Gas Appliances

Thinking about gas appliances could be an option to reduce your bills while experiencing increases in ease, efficiency and performance.

Gas abundant in the US resulting in low, stable prices per unit, and shale gas is considered to be the cleanest fossil fuel, consequently, it can be regarded as the greener choice.

If you already have a natural gas line in your home, or are completing a new home you might look at the potential gains of using more gas and gas home appliances. Read more about gas appliances here from Champion Deltona Appliance Repair:

What are Natural Gas Appliances?

A gas home appliance employs gas as the primary fuel source. Natural gas home appliances offer a viable alternative to electrically powered appliances for heating your living space, providing hot water, heating food and even cooling your home and clothes drying.

In general you will still need to supply electricity to a gas appliance. The amount of electricity needed will vary from appliance to appliance. E.g, a natural gas boiler will work even if the power goes out, whereas a natural gas clothes dryer still needs electrical components to make the drum turn.

A List of Devices That Use Natural Gas.

Natural gas can have many purposes in your home.

Keeping You Warm

Heating your home with natural gas is typically less expensive than keeping warm using electrical heaters. Savings can be as much as 50% subject to your fuel prices and relative efficiency gains.

Gas provides higher air temperatures and offers better reliability.

An Indoor Fire

Aside from heating natural gas is ideal for a fireplace. With a natural gas fire, you still get all the ambiance and a focal point without the hassle.

Keeping Cool

Natural gas can be an adept way to keep cool, even if there is a power cut.

Gas air conditioning requires a higher initial investment but is more cost effective on an ongoing basis meaning cost savings in the long term. Higher efficiency also has a positive impact on your carbon footprint.

Heating Water

There are two types of natural gas water heaters, non-tank and tank. Natural gas heaters are quicker and more productive than their electric alternatives. Tankless heaters also offer a continuous supply even with high demand. Handy if you have a big family that appreciates long showers.

The fact that gas lines are almost always dug into the ground and guarded from the elements ensures you will still have hot water even when there’s a power outage.

Cooking Food

Most people have come across the phrase “cooking with gas”. A gas company marketing line conceived to link natural gas to effectiveness and efficiency.

Clever marketing or not the phrase is still around because it is accurate. Most chefs and home cooks choose natural gas for the fact that they can control the size of the flame, and natural gas ranges provide a less wasteful way of turning fuel into heat.

Dryers

You might not instantly think of using natural gas to dry your clothes, however, natural gas dryers are a great choice. They heat the air at a higher temperature thus clothes dry in a shorter time.

Outdoor Entertaining

You have to restrict your gas use to indoor appliances. When it comes to outdoor living, natural gas is a popular choice for patio lights and outdoor cooking and even to heat your spa.

Wow friends as soon as they arrive with driveway lights, keep them toasty on cool evenings and get food cooked outside, whenever you are ready, and without the worry of remembering to fill up your gas bottles.

Just like indoor water heaters a pool or spa heater will get up to temperature twice as quickly as an electric equivalent. And natural gas patio heaters set the mood as well as giving comfort for the best outside entertaining.

Advantages of Natural Gas Home Appliances

As with anything there are pros and cons to natural gas appliances. Here are some of the advantages.

Gas is generally cheaper than electricity thus lowering your annual energy costs.
Natural gas home appliances tend to use less energy making them financially and environmentally viable.
Gas is an environmentally responsible option as it is the least polluting of the fossil fuels, with emissions of around 27% less C02 than oil and 45% less C02 than coal.
Gas lines are generally run underground making supply less likely to get interrupted. This means you can still heat your home even if the power goes out.At worst you might need to find a match.

Negatives of Natural gas Home Appliances

Gas home appliances usually are subject to a higher initial cost. Both the ticket price of the appliance and the associated installation costs are likely to be greater for a natural gas appliance when looking at next to electrical alternatives.
Having a gas line installed if you don’t already have one can be costly. The amount will vary depending on a number of factors.
Moving or extending a natural gas line can also require a big outlay.
Safety first! Carbon monoxide can be an issue if natural gas appliances are not properly installed or regularly maintained. Having a carbon monoxide alarm is essential is you use natural gas in your home.

Should You Choose Gas?

Making the decision between gas and electricity is not straightforward and the right choice for you may not be the right decision for everyone.

If your main driver is cost gas is for the time being the cheaper option. However, while studies show that three-quarters of new home buyers are choosing to have natural gas, switching to gas comes at a cost. Therefore, finding out how much a new gas line would cost if you don’t already have one is a good place to start.

Another key advantage of natural gas is stability of supply. If power cuts are common in your area then being able to heat water, heat or cool your home and cook during outages can be a big plus.

Lastly, the sustainability credentials of gas may be relatively short term, as you can’t switch them to renewable sources like you can electrical home appliances. Installing renewable energy could be less expensive and more eco-friendly options in the long run.