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The reason much of NH doesn't have access to natural gas is due to the lack of infrastructure. It's expensive to lay gas lines down the middle of a street especially in a rural state like NH and the return on investment would be decades for the utility.
This is the same story i got when I questioned why everyone around here has septic systems, instead of municipal sewers. "It would be too expensive to put in the pipes". Well, how is NH different from any other state in that regard? Most other places have natural gas, which is about 5x cheaper than propane. Those other states apparently managed to lay pipe - you have to start somewhere!
New Hampshire is called "The Granite State" for a reason.
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Originally Posted by Leo58
This is the same story i got when I questioned why everyone around here has septic systems, instead of municipal sewers. "It would be too expensive to put in the pipes". Well, how is NH different from any other state in that regard? Most other places have natural gas, which is about 5x cheaper than propane. Those other states apparently managed to lay pipe - you have to start somewhere!
For towns which are too distributed, rural and frugal to install town water/sewer lines, natural gas lines are even less likely to be funded.
This is the same story i got when I questioned why everyone around here has septic systems, instead of municipal sewers. "It would be too expensive to put in the pipes". Well, how is NH different from any other state in that regard? Most other places have natural gas, which is about 5x cheaper than propane. Those other states apparently managed to lay pipe - you have to start somewhere!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nonesuch
For towns which are too distributed, rural and frugal to install town water/sewer lines, natural gas lines are even less likely to be funded.
That's right, you have to start somewhere and they are starting in the cities and towns that have enough population to justify installing pipe. There's also an issue with ledge and exposed bedrock in many parts of NH. Liberty utilities planned to expand gas service to towns like Rindge but even the town won't run water and sewer due to the geological concerns.
One important thing that new developments need to think about is installing the gas pipe during construction of the subdivision even if gas isn't available yet. That way it is less expensive to do it in the future.
This is a great idea in theory, but the reality is that the cost for the gas lines has to be passed along to the consumer, and since NH developments tend to be smaller than in other areas, the cost is going to be distributed among fewer homes. It may make sense if there is a gas pipeline nearby that *could* be tapped into in the future, but unfortunately, these are few & far between here.
One of the new construction projects that I work at has public water & sewer AND natural gas, and when a new road was put thru a few years ago, the developer (foolishly) didn't listen to the sales team and didn't extend the gas line until a few years went by with VERY few sales on that road. The cost to dig up and add it in later was enormous, but it was necessary to get back on track. They won't make that mistake again...
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Originally Posted by robr2
One important thing that new developments need to think about is installing the gas pipe during construction of the subdivision even if gas isn't available yet. That way it is less expensive to do it in the future.
The economics of natural gas distribution is way different at 200 people per square mile than it is at 2000 people per square mile. The gas companies won't build infrastructure in regions where they can't offer gas at a competitive price - to do otherwise would be business suicide.
20% of oil users burn wood as a backup, only 8.5% of homes in New Hampshire list cordwood as their PRIMARY heat source
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Originally Posted by murk mags
I'm looking at property in NH and noticed many homes have a wood burning stove. Do many of y'all use stoves for heat?
EIA says 20 percent of New England households that use heating oil, also use wood as a source of heat.
I have several wooded acres, use a cordwood stove for backup heat. Many neighbors burn hardwood when they are home, using propane/oil only to keep the house from freezing when they're not around to feed the firebox. Others only keep a wood stove around for power outages or as a pocket ace in case of rising fuel prices.
I just had a new forced-hot-air oil furnace installed -- my very old unit died last year. So far the new one has been working flawlessly.
I was very impressed with the company that did the install -- partly because they were actually RESPONSIVE to my request for a quote (as opposed to 3 other companies that came to my house but never got back to me, despite numerous requests!). I have 2 oil tanks in my basement (total capacity nominally 550 gallons, but really more like 510-520) and I was at the 3/4 level but knew we were about to hit a cold spell, so I called the new company and they came literally the next day. I got 112 gallons to top off the tanks, which probably wasn't necessary but I just feel better starting off with full tanks when the temps are going to be this insanely low. The new company was 5 cents more per gallon than the company I HAD been using, but they are so reliable, honestly, it's worth it to me (total "overcharge" less than 6 bucks on 112 gallons!).
Quote:
Originally Posted by murk mags
I'm looking at property in NH and noticed many homes have a wood burning stove. Do many of y'all use stoves for heat?
I have a wood pellet insert in my fireplace, and usually that fulfills about 80-90% of my winter heating needs. (My house is a 2,400-something-square-foot colonial, and with the insert going some rooms are MUCH hotter than others, but because of the way my house is laid out, a LOT of heat goes upstairs, so it works well for me. However, when the temps get as low -- and for as long a period -- as they have lately, then I use oil, sometimes WITH the insert going as well. The insert by itself simply could not keep up when the overnight lows are in the negative numbers, as they have been for several days now, with many more days to come, alas!)
'However, when the temps get as low -- and for as long a period -- as they have lately...
You're not alone.
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New Hampshire is called "The Granite State" for a reason.
20% of oil users burn wood as a backup, only 8.5% of homes in New Hampshire list cordwood as their PRIMARY heat source
