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The house I bought had lines for both, 220 for electric dryer and a gas outlet already in place. At the time, cost of running seemed to be rather similar and the electric was cheaper upfront (marginally but still over a 10% premium for the gas) and a known quantity to me (grew up with electric dryer, never spent a lot of time using a gas one except coin-op). Then the gas got cheaper and electricity a bit more expensive, and when I look at my electric bills I wonder. Guessing I would have saved money had I gotten the gas dryer, but it appears in a few cases I might be annoyed by how long the gas dryer takes. (I vaguely remember this sometimes with the coin-ops.)
Still, toss in an extra grand, and I'm not sure it's worth it. Might be close until you extend it out over a really long time frame like 15+ years, when the gas is probably going to be obviously less even with the $1000 initial cost thrown in. If you want to get into the math you'll have to find a stat for roughly how much gas is used in an average load of drying laundry vs how much electricity, then extend that out to a week, then x52 to get an annual difference. Once you have annual it will be obvious how long of a time span you might need to recoup the $1000. Your electric rate looks moderately high. I'm not sure about gas, just not familiar with the gas pricing enough to compare.
I'm going to venture a guess that it would be unusual if the gas would be over $100 less per year to run, maybe with that many loads and if the gas is really cheap. If it is around $100/year less to run, that's 10.5 years before you see any savings if you're outlaying a grand to run the pipe. (BTW, get more estimates, I wonder if it really needs to cost that much? I know plumbing gets a bit pricey but maybe you can cut that cost a little.)
> Cost of electricity- about $0.13 per kWh
> Cost of natural gas- $.1977 per ccf
With those rates the NG is a little more than half the cost on a per BTU basis. That's without any adjustment for efficiency, are gas dryers vented or ventless (I'm not referring to the air vent). Possibly vented with the air outlet?
Long term it certainly will be cheaper assuming the gas is always cheaper than the electric but with a $1000 install its going to be looooooooong term of many years. How much really depends on how often you dry clothes and how many BTU's are required per load.
If you already had a gas line in place in the laundry room, I'd say go for gas. But without a line I think it will take you a really long time to make your money back, particularly since your electric estimate is too high. If you're really paying that much per kwh, you need to shop for a new provider.
If you're really paying that much per kwh, you need to shop for a new provider.
Electric rates are all over the place in different states from lows of 8 cents up to almost 18 cents. 13 cents is a little bit above the average of 11.5 cents for 2012
Electric rates are all over the place in different states from lows of 8 cents up to almost 18 cents. 13 cents is a little bit above the average of 11.5 cents for 2012
If you already had a gas line in place in the laundry room, I'd say go for gas. But without a line I think it will take you a really long time to make your money back, particularly since your electric estimate is too high. If you're really paying that much per kwh, you need to shop for a new provider.
We can't shop for a new provider because we're in a cooperative area. CoServ is our only option for gas and electricity service.
I think we've decided to stick with electric for now and possibly see if we can get better quotes for extending a gas line to the laundry room. The $1000 estimate was just an estimate from the guy who inspected the house we're buying, who called his plumber friend and described the layout of the rooms affected- it wasn't a quote from a plumber who was physically at the house to give us a quote.
We can't shop for a new provider because we're in a cooperative area. CoServ is our only option for gas and electricity service.
I think we've decided to stick with electric for now and possibly see if we can get better quotes for extending a gas line to the laundry room. The $1000 estimate was just an estimate from the guy who inspected the house we're buying, who called his plumber friend and described the layout of the rooms affected- it wasn't a quote from a plumber who was physically at the house to give us a quote.
Thanks for all your help/advice, everyone.
Take care!
That's bizarre, I never heard of someone not being able to switch providers. What's a "cooperative area"?
Look at the plate on the dryer. Maybe around 3 kw? Maybe up to 5? That is around $0.50-$0.65 per hour running. How much do you run the dryer? 3 hours a week? You are talking roughly $1.50 - $2 a week in electricity costs to run the dryer.
If the person quoted above is correct, and a gas dryer would use 1/2 the energy, you're still at a payback period of WELL OVER 10 years.
Even if the gas dryer was free to operate (it's not, cost of gas plus electricity to run tumbler) payback would be roughly 5 years, which is pretty long, and it's obviously not free to run a gas dryer.
That's bizarre, I never heard of someone not being able to switch providers.
In many states you can now choose who buy electric from. The primary company in your area that owns the wires still provides you with and bills you for distribution. In other words if they were bringing electric to you in a truck you don't have a choice but to pay one company for the delivery service but you can choose from many companies for the product on the truck. For obvious reasons the monopoly remains on the delivery service.
Quote:
What's a "cooperative area"?
The utility is owned by the customers/public.
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