Electricity vs Gas

[DaveM]

With another 16% price hike per year in our electricity I think it is now time to look at using gas as much as possible in the house. I was looking at these gas geyser and am very surprised that they are not that expensive as what I thought they would be. Then of course the price to have them all installed and so on will push up the price. However while I am at it I would also then just look at getting those gas stoves with the electric oven installed as well. When I did prices them they did seem rather pricey but maybe I need to re look at this again.

The thing that does worry me is how effective these gas geyser are and what size would be needed. Our temps I suppose in the very cold times (July) can drop down to around 7 degree Celsius = 44.6 degree Fahrenheit. So we don't really have a long cold period as this does not last that long.

 

[Gromit]

Dave, my sister in Sedgefield just converted to gas stove and geysers. You do have to get a licensed technician to come and do the connections but she said it was well worth it. She has a double storey, 3 bdrm, 2 1/2 bathroom with 2 large geysers. She loves it - says she has instant hot water and isn't wasting gallons waiting for the water to heat up, kettle boils on the stove in 1/2 the time of her old electric kettle and her electricity bill has dropped by over 55%.

 

[DaveM]

Yes I noticed that you have to get a licenced installer to do and we seem to have a load of them here. I really think the time has come to seriously look into this. Our electricity is already costing us a fortune so with the 16% each year for the next five years is starting to make it look stupid to even afford to turn on a light.

 

[The Seeker]

What the heck is a "geyser"? A gas furnace?

Most everyone in this much colder climate have natural gas furnaces, hot water heaters, stoves/ovens and even clothes driers.

Natural gas is way cheaper than electricity.....especially now that they are drilling gas wells all around here lately.

Posted using Tapatalk 2 via my RAZR

 

[Gromit]

Seeker, are they fracking in your area?? Yikes!!!

 

[DaveM]

AJ it is the thing that heats your water for your hot taps, I think geyser is a colonial thing.

 

[hemibee]

I will comment on primitive gas fuel versus state of the art electrical power, after all I work in the state of the art electrical power industry so I could be an expert on the subject. Now listen very close, I may not repeat myself (but then again I might) when I give you this . . . MY EXPERT ADVICE ON GAS VERSUS ELECTRICAL appliances. Are you listening yet? Have you ever wondered why electrical power production is fueled by dino fuels? Gas/oil/coal - fossil fuels - are cheaper to burn and cheaper to repair and maintain than electrical products. Never willingly install electrical heating equipment in a home, it is too expensive.

Ok, all jokes aside. Dave I would jump on the gas unit(s) in a heart beat. As I joked above, I work in the electrical power industry and ALL of my heating equipment is gas and I would have it no other way. When we bought this house the first thing I checked when we first looked at the house was the heat source and the water heater to make sure they were gas. I would not have purchased the house if it had been electrical. When we update the kitchen I will be converting to gas in the kitchen and if she wants it, the oven will also be converted but I know for a fact the stove will go gas. For the water heater I've been looking at the systems like the gas geyser system in your link but so far it has only been a quick look as that is not the first update I'm looking to do.

So if it was me and I had electrical water heaters in the house then yes I would swap and the time frame would be moved up to go gas on the system but since I have a gas water heater it's not a priority for us.

 

[DaveM]

Seeker, are they fracking in your area?? Yikes!!!

You don't have to swear about it ........ Oh wait that is something else

 

[The Seeker]

Seeker, are they fracking in your area?? Yikes!!!

They're drilling all over Pennsylvania like !

All the hotels and motels in my area are full of guys from oil and gas drilling companies like Haliburton. It's weird, most of them are from Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

 

[DaveM]

Thanks Tony I am seriously going to look at this conversion but it will be x2 for both stove and water heater as I also have the flat ( apartment) attached to the house. So it may be a bit of a financial hit to do both.

 

[CarlS]

I am looking at an LP gas system for the house in North Carolina. I would also install a gas range and oven. I am trying to research the gas instant hot water; even in the summer, the cold water is ice cold.

 

[The Seeker]

Our gas water heaters are normally 40 to 60 gallon ones for a typical house. They heat that much water so you have it for showering, etc.

 

[DaveM]

I see these that I have listed are max 20l don't know what that is in gallons

 

[hemibee]

The systems like you linked to are becoming more popular here in the States, especially with new construction. It won't be love before they take over the majority of the water heating systems installed here. The cost savings is great with the systems and they pay for themselves rather quickly.

Doing the house and the flat would probably as you say be a big hit in the wallet but if you did one at a time it might not be as bad or do the geysers in both and get the piping run for the stoves but wait to buy the actual stoves at later date.

 

[DaveM]

Ah yes that may be the way to go as the stoves are not cheap. I would be looking at the gas cooker and electric oven type as I have been told that is the way to go. Any idea how far away you can have the gas bottles from the burners.

 

[hemibee]

I don't know if there is a limit on the distance other than pressure drop from the tank/bottle. At some of our locations where we have LPG backup generators the distance is fairly great due to security around the switching equipment and in others the tanks are fairly close to the generator. As long as you have sufficient tank pressure there should be no problems. Here in the farm lands the systems are LPG and the tanks/bottles are a good ways from the homes but here in the metro areas we have Natural Gas so there is no need for a tank/bottle.

 

[CarlS]

Our gas water heaters are normally 40 to 60 gallon ones for a typical house. They heat that much water so you have it for showering, etc.

Our electric hot water heaters are 40 to 60 gallons also. The one in North Carolina is a 40 gallon. But the type Dave is talking about, I think, provides instant hot water. They eliminate the central hot water tank. As Tony mentioned, I see more and more of these systems being installed. I could easily convert to this type in the bathroom as the plumbing is on the outside wall.

 

[DaveM]

Great to hear that I think I need to do further research on all of this and see where I stand with it all.

 

[DaveM]

Carl this what I also thought but the fact that they list different water tank capacity on the web site and then say what function you would use them for stared me thinking otherwise.

 

[CarlS]

Some of the ones I have seen seen have a small tank for each "station". You mentioned 20L which would be a little over 5 US gallons. I have not done thorough research on these systems; but I understand that the small thank tanks get you started with hot water. Then water is heated as it comes through when you are using it - washing dishes, showering, etc. They save on water because you don't have to let the water run for several minutes before you get hot water at the tap.

I will be researching this thoroughly as I prepare to buy the farmhouse in North Carolina. I am going to remodel the bathroom and kitchen anyway and add central heat and air conditioning. I am looking for the most energy efficient and cost effective way of doing this.