portsmouth / newmarket area cooking gas, utilities etc. questions (Manchester, Nashua: apartment complex, rentals)

[oldeschool]

hello - first time poster here and i searched but couldn't find any answer to my specific question.

i'm considering a job opportunity in the seacoast area of new hampshire. i currently live in a major metropolitan city and am very used to the amenities provided by that, namely natural gas to heat homes, hot water tanks and fuel stoves.

i've been looking constantly for rentals on craigslist in the newmarket / portsmouth / durham area, and i have ONLY seen electric stoves and ranges. is the only cooking fuel available propane? i will be renting only at first, not buying, and this is a big concern for me. i cook all my meals at home, and having a gas flame (either propane or natural gas, or whatever) is totally necessary for the style of cooking that i do. last time i lived in a house with an electric stove was over a decade ago, and that is not something i'm willing to do again.

i guess the main question is, are gas-cook stoves and ovens rare in this part of the country? or is it only coincidence that everything online in the past weeks that i've seen is an electric stove?

lastly, a lot of the houses/apartments have heat included, and some say "oil heat." what exactly is oil heat?

thanks very much.

[cvlp]

We moved here recently from San Diego and I have found the same thing. I hate cooking on electric stove-top but am getting somewhat used to it again.
I'd be interested in knowing why almost everything here has electric stoves/ovens if anyone knows?!

Thanks

[GotBackHome]

natural gas is not available in most of NH, so elec stoves and oil heat are the norm. when it says 'oil heat' that means you have a big tank or two of oil, probably in the basement, that fuels the heater. You can sometimes find propane for heat, but you really want to avoid elec - way expensive! Just like most houses also have a septic system and a private well for all the water.. most houses are self-sustained, and natural gas requires hook up to suppliers. There are some areas I believe that offer it, but not that many.

[Valerie C]

Actually, if you prefer natural gas, the seacoast area of NH is where you will find most towns that have the pipeline. Portsmouth, Seabrook, Hampton, Dover, Exeter--all have wide areas that natural gas is available. It's only when you get more inland that it becomes more scarce, impossible to find in most small towns, but available in the more populated cities of Manchester, Nashua, Concord, etc.

Most rentals WILL have electric for cooking ESPECIALLY if heat is included. This is because if a property only has 1 heating system that is fed by 1 gas line (or oil tank) there is no way to separate out the usage by living units.

Oil heat is when the furnace (or boiler) is heated by burning oil. The oil is ordered from your company of choice (instead of being provided by the utility company like National Grid, etc) and kept in a 375-gallon tank down in the basement. It feeds the furnace for heat and sometimes hot water as well. Homes can be heated by Forced Hot Air or Forced Hot Water. FHA will come from vents in the floors (with return ducts on ceilings or walls). FHW will be through copper piping/radiators along the wall. Welcome to heating your home in NH

[GregW]

FWIW - Propane for cooking is available all over NH. It is affordable for cooking but more expensive than oil for heat. Electric heat is even more expensive than either and not a reliable as having an onsite fuel tank and an emergency generator for when the electricity is shut down due to storms.

As you are considering the Seacoast area I would not be concerned about the availability of cooking gas. The area is well served by natural gas (the towns were some of the first to have 'Town gas" back in the 1800's) and is a delightful but somewhat pricy, for NH, place to live.

From another post:

“I suggest you take a couple of week’s right about now and come up and see what the place is like. Late winter and early spring is when we are about as ugly as possible as the dead leaves and bare trees are out there for all to see.

Buy a copy of DeLo0rme’s NH Road Atlas, a Triple “A” tour book and check out the State of NH tourist website. We are only a day and a half away by car or train and there are direct flights from Atlanta to Manchester. Come on up and look around. You might like it.” GregW

[lreznick]

Looking for natural gas similarly, I've found New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission which has a coverage map (http://www.puc.nh.gov/Gas-Steam/comm...sservedmap.pdf). You can probably call the provider in the area you're interested in to find out more specific details.

[oldeschool]

thank you all very much, the info above was really helpful. particularly the service area map that was linked to!

the company has already made arrangements for me to come out and visit, and ill be visiting in late april. cant wait to check it out, and after observing the office, ill be driving around to check out nearby towns and cities.

thanks again for the insightful replies.

[avlis13013]

Nice map. I may be stating the obvious, but don't assume every house in those coverage areas has gas. My neighborhood is a mix of gas, oil & propane.

[brk330]

I have gas heating and cooking in downtown Portsmouth. It's been a few years but I believe most of the apartments I looked at did. And walking around town I see a lot of meters on the apartment buildings. The surprise missing appliance I found when moving here was the lack of dishwashers.
The apartments around here are either a big ugly apartment complex with multiple buildings, or an old house cut up into units. You will find a lot of strange floor plans in the old houses. Lots of bathrooms off of kitchens or fiberglass showers stuffed into closets and such. In my apartment guests have to go trough my bedroom to reach the bathroom. But hey, thats part of the "character" I guess.