Heating & Cooking (houses, heat pump, to live)

[Tinman313]

How's your home heated? With electric-gas natural or propane or fuel oil. Do you cook with electric or gas. What do you prefer?

[alleycat]

Electric for both heating and cooking. That's what the house came with. I did consider gas when I replaced a heat pump one time but since it was going to cost $1200 more I stayed with electric since electric rates are reasonable here.

Electric or natural gas are both acceptable to me. Propane is not. I know some people like propane but if I had it I would rip it out and replace it. I don't think many houses here use fuel oil; only a few older houses.

[jguillot]

Originally Posted by alleycat

Electric for both heating and cooking. That's what the house came with. I did consider gas when I replaced a heat pump one time but since it was going to cost $1200 more I stayed with electric since electric rates are reasonable here.

Electric or natural gas are both acceptable to me. Propane is not. I know some people like propane but if I had it I would rip it out and replace it. I don't think many houses here use fuel oil; only a few older houses.

I will need to decide what type of heating system I install in my retirement home in Tennessee. I see that you don't like propane. Why is propane not acceptable to you?

[jguillot]

My home in California has a central heating system that uses natural gas. This system seems to be efficient and we have been happy with it. Our kitchen stove is an electric stove. We would prefer a gas stove, but there is no gas line going to our kitchen.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by jguillot

I will need to decide what type of heating system I install in my retirement home in Tennessee. I see that you don't like propane. Why is propane not acceptable to you?

Mainly because I don't like the smell (but I suspect I could get used to it), and because I consider it more dangerous than natural gas (it's a heavier than air gas which presents a number of problems). It's mostly a matter of personal preference. If it were way cheaper than electric than I would reconsider my choice. I could live with it, I just wouldn't want to with other options available.

[TnHilltopper]

Originally Posted by Tinman313

How's your home heated? With electric-gas natural or propane or fuel oil. Do you cook with electric or gas. What do you prefer?

Kilowatt of electricity is pretty cheap here and I believe my last bill was 82 bucks last month. However I do have a fireplace as a secondary form of heat as we tend to lose power fairly often out here in very rural Tennessee.

[alleycat]

Originally Posted by TnHilltopper

Kilowatt of electricity is pretty cheap here and I believe my last bill was 82 bucks last month. However I do have a fireplace as a secondary form of heat as we tend to lose power fairly often out here in very rural Tennessee.

That a good point. If I had a house in the country I would definitely have some sort of backup. In the rural areas the power can sometimes go off for several days; having a backup means the difference between being able to stay in your own home or going to some kind of shelter (and who wants to do that?).

When I was a kid and lived in the country, occasionally the power would go off for several days if there was an ice storm. At first it was a lot of fun . . . cooking on the fireplace, "roughing it", etc. The fun didn't really last very long when we couldn't watch TV, or play the stereo, or have light enough to read after 5:00 o'clock, or do a lot of other things. When I hear someone say they would have liked to lived a 100 years ago, I think they probably haven't really considered what it was really like.

;-)

[harry chickpea]

Check out "dual-fuel" ranges. Gas is preferred by pros for the cooktops, and electric for the ovens.

A creative cook can cook with two sticks of wood and a 100 year old skillet, but why go that far? Propane works fine in the country and acts as a great backup for power.

[Tinman313]

I was thinking on the same line. As I understand you can get a whole house back up generator on either natural gas and or propane or diesel. I was looking at Natural Gas but not knowing where it's located in a area. Do the city gas companies give you a map of areas they service?

[TnHilltopper]

Originally Posted by Tinman313

I was thinking on the same line. As I understand you can get a whole house back up generator on either natural gas and or propane or diesel. I was looking at Natural Gas but not knowing where it's located in a area. Do the city gas companies give you a map of areas they service?

I was just looking through two different catalogs on whole house back up generators. Depending on whether you want to back up everything or just a few things like the fridge, stove, heater, it can be fairly reasonable. (under 3000.00 dollars in many cases)