical, it doesn’t make financial sense to replace a tank water heater with a tankless,” says Banta.

[Lindaws]

Probably most of the new areas.

[escudel@bellsouth.net]

I don’t believe Bradford has gas.

[rmd2]

Gas water heaters are tankless, not instant or on demand. It takes 45-60 seconds for the hot water to reach the master bath shower. A lot of wasted water.

Edit: you do have endless hot water once it arrives.

My shower takes only 10 seconds for the water to be hot. I have a regular gas heater.

[Ltucker]

The Village of Hawkins is gas (stove/water/dryer) while the Village of Bradford is only electric. NOTE the dryer! We didn't see the fine print in the contract, and there is NO 220 outlet for an electric dryer. Cost about $260 to have a 220 run by the builder.

[FUSSY LADY]

Not true about the heat. I have a gas furnace as does everyone else who has gas in our Village! Also have a 220 plug for dryer even though we chose to have a gas dryer.

[Toymeister]

OP, while I am sure your intentions are great (save money with gas) they are misguided.

An electric tanked water heater is 11 to 14.00 a month to operate.

Most of the gas equipped homes do not use gas for heat, they use an electric heat pump, so zero savings there. I.e. gas is at the home but it isn't connected to a gas powered furnace.

While a gas dryer will save roughly 14 cents a load the connection fee for gas exceeds your combined savings.

You can know precisely what electric consumption costs in your house down to the individual appliance as I do with sense, Sense: Track energy use in real time to make your home more energy efficient. (http://www.sense.com). 299.00

Florida's electricity rate is not "cheap" at .117/KwH it is at the national average. You might be paying more or less where you live.

Of course, cooking with gas is fantastic.

[vintageogauge]

Not true about the heat. I have a gas furnace as does everyone else who has gas in our Village! Also have a 220 plug for dryer even though we chose to have a gas dryer.

The OP is considering new homes, they have electric heat.

[Samcat13]

Village of Caroline has gas if u wanted a used home.:icon_wink:

[badfog02554@gmail.com]

Both Hawkins and Saint Catherine have natural gas for sure

[Villagesgal]

My wife and I are looking in TV, but we would like to have natural gas service for hot water and heater. Which new areas have natural gas service?
If no NG service is available in new areas, what is the cost for solar panels? Will the roof handle the load?

Look at building your new home. Chose an area with natural gas and do your heat, dryer, tankless hot water and stove gas, also put a line in for your BBQ on the lanai (never run out of propane again). I strongly suggest upgrading the insulation in the exterior walls, ceilings, including the garage and lanai ceiling. Adding insulation at build is much cheaper than solar panels and makes an amazing difference in utility costs. We have a 1800 sq foot designer, my garage stays cool even in mid summer, no cracks in the lanai ceiling and if we ever enclose it we already have the ceiling insulated. We never pay more than $45.00 a month during the heating season for gas and our highest electric bills are around $65.00 for August and September. Our neighbors pay 2 to 3 times or more of what we pay at the same temps. also have insulated windows installed.
Consider building to not only get what you really want, but also the energy savings. By the way, you'll love it here.

[OhioBuckeye]

Gas water heaters are tankless, not instant or on demand. It takes 45-60 seconds for the hot water to reach the master bath shower. A lot of wasted water.

Edit: you do have endless hot water once it arrives.

Thank you MIKREB your the first person ever to admit how Tankless water heaters work. I know I have a Tankless Heater. They’re cheaper to use but a pain in the butt to maintain. I would never ever buy another home with a Tankless Water Heater. Just my opinion, I don’t like them! If anyone ever gets a Tankless have it put on an inside wall in the house. They’ll freeze & burst on an outside wall.

[SusanStCatherine]

I am in design phase for a new construction home in St. Catherine. There is gas in this Village. During design they will tell you heat pump only and only tankless gas hot water heater. You can get gas dryer, gas stove in kitchen, and run gas line outside for gas grill. You have ask for dryer and outdoor, the others are automatic. We're getting electric cooktop but they are putting gas access behind it anyway.

[philoret]

Gas heating is with a gas furnace/AC combo unit typically present in areas serviced with gas. Heat pump A/C systems are useful in this climate, but still use electric fully at temperatures below 50 degrees.
While new houses are built with a tankless gas water heater, older areas may require an upgrade of the gas utility lines for the capacity needed, costing up to $2000 to install the tankless heater.

[SusanStCatherine]

Tankless gas hot water heaters have performance issues. It can take a long time for the hot water to reach the faucet, wasting water and your patience. A recirculation system can be installed during or after construction to keep water hot and available, which costs extra to install and run.

[Carlsondm]

My wife and I are looking in TV, but we would like to have natural gas service for hot water and heater. Which new areas have natural gas service?
If no NG service is available in new areas, what is the cost for solar panels? Will the roof handle the load?

We bought in Linden Isle. We have natural gas, and I would expect most newer homes south of the turnpike to also. Just ask. If we wanted a generator, we can get by with a small one, FYI. One regret is that we don’t have wiring for an electric induction stove .. much faster and cleaner than gas.

Several homes have solar here and newer panels are not that heavy.

We had solar up north, but stayed away from it here. We have a hip roof and started seeing $$$ if we had to remove for a reroof or faced bad storms. I expect to face a reroof in 15 years. A panel or two are nice to keep the Tv and lights always powered though.

[Bill1701]

Gas water heaters are tankless, not instant or on demand. It takes 45-60 seconds for the hot water to reach the master bath shower. A lot of wasted water.

Edit: you do have endless hot water once it arrives.
We have a regular water heater and it takes that long for us. It doesn't matter what type of water heater you have, it always takes 45-0 seconds for the hot water to reach our shower.

[DAVES]

Are you from Florida the cost of electricity here is very inexpensive you will never get payback on solar panels.

A proper solar system, requires batteries to store the daylight current. You need to devote money to the batteries. Any rechargeable battery, has a service life. Typical lead acid, at most 7 years. You also need space for the batteries.

The ice in Texas taking out wind generators. Germany had similar problems with snow blocking solar panels. Florida snow problems are no potential problem in Central Florida. Hurricanes and not a steady wind makes wind turbines not a great option.
This is however, the sunshine state.

[MJCtalk]

My wife and I are looking in TV, but we would like to have natural gas service for hot water and heater. Which new areas have natural gas service?
If no NG service is available in new areas, what is the cost for solar panels? Will the roof handle the load?
Are you aware that this part of FL is the lightning capital of the country and gas pipes are routed through the attics? This makes your house explode if lightning were to strike. I installed lightning rods but still plan to convert my heat to electric when the time comes. I have alread done so with my clothes dryer and Stove. Good luck!

[dkaufnelson]

All homes built south of Rte 44 in the newer, southern sections of The Villages come with gas stoves and tank less hot water heaters etc.

[Kenswing]

Are you aware that this part of FL is the lightning capital of the country and gas pipes are routed through the attics? This makes your house explode if lightning were to strike. I installed lightning rods but still plan to convert my heat to electric when the time comes. I have alread done so with my clothes dryer and Stove. Good luck!
How many houses in The Villages with gas have you seen or heard of blowing up because of a lightning strike?

[Tmarkwald]

Are you aware that this part of FL is the lightning capital of the country and gas pipes are routed through the attics? This makes your house explode if lightning were to strike. I installed lightning rods but still plan to convert my heat to electric when the time comes. I have alread done so with my clothes dryer and Stove. Good luck!

Do you also realize that has never happened?

And that, regardless or what appliance you have, your gas lines are still there and still charged with gas?

I still can't get over the house exploding comment. Hilarious!