Propane or Electric?

[tkappeler]

We are building a new home (New Home Begins) and there are no gas utilities in the area. We were planning on wood for our primary heat source and electric for water heating and heat pump for backup heat and A/C. We wanted to use propane for cooking and clothes dryer.

Now we are second guessing as to whether we should go with a gas heater and hot water heater also. Of course, comparing efficiency, initial cost, usage costs is like comparing apples to airplanes.

Oh, and if we go with propane for heating, our tank size bumps up from 100 gallon to 325 gallon ... a 12 foot torpedo in the yard to be hidden with shrubs.

Any ideas on which is better? I know this is subjective but am looking for opinions and/or actual calculations for comparing?

Thanks.

 

[kenmac]

As an HVAC contractor, I can say that nothing warms you like gas. That being said, at what cost do you want to be confortable. I know that propane prices can & do get very high at times. If you can stick to using wood. You may want to go with HP with heat strips as backup.

 

[Markcuda]

I vote propane.

 

[dave1949]

Propane is expensive up here, and the price per gallon fluctuates a lot more than the relatively stable electric rates. Electric costs can be offset with solar pv.

My sense is that electric appliances have lower maintenance risks/costs over time than gas. No pilot lights or igniters to mess with. No exhaust vent pipes needed for electric.

I like cooking on our propane range. The wife liked the ease of cleaning the ceramic cook top electric units like in our previous house, compared to our gas range.

The insulation on water heaters can make a world of difference for either fuel.

 

[Redneck in training]

We have 100% electric house. It is heated by geothermal HP. Shop is heated by Halcyon air/air HP. We installed 24 kW PV system last year. In other words we heat and AC the house by PV. So here is my suggestion to consider:
If I would build the house today I would position it such a way that the roof crest is EW and the south facing roof slope is about 37 deg. Then I would populate it with PV panels. I would use units similar to Halcyon for each room. The whole shebang would cost about as much as the geothermal alone and would not use power at all. Provided that you could do PV installation DIY. PV panels were last year for way less than $1/W. The cost about doubled by adding cabling, inverters, racking etc. but then you get the tax rebate for alternative energy system and mortgage interest.

 

[hosspuller]

What is your electric rate vs current propane cost? Propane is expensive energy around here. I have a Heat pump that is only used for cooling. Wood heats me three times ... cut it, split it, burn it.

 

[MotorSeven]

TK, I went with a instant propane hot water heater, cooktop & a ventless fireplace. Filled the 500 gallon tank at the beginning of winter & we have used about 200 gallons so far. I'm not too crazy about the usage since I primarily heat with wood. I think the hot water heater is sucking the majority of our gas so this spring/summer I am going to build a solar hot water heater which hopefully will by-pass the tankless heater 90% of the time.

This is my first time ever having any propane appliances in a house and to be honest I like the convenience & the instant heat it gives. But this comes at a price that seems higher then any electric equivalent. I think eventually I will go all solar and only keep the propane as back-ups.....solar is down to a dollar a watt which is awesome.

 

[sam5570]

What is your electric rate vs current propane cost? Propane is expensive energy around here. I have a Heat pump that is only used for cooling. Wood heats me three times ... cut it, split it, burn it.

same here wood heat. just installed heat pump last summer for the ac but we use it in fall when we need a little heat.i like teh gas but for safty reasons i would go electric for hot water and dryer.

 

[forgeblast]

We have a Jotul lp heater, looks like a wood stove vented through the wall and is awesome. It has a battery thermostat and works when the power goes out.
We have lp for our cooking and heat, in the basement is also 2 of the three brick propane ventfree heaters to keep the basment warm.
I like propane, it is instant on, I dont have nuke type temps that you can get from a wood stove, and due to my daughters allergies I dont have smoke blowing into the house.
I will eventually be going with a mini-split ac with heat pump in the bedrooms so that we dont have to use our electric baseboards as much.
For me I like having a variety of methods to heat the house in case the power goes out.

 

[Bird]

I don't really know whether one would be higher cost than the other or not. We've had both over the years, lived in houses in town with natural gas and now total electric, lived in the country in a mobile home with propane, changed to total electric when we bought a new double wide, and of course spent 6 years full time RVing with propane.

So I think it kind of boils down to personal preference.