All Electric Utilities vs Adding Gas (Richmond, Fishers: real estate, insurance, credit)

[maxx233]

We're closing soon on a house in Noblesville, in the Deer Path subdivision. The house has all electric utilities and we're wondering if there's some compelling reason we're unaware of as out-of-staters NOT to add a gas line to the house (obviously aside from cost to actually do it.) When we were house hunting it seemed that several homes specifically advertised "All Electric House!" like it was a good thing. Is it? We've never encountered a house that didn't have gas coming into it, even in California, so we're unsure why anyone would actually WANT that? If anyone has any ideas, or it's something you wanted, please fill us in!

We really prefer gas for cooking, and we're also unsure if the heat pump (also something we've never encountered), while brand new, will be able to keep up with the cold winters at a level we demand (we keep lower to mid 70s on the thermostat during winter) without constantly having the auxiliary electric furnace kicking on and the bill skyrocketing. Before we go adding a gas line we want to make sure there's not some reason or attitude specific to the region that we wouldn't know about that would be a detriment to the house value or marketability or something!

[ischyros]

We live in Fishers and our house sounds like the one you are buying. We have a new heat pump, all electric house. No gas line into the house. We usually keep the house around 72 in the winter. I really don't know what gas prices are like. Our electric bill ranges from around $110-120 in the summer (1600 sq. ft.) to $250-$300 in January and February. A couple years ago when we had one of the coldest winters ever, our bill skyrocketed to close to $400 one month. After that, we went with Duke's budget plan. They have 2 versions. One is just a flat rate all 12 months of the year no matter what you use or don't use. The one we have is a flat rate for 11 months of the year and the 12th month is a catchup month where if you used more than you've already paid, you get charged more. If you used less, then you get a credit. In the two years since doing that, we've never had to pay in that 12th month. In fact, last year, we had 2 and a half months we didn't have to pay because our usage was so low and our credit was so large.

I don't really know what gas prices are like and that is really the biggest factor to your question. I feel gas heat has got to be cheaper than the electric we have but I really don't know. Our heat pump works well enough. It keeps the house warm but on really cold days, especially with no sunshine, it runs quite a bit.

[sweetana3]

Is gas even available to your neighborhood/subdivision?

There are some people who hate gas lines coming to their home just as there are some who hate not having it. This was more pronounced after the gas explosion in Richmond Hill neighborhood done as an insurance fraud case. Big news story. Only real estate people can say what current house buyers are saying.

[ischyros]

Originally Posted by sweetana3

Is gas even available to your neighborhood/subdivision?

There are some people who hate gas lines coming to their home just as there are some who hate not having it. This was more pronounced after the gas explosion in Richmond Hill neighborhood done as an insurance fraud case. Big news story. Only real estate people can say what current house buyers are saying.

That's a good point. If there isn't already a gas line running in the neighborhood then you may not be able to switch to gas, anyway. In our case, I think we could as our neighbors on each side have gas. I can see their meters from our house, but there may be neighborhoods that don't have any gas lines.

[indy_317]

My wife grew up in Noblesville and we have been together for around 14ish years. I was going up to Noblesville well before all the new stuff close to Deer Path went in (the hospitals, the mall, etc.). What I do remember is that there were two or three neighborhoods, with Deer Path being one of them, that were out there at the time. Originally it seemed like the outskirts of Noblesville because the growth hadn't yet come. I would check with the realtor and see if gas is even available. It is very possible that there wasn't a gas line along Greenfield Ave. when the neighborhood was originally started.