Is Natural Gas available in new homes?
 

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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