Gas range more efficient than furnace?

I recently had a discussion with a friend who recently replaced his kitchen range. He said that he didn't even consider natural gas because the price has taken a dramatic jump in the past year, making electric cooking much cheaper. His perception of the relative cost may or may not be true - I don't know (although I suspect that NG is and will continue to be more economical for the foreseeable future).

The discussion went off on a tangent regarding the efficiency of a gas range vs a gas furnace. Given that gas burners heat the kitchen, they obviously take some of the load off of the furnace (cooking during the heating season is assumed here). But an intriguing thought occurred to me - since the range is not vented to the outside like the furnace is, all of the heat generated by the burning gas remains in the house. This means that the more you cook, the lower your gas bill should be, even with un ultra high efficiency furnace. Is this true? Should I encourage my wife to bake more cookies for the purpose of saving energy? Can it be that simple?

Granted, there's a downside to heating your home with the kitchen range. But is my speculation valid?

Reply to
Mike Hartigan
Loading thread data ...

Mike,

Yes it is more efficient to heat the kitchen with a range instead of a furnace. The range is 100% efficient. all the heat goes inside the house.

However, heat distribution will be uneven, the kitchen will be warm when the rest of the house is cold

The gas flame produces two primary products of combustion, carbon dioxide and water vapor. Both can cause problems in large enough concentrations.

It also produces some carbon monoxide.

I would like to ask how you like living inside a chimney??

For ocasional use, the stove is fine. It depends on your climate. But if you use it for only heat source, you may make humidity high enough to cause condensation on windows and window sills, which could promote mold. You will increase the CO and CO2 levels in the house as well as depletw oxygen levels. It depends on how loose your house construction is and how big your burners are, as well as the size of your house.

No simple answeres here without more information.

Ask Nick Pine, he loves doing supposing and calculations.

Stretch

Reply to
Stretch

Which will be cheaper depends on a large number of factors including things like how well his pans fit the burners. In any case it is not likely that he is going to save anything over pocket change between the two.

I wonder if your friend knows that a lot of electrical power is produced from natural gas.

This one is much the same. There are many factors involved. Modern furnaces are 90% and more efficient. With the disadvantages like the ones Stretch pointed out, it would be very difficult to make up that 5-10% potential advantage.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Reply to
Mike Hartigan

Reply to
Joe Fabeitz

On thing not asked, but should be added for those who may consider this a good idea, check with your local fire department and their experience with people using stoves and ovens for heating their homes.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.