Do you prefer natural gas or electric??

[lolc]

Or propane? And why? If you prefer natural gas, why?

I'm not just referring to a stove, but water heater too.

I grew up in a house that used natural gas (never felt comfortable with it though, the risks of carbon monoxide as well as my mom had an accident with it when I was little, 3rd degree burns on her hand). I've used electric since I was 18 and on my own.

We bought our house over the summer and it has a propane stove and water heater (propane, btw, costs more than electric! UGH!! I hate propane!!)

The gas company has said that if we have enough of an interest, they will install the gas lines free. Several neighbors are interested, so we got a quote.

To convert to natural gas, we would need a new water heater (our current one is original with the house from 1993, and can't be converted), but our stove could remain and they can convert that free of charge. We would, however, need our cabinets above the stove to be cut 2 inches in order to pass inspection (wth!?) - which I don't know how that can be done with melamine cabinets?? But we'd have to see.

The total cost to convert from propane to natural gas would be about $1200.

So besides wondering what you prefer, I'd also like to know: Should we convert to natural gas? Is it definitely worth it?

TYIA!

[ijack]

we have both - I don't really see the pros or cons to either (besides cooking, then gas all the way), though natural gas is hella cheap right now.

[Deleted]

Definitely natural gas.

[countthestars]

We are building and will have propane. I see you live in FL - we are in MA and electric heat would cost way more than propane. I hate cooking on an electric stove.

[pamela]

I don't know if I would convert what's there in your case, but for a stove gas is more controllable. I don't necessarily like it for my oven, but it could be that my oven sucks. It seems that the temp has way more variability than my previous electric ovens.

[cjeanette]

Can't speak to the propane since I live in an area with gas lines. We have electric for the a/c and gas for heat/water heater/stove. I would never go back to an electric stove. My bills for gas/electric are pretty similar.

[Deleted]

I love gas burners. I have no real opinion on the rest because I've only ever lived with gas heat. BUT this weekend I saw a stove that had gas burners but an electric (what's the regular part of the stove called?). I thought that was cool.

[arch01]

We have gas heat and water heater. We had electric in our previous house, I don't really see a difference. I wish our stove was gas

[rubytue]

Other than how expensive it is, I like heating oil for heat. I've only ever cooked on gas stoves at friends' houses, so no opinion on that.

Right now we have all electric, which means a heat pump. Heat pumps suck for heat. I really miss my fueled forced air furnace. But depending on where you live, heat might not be your biggest concern.

[aspentosh]

I miss our natural gas stove/oven since we have electric. No idea about propane.

[chessie]

I like have electric myself, I dont have to worry about much with it, fire on the oven and go. Everything in my house is on electric anyway, and we heat with wood.

[Deleted]

I prefer gas for cooking. I don't really care about anything else. That said, we used to live in an area that had no gas lines, so we had to have tanks of natural gas or propane on site, it annoyed me that I had to schedule to have the tanks filled and shell out hundreds at once. If I ever lived in an area like that again, I would probably go electric 100%.

[SusanBAnthony]

I know nothing about propane. I love cooking with natural gas, and hateelectric. It is definitely a factor when we house hunt. I prefer gas for other appliances bc it is cheaper.

[Deleted]

Gas range for cooking. Electric oven for baking.

Gas water heaters are more efficient I think. I love our gas tankless.

[ijack]

Dec 10, 2012 12:05:46 GMT -5 @ameliapond said:

Gas range for cooking. Electric oven for baking.

Gas water heaters are more efficient I think. I love our gas tankless.

Electric are actually more efficient - 98% to 75%. (I'm doing calcs that use these numbers right now, that's how I know)

[Susie]

I prefer natural gas for the range, the dryer, home heat, and I don't feel strongly about using it for other applications.

Our current house has natural gas for the range, dryer, furnace, and hot water heater. Works for me.

The dryer is more efficient, and the range makes it easier to control temperature. The furnace might just be what I'm used to, but I do think it's more efficient than electric.

[nomad100]

We have natural gas for our cooktop, water heater, clothes dryer and boiler (have hydronic heat system) and it is great. Nat'l gas is less expensive than electricity where we live so this makes it more cost effective.

We do have an electric oven, which I prefer since it heats more evenly for baking.

I grew up with an electric cooktop and hope to never go back to that.

[countthestars]

I believe gas dryers are more efficient than electric.

[Deleted]

You don't have to convert your cooktop. I would convert the heater to natural gas then get induction for the cooktop. Induction is great. I was insisting to spend $$$ on a professional gas cooktop (blue star or capital, not viking/wolf which are ok but not as good) for the new house until I looked further at induction.

[lys]

I LOVE natural gas. It is the cheapest fuel to use. We have a high efficiency NG furnace, new NC water heater, NG clothes dryer and a gas line to the stove are for when I replace my current electric stove, which I hate.

[lys]

I LOVE natural gas. It is the cheapest fuel to use. We have a high efficiency NG furnace, new NC water heater, NG clothes dryer and a gas line to the stove are for when I replace my current electric stove, which I hate.

[penguingrrl]

We have natural gas heat and hot water but an electric stove. The natural gas hot water was a godsend when we were without power for a week after Sandy because it meant we at least could shower and do dishes. The heat still didn't work since it had an electric starter, but it looks like it will be cheaper than my mom's oil heat, so that's nice (it's our first winter here, so not sure; but the house is similar in size to my mom's and we keep our houses the same temp, so reasonable comparison). I hate the electric stove with a passion. I have no way to quickly change the temperature and it's making cooking a lot more difficult for me. If I owned this house (we rent) changing the stove out for a gas model would be my first priority because electric is awful to cook on.

[SusanBAnthony]

Electric appliances are more efficient, but making the electricity (often from gas!) is not, and transmitting it along the lines is definitely not, so it isn't really an even comparison. But the reason it is typically cheaper to run a gas appliance is bc you are losing 50% of the energy over the electrical transmission lines. Gas and electrical prices can swing, but gas is cheaper over time.

[ijack]

here is a calculator you can use.
info.centerpointenergy.com/calculators/oklahoma/ResCostCompare.asp

[luvmagoldn]

Natural gas because it is more efficient for both stove and home heating.

H wouldn't even look at houses with electric ranges.

[Deleted]

Love love love natural gas.

[drloretta]

I like NG. It's the cheapest option, and I've never been afraid of it. I've had propane and it was fine. I just didn't like having a tank that someone had to fill all the time. Electric is SO expensive.

I'd run some numbers as to how much cost savings you'd get with the conversion, and how long it would take you to break even on the $1200. If it wouldn't take that long, I'd take it as a plus and go for it. $1200 doesn't seem that awful to me, if you had the $.

[takeonyou]

I love my natural gas. Our first house was electric and I loathed it.

[LoveTrains]

Natural gas is better for most everything, IMO.