We are getting close to building a house in a semi-rural area. Feels like the country but close to town. The area has water, electric, and internet. But no natural gas or sewer. We are currently in an all electric house trailer on the property, temporarily until we get the house built.
The questions this time revolve around not being able to decide whether we should go all electric or get a propane tank. If going with propane, what all should we use it for. We don't typically have many electrical interruptions except for the occasional tornado.... Winters are not cold cold, nights typically hover around the freezing mark. Just a little under or over. We don't get a lot of days where the high stays below freezing. We get 3-4 really cold snaps per winter usually. Just a few days where it stays below freezing. Some winters we get 2-3 snow events and some winters none. If we did get propane I would prefer a buried tank but they are not exactly cheap. I don't think the actual propane is all that cheap either. Not sure if it will save money compared to electric or cost more. I'm beginning to think that I don't really want to deal with propane at all but I don't want to take it off the table if it's the better way to go.
We are building in a fireplace. Like a lot of people we don't have a lot of margin at this point in our lives, so I don't think a traditional wood burning fireplace would get used much. We are gone a lot or otherwise just don't stay home all day to make use of a fire that takes a long time to build or burn out. Not to mention we wouldn't be able to harvest our own wood. So I either want to put in gas logs or a pellet insert. Either one I would like for heat and to be able to see the fire.
Water heating is another question. The houses I have lived in with gas water heaters I never had an issue running out of hot water, I have run out many times with the electric ones. We are building a double shower in the master so I know we will use more hot water than usual. What is the solution?
I have never cooked on gas so at this point that's moot. Electric either way.
Heating furnace... The gas furnaces I have had in the past have been awesome. However, the electric one that is in our 10 year old trailer house has done a phenomenal job. Even in the cold snap just before Christmas, where nights got down to zero, it stayed 70 degrees all night. I am not scared of electric heat any more. I have heard of electric units with propane emergency strips. I'm curious if that is worth checking into. Also, I think a pellet insert in the fireplace providing additional heat would make me even less scared of electric heat.
I do think I'm going to have the house wired for a generator. Even if we don't get the automatic whole house generator, we would still be able to plug in a decent size one to run the pellet stove, refrigerators, freezers, etc. Then there's the gasoline vs propane question there too... So many decisions.