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Old 09-08-2020, 02:05 PM
 
Location: Somewhere in America
15,479 posts, read 15,501,051 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by riaelise View Post
I know of two instances where cable workers inadvertently hit gas lines that ran near peoples houses. The houses exploded and the homeowners died. Again I don’t want something so unsafe in my home. I have no issue with food cooked on electric stoves
You don't want something so unsafe in your home? Then get rid of electricity. It causes numerous house fires every single year. Has your home been tested for radon? Any asbestos in your home? Lead paint or pipes?
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Old 09-08-2020, 02:06 PM
 
Location: Somewhere in America
15,479 posts, read 15,501,051 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by riaelise View Post
What the frikken hell do you mean by "someone like that"?

And I know what I smell as my sense of smell is pretty acute.
If you had a gas leak you should smell it when you don't have the stove on as well.
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Old 09-08-2020, 02:07 PM
 
Location: Somewhere in America
15,479 posts, read 15,501,051 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by riaelise View Post
I've looked up gas leaks and it doesn't smell like rotten eggs or has caused any breathing problems, et al. As part of the routine yearly home maintenance inspection/repair that's performed on our house, I'll mention it just to be sure. The house is 31 years old.

I also have a very acute sense of smell. I can smell things many things before others and I can detect such things as gas and smoke. We have a propane tank for our grill and I can smell the faint gas odor around the tank as well even though it is closed. Gas just has an odor.
Actually gas does not have an odor. There is an odor added to it. Everyone cannot smell the odor added to it. It is a sulfuric smell similar to eggs - not rotten eggs. Rotten eggs don't smell sulfuric. They smell like death.
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Old 09-08-2020, 02:16 PM
 
Location: Columbia SC
14,190 posts, read 14,539,139 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by parentologist View Post
It depends upon the type of house, and the location. For example, a ranch house would be relatively easy to convert over to gas baseboard hot water heat, because you can run the pipes in the basement. Or to gas forced air, since you can run the vents in the basement. But for a two story house, it could be a real pain.

As for the cost - in the Northeast, electricity is so expensive that no one would DREAM of converting a gas heat house to all electric. But in the Pacific northwest, I hear that electricity is very cheap, so it might work.
If they have a heat pump system now the chances are the house already has ductwork as a heat pump system is forced air.
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Old 09-08-2020, 03:06 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,436 posts, read 15,333,454 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ss20ts View Post
You don't want something so unsafe in your home? Then get rid of electricity. It causes numerous house fires every single year. Has your home been tested for radon? Any asbestos in your home? Lead paint or pipes?
Radon levels were tested and are acceptable. No asbestos. No lead paint or pipes either.

Maybe eletricity does cause house fires but there have been several gas explosions due to simply inadvertantly hitting lines or as you said people not smelling gas leaks. Few have survived these explosions. While statistically these events are small, I don't feel comfortable with gas or gas lines around my home as is my right. But I love this house so I just deal with it.
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Old 09-08-2020, 03:11 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, Texas
13,436 posts, read 15,333,454 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ss20ts View Post
Actually gas does not have an odor. There is an odor added to it. Everyone cannot smell the odor added to it. It is a sulfuric smell similar to eggs - not rotten eggs. Rotten eggs don't smell sulfuric. They smell like death.
the odor is described as "sulphuric or rotten eggs". When I mention odor, I am referring to the additive that is included with natural gas so that leaks can be detected. When I am near any type of gas appliance I can smell a faint odor that isn't sulphuric or rotten eggs.

https://www.billhowe.com/blog/signs-of-a-gas-leak/
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Old 09-08-2020, 03:45 PM
 
Location: Myrtle Creek, Oregon
15,293 posts, read 17,561,453 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthofHere View Post
$400 a month with no a/c?? What the heck are they charging in California? I am here in Florida and averaging the past 12 months my electric averaged $177. This year was higher because of Covid and not taking a vacation during the hottest two months.
Don't blame the utilities, blame the lousy insulation. It was 97 degrees here yesterday, and the house got up to 73 degrees in late afternoon, with the AC turned off.

If people won't update their home's energy efficiency, they deserve to pay hundreds of dollars a month in utility bills.
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Old 09-08-2020, 04:01 PM
 
Location: Riverside Ca
22,146 posts, read 33,197,505 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ImmerLernen View Post
House we have our eye on to purchase is all electric (home heating, for instance, is a heat pump). Neighboring "sold" houses have gas to the house, so I would imagine converting this one to gas would be a possibility (we would need to find out for sure, obvs).

Is it worth the time, trouble and expense to switch to gas? Anything we need to consider? I'm a total noob when it comes to these things. I just know I like to cook on a gas range and have never had anything other than gas (forced air) for home heating. Our clothes dryer is gas, but we'll probably be replacing it anyway, so it doesn't matter much (unless electricity costs makes a gas dryer a better $$ option).
You most likely already have gas lines running in your house. The gas lines could simply be capped inside the wall or stubbed out. Pull the stove and see if there is a gas pipe plugged behind the stove.my current house had the option for both Gas and electric. My range is gas and I have a wall oven that’s electric also.
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Old 09-08-2020, 04:42 PM
 
11,230 posts, read 9,153,045 times
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Be advised, though, that unless you have a gas line already prepared to the stove (just not hooked up), the line between the meter and a gas dryer hookup may be undersized to feed a stove.


We had a house with gas service, gas heat, and the hookup for a gas dryer, but no piping to the stove. Unfortunately the kitchen was located all the way across the house from the meter, and the plumber said the line to the dryer was too small to feed four gas burners - so he'd have had to run an entire new line the entire length of the house. We just left the electric stove. (Electric ovens are about as good as gas for cooking, it's the stovetop burners that are so much better.)
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Old 09-08-2020, 06:31 PM
 
3,462 posts, read 3,157,341 times
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Electricity rates are subject to all kinds of regulations (regarding generation - very political and will continue that way) and because of that I consider electricity cost a very unstable thing. I wouldn't dream of using an electric furnace if there is a natural gas or propane alternative. No way!


Find out how much it would cost to run gas to the house. Anything under $1000 is way worth it! I guess you'd have to trash the heat pump, too. Add $10,000 there.
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