Water heaters

[trader4]

peranza.aioe.org:

I seriously doubt that a tankless water heater is going to be a good option. They cost considerably more. And the main savings is that they eliminate the standby losses that you have with a tank type, where hot water is sitting there all the time. And then you have the issue of a tankless gas or electric? Even to supply a mobile home, an electric one is going to have to pull a lot of amps. Maybe so much that the service can't support it without upgrading it. Same thing with a gas one. You need a supply line big enough to run it and that could require upgrading back to your tank. The one advantage you would have is your location, where the incoming water isn't real cold, so you could get away with a smaller BTU unit. If you start to look into tankless, those are the kinds of things you want to look at, not just the cost of the unit.

[clare]

You will likely need at least a 1 inch propane line to the OD heater, i n stead of the 3/8" you likely have now.

And the reason Propane costs more than electricity is the handling and delivery.

[clare]

Gas heat is more "responsive" - and faster. But an electric stove is easier to keep clean - particularly if you go for a "smooth top".

[Robert Neville]

Dude! Are you buying propane bottles at the local 7/11? My last fill two weeks ago was $1.72/gallon.

It depends on what you are paying for electricity. At 12¢ per kWh, the electrical cost comparison figure to a gallon of propane will be $3.24.

Furthermore, electricity prices are expected to rise every year. Propane prices are held in check by the price of oil and natural gas. Domestic supplies of both are expected to increase thanks to the increasing in drilling on private lands.

[trader4]

In general, I agree. A lot of this is personal preference and also based on whatever experience folks have had. IF your experience has been a real nice gas range and a cheap electric one, then you're opinions may be different. Gas does tend to heat faster. But then for making coffee, I use an electric kettle, which boils water faster than either a gas stove or electric. Gas is definitely more responsive. If a pan is getting too hot, it will react faster when you turn it down. With electric, it may burn. Another thing I hate about electric is that the older style burners would never stay truely level and oil in a pan would tend to run to one side or the other. But then the newer flat cooktops I guess solve that. Also, with electric the heat comes directly from the bottom and the sides tend to stay cooler. With gas and a larger flame, the sides of the pan can get so hot that stuff starts to burn on them or a spoon left laying in it gets heated and burns you.

In the end, it's what you're used to and what you prefer.

[Robert Neville]

To a certain extent. But then I would also look at how many commercial kitchens and professional chefs use electric ranges.

[micky]

Same difference.

I don't know what that means, but I wanted to say it.

[micky]

And you can tell by looking at the flame, how big the flame is and how hot the fire. Looking at the electric stove knob doesn't tell me much, but after 25 years, I knew some rules for some kinds of cooking. Then I had to get a different brand of electric range and the settings, Medium, Medium HIgh, etc. are not the same temps as what I had learned. Or if they are, maybe i learned by which absolute direction the knobs were pointing, not which setting they pointed to.

I have that trouble with an old GE. My even older Whirlpool used plug-in electric "burners" and they were always level.

[Hench]

Dude: Nobody knows where you live so how can they help you.

Natural gas is the cheapest and it doesn't make sense why YOU aren't using it, but since you didn't tell us where you live...

have you considered Oil?

Since you didn't tell us where you live nobody can help you with your electric theory, but in many places electricity rates change during the day so it could cost double the BTU during those certain times.

I use natural gas for Stove/Oven, Water heater, Pool heater, Dryer, and Furnace and it's the cheapest per BTU where I live and I'm not subjected to crazy electrical rates that fluctuate during the day...

[Hench]

One area is a wasteland and the other is...

[Hench]

On 4/9/2013 7:03 PM, [e-mail] wrote: .

What's the cost difference between propane and oil in Southern Ontario, any idea at all?

[Hench]

With the USA on the fossil fuel energy production increase they have been on the last few years, I would be doing everything I could to get off of Electricity for those large energy users like heat and cooking...

[clare]

From what I've seen recently fuel oil runs 1.21 to 1.33 over this past winter from Oct to Feb, and proipane is about 10% higher in Toronto area, 15% or more in Bracebridge.

[clare]

Natural gas fired generators should reduce the cost of electricity too.

[Ashton Crusher]

Are you in a cold area of the country and how do you heat the house in winter??

[Ashton Crusher]

Me too. Depending on what running the electric will cost you I suspect you'll be better off in the long run just switching to electric water heater and getting rid of all the propane fixed and usage costs. But overall I don't think it will make much real difference no matter what you decide, you are not a heavy user. An electric heater may not recover quite as fast as gas would but it will be fine.

[DerbyDad03]

A lot depends on how you cook, but my biggest issue is the response time. A gas burner is immediately hot when I want to be, immediately cold when I want it to be and immediately any temperature in between when I want it to be.

I don't have to take a pot off of a gas burner when I want the cooking to slow or stop. That's not an issue when you only have one or two pots on an electric stove, but as soon as you reach 3 or 4, you run out places - except for the counter - to move them to.

Electric burners stay hot - and dangerous - long after you remove the pot. I've seen many a burnt cutting board and towels because they were put on an open burner that was still hot.

Professional cooks use gas mainly because of the responsiveness. On the other hand, some feel that electric ovens are more even from a temperature perspective, so I have heard of cooks who have a gas stovetop and an electric oven.

I grew up with gas. When my parents sold the house they bought a double without gas and have been using (and hating) an electric stove for the past

10 or so years. Dad had to replace the oil fired boiler before this past winter, so he had the utility run gas from the street and bought a gas range, dryer and boiler - for both the front and back apartments. Big bucks but Mom is finally happy.

[gregz]

Must be for a big tank. I have a medium small tank. Im not sure if I own it. I have come up of a way to check level. I'm going to use my IR thermometer and some hot water. I don't know why it took so long.

Grey

[TimR]

I've cooked with electric and with gas ranges over the years.

I think the gas has a slight edge in cooking ease.

But there's another factor. Do you have allergies or respiratory illnesses? There are some studies showing double the respiratory illnesses in children if you cook with gas.

[Stormin Mormon]

You'd have to compare prices of fuel sources. Somewhere on the net, has to be the BTU per gal for propane. Fuel oil is about 130,000 BTU per gal, can't remember for propane. I know 1500 watt space heater puts out 5,200 BTU. Got to be some way to compare.

If I replaced my hot water heater with an electric next time it needs replacing what is the price difference - electric more, less or about equally expensive? Then too I'll need to get an electric line run. (I have room for more breakers.) Then I'll replace my gas cooking range - that shouldn't be too expensive. That will free me from propane.

What say? Not worth the expense and trouble?

TIA