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... Can somebody explain the difference to me between [g]as and propane for a stove top? I'm just curious.
When I lived in Berkeley CA and Ann Arbor MI, I had gas ranges -- i.e., natural gas. When I moved to New Hampshire, I quickly discovered that there is no natural gas in my part of the state; when we say "gas" here we normally mean propane.
My first apartment here and first house (where I lived for 9 years) had propane ranges. I loved them, since for cooking, I VASTLY prefer gas. I also never noticed any difference between natural-gas cooking and propane-gas cooking. (Maybe there is one? To me, it's just a wonderful, adjustable flame. )
My current house came with an electric cooktop and double electric ovens. Love the ovens, HATE the cooktop. When I re-do my kitchen here in the next year or two (HOPEFULLY), I will definitely be converting to gas for the cooktop. Alas, that will be expensive -- my propane company's prices are insanely high (and they seem to me to massively pad their bills), but there's not much I can do since they own the tank (makes it VERY hard to shop around). I may end up switching propane companies.
More to the point of the OP: not sure you will see an ROI if gas ranges aren't common where you live (or frankly even if they ARE, since your move is 7 years away so a new range would be getting up there). Do you have info on that? And will the gas range be the ONLY propane appliance in your house? If so, that might make it more expensive to put in (you didn't mention if you already have a tank/other items on propane?).
A couple of people have mentioned electric induction cooktops. I know a lot of people who love them, but I vastly prefer gas to those too.
I prefer to cook with gas, but wouldn't buy a house with propane for cooking as I wouldn't want to deal with that. It's like when we had oil for heating up north, always having to worry you'd get a delivery on time and worrying about the price swings. No thanks.
Someone told me that natural gas flame burns hotter than propane.
However, like the poster above, I have never noticed propane to be deficient for any cooking method. I grew up in a region where natural gas stoves were the norm, owned a house with a propane range and was perfectly happy with it for the 15 yrs we were there, and insisted on propane for our house after that, too.
Electric has never, ever been satisfactory. It is a nightmare to cook rice or pasta with, and difficult for stir-frying anything. I hate it.
But you should find out what people prefer in your region, and balance that against your own preferences. If you were merely putting a new propane range in to replace an existing propane stove, no question--run with your own prefs. But in this case it costs you extra to switch and you say you might sell in a few years.
Someone told me that natural gas flame burns hotter than propane.
However, like the poster above, I have never noticed propane to be deficient for any cooking method. I grew up in a region where natural gas stoves were the norm, owned a house with a propane range and was perfectly happy with it for the 15 yrs we were there, and insisted on propane for our house after that, too.
Electric has never, ever been satisfactory. It is a nightmare to cook rice or pasta with, and difficult for stir-frying anything. I hate it.
But you should find out what people prefer in your region, and balance that against your own preferences. If you were merely putting a new propane range in to replace an existing propane stove, no question--run with your own prefs. But in this case it costs you extra to switch and you say you might sell in a few years.
Well, if you have ever seen propane run through natural gas burner orifices, you would be shocked at the heat....
Propane takes a smaller orifice than natural gas and it gets pretty exciting when that is not observed.
I was a real estate broker, from 1972 until I finally retired. So I want to tell you, that you will get no return on your investment switching to gas. The stove is normally included in most sales, and you are not going to get more because you switched to gas, or that you have replaced the stove with another electric.
In fact, gas will turn off more people than it will attract as buyers. A lot of people will not have gas, as they do not want the fumes from the cook top entering the room. Yes there will be some fumes no matter how you vent the stove. My wife is one of them, who has a lung problem under certain circumstances which includes having a gas cook stove.
I've never had propane although I strongly prefer a natural gas range to electric. But I would find propane slightly off putting, just from being unfamiliar with it. If it's common in your area, then no problem but if it's not, I might hesitate because I think it could be more off putting to potential buyers than natural gas would be.
But I also completely disagree that with resale planned 7 years down the road that you shouldn't get what YOU want. 7 years is a long time, why shouldn't you live with the things that you want for that time period?
I was a real estate broker, from 1972 until I finally retired. So I want to tell you, that you will get no return on your investment switching to gas. The stove is normally included in most sales, and you are not going to get more because you switched to gas, or that you have replaced the stove with another electric.
In fact, gas will turn off more people than it will attract as buyers. A lot of people will not have gas, as they do not want the fumes from the cook top entering the room. Yes there will be some fumes no matter how you vent the stove. My wife is one of them, who has a lung problem under certain circumstances which includes having a gas cook stove.
Thanks for this. As I said I would prefer gas but this is not about our choice, we are fine with electric. I would only add this expense if we felt it would help sell the house. I don't expect an exact 100% reimbursement of the cost, but it could be a factor as kitchens and baths sell.
As I said I talked to my friends and family who like to cook and it's kind of universal that they prefer gas. Friends recently converted their electric to gas at their weekend home on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. As for what is preferred here in our immediate area I'm not so sure. It's rural so I'm pretty sure there are no gas lines, so those with gas do propane. But if the pro says it may hurt sales then I won't go to the trouble or expense.
There can't be much difference between natural gas and propane.
I worked at a plant that had huge dryers drying food food products that operated on natural gas.
The company got a discount if they had propane for backup and would switch over to propane during peak natural gas useage ( usually when temps hit -30 in winter )
The company got a phone call to switch.
No difference is performance of dryers between the two.
Amerigas (gov't subsidized we found out) bought up 4 other propane dealerships and DOUBLED the price of propane. You can't sell a house around here with propane. As for a propane stove? I've never seen one - not even the $450,000 houses with Martha Stewart kitchens in propane-dependent areas.
Skip it. I've had three electric stoves. Smooth top inductions work just great. You just have to pay a few extra bucks for pots and pans. They must be flat bottomed, non-warpable (thick) and no grooves or dips/grooves on the bottom. Yes...they cost more - but you'll only have to buy it once. My electric induction flat top boils water faster than my gas stove ever did. And the knob has very critical control of heat - melt chocolate to rolling boil- and every little setting in between.
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