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

Marsh Bend has natural gas.

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.

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.

Probably most of the new areas.

I don’t believe Bradford has gas.

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

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.

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.

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.. 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.

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

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

Both Hawkins and Saint Catherine have natural gas for sure

Insulation a better choice
 

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
 

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.