Is gas on its way out as a cooking fuel?

[mavei511]

Just wanted to find out everyones' opinion on this.
Sure seems like it is,with indoor air quality concerns,the increased costs and supply concerns of natural gas and the increased sales of smooth top electrics.And I mean not right away,but maybe in the next 10-20yrs.
Also I found many builders have plumbers that don't have gasfitters' licenses,thus they build lower-income housing all-electric to keep down construction costs.

 

[sikiguya]

I hope not.

I love my gas cooktop and would never go back to an electric if I had a choice. I have electric for my ovens, which I find is better for me.
Here in the suburban Chicago area, we always have had gas. This was my first house with electric ovens. Gas for me, is cheap. It's electricity that ComEd makes so expensive. My 3400 Sq ft house is heated by gas and I have a gas dryer and my cooktop. My highest bill this winter was $143 and that is keeping my house at 68 during the day (sometimes higher depending on the day) and 66 at night. It is very comfortable and I am a cold person.
In Arizona (where I grew up), we only had electric. I never liked it but I never knew better!

 

[DADoES]

I've always had electric, but I seriously doubt gas will disappear. I've always heard that professional chefs prefer gas cooktops (but electric ovens).

 

[~sudsshane]

I have propane

My gas stove runs off propane. as does my fireplace. growing up on NY's LI where most homes have gas, even gas dryers, I couldn't imagine ever being without it.
Long live gas stoves and fireplaces!

 

[58limited]

Not anytime soon. Gas is advertised as more efficient than electricity for heating, cooking, and clothes drying (I'm not sure if this is true) plus look at all the TV chefs: they use gas and more and more people watch them and try to emulate them when they remodel their kitchens. A lot of thehigh end houses being built down here are getting the $5000+ Viking gas ranges put into their kitchens. Also, if you watch outdoor living shows, built in gas grills, outdoor fireplaces, and firepits are gaining in popularity. So, I think gas as a cooking, heating, and recreation fuel is here to stay.

I have a gas stove and I will never go back to an electric stove. This is a personal preference, I know many who prefer electric stoves.

 

[danemodsandy]

Air Quality

I think that the problem for many people will be air quality- houses are being built more tightly all the time and carbon monoxide is becoming more of a concern than formerly. Gas stoves aren't vented (most of them) and so all the byproducts of their combustion end up in the air you breathe indoors. I'm in a very, very tight house, and I am currently forced to use gas (I strongly prefer electric, but everything here is built-in and would cost a bleepin' fortune to change). I would not be comfortable letting something cook while I slept.

 

[polkanut]

Being a 3rd generation gas stove user, I seriously have my doubts also that gas appliances will become extinct in the future. I like the fact that the heat is on and off instantly, and a gas flame is much easier to regulate IMHO!

 

[oxydolfan1]

I really don't care for an electric cooktop and all and dislike cooking on them tremendously, but an electric oven I wouldn't mind so much.

I just can't get used to electric burners.

But, like everything else in life, if you have no choice, you learn to adapt.

 

[pturo]

What is ironic is that natural gas is used to create electricity in many plants across the country. Seems dumb to pay the cost of electricty to heat/cook when it is the more expensive product of gas in the first place. The reason why gas is becoming scarce is our increased electric demand. Last current stats that I read were that it is about 35 cents to run a gas load and about 50 cents to run an electric load in a dryer, or about 45% more per load, based on national averages.(There are anomolies, this is average) That should hold true for water heaters, as well on average, about 45% more. If someone were to offer a savings of 45% off your utility bill, would you be interested? With carbon monoxide detectors, gas cooking/drying should not be a problem, but I do see a day when vented hoods will be required for a gas stove,like gas furnaces and dryers.

 

[toggleswitch]

Dont judge unless you have use both extensively.

The postitive aspects of a smoothtop give it a tremendous edge over older coils or hob type electric cooktop elements.
The cleanliness of electric and the resposiveness and intuitive/visual apsects of gas both have their adherants and enthusiasts.

I have both gas and electric; each has its advantages and disadvantages. My gas cooker has an oven that works during power outages.

(The kitchen pictured is the basment makeshift one that was inteded to be gutted and re-done one day HA! I ran the gas line, the electric cable and the exhaust fan myself.)

 

[toggleswitch]

Now see (LP) propane for me literally stinks like the petrochemical that it is. I'm not a big fan of the yellowish-orange tips that are typical of propane burners that scream CARBON/soot/black-schmootz being released!

I literally get short-of-breath over natural gas, but even more so over propane fumes.

CAUTION: Make sure you have your your gas appliance adjusted when it is made for natural gas (methane) and used on propane. The flames will be twice the size they are supposed to be and it's QUITE dangerous. My sister almost had a huge problem when Sears neglected to adjust her natural gas equipped dryer to the existing LP /Propane service in her home.

 

[oxydolfan1]

Toggle....that looks like an Israeli oven (or I guess maybe Eastern European...)

What brand is that?

 

[neptunebob]

Toggle I like the way all the appliances are so white. Also, are those cabinets from IKEA or a regular cabinet company? I think they could work well in my kitchen.

 

[appnut]

From what I can tell, natural gas is becoming less & less common around here in new houses.

I like my 1984 coil-top Hotpoint slide-in range. The only thinhg approaching gas cooking for me in the future is induction. By the time that's an affordable range option, I'll be old and decreped so that it will be a safety issue for me and won't burn the house down lol.

 

[toggleswitch]

AVANTI. Turkish. (My grandparents are rolling over in their graves)

TOL features on a compact specialty-size appliance:
Sealed burners of varying sizes (slow, medium, fast)
Broiler/grille in oven cavity.

Push in surface burner knobs to start clicker/sparker ignition.

Push in oven knob turning counter-clockwise (anti-clockwise to you Brits) to ignite oven burner and pilot using electonic sparker. HOLD IN for 15 -30 second to "prove" ignition. Then let go of knob and burner self-sustains. Turn clockwise for broler/grille which is IN THE OVEN CAVITY (never before seen here in a 20" gas (50cm) model, IIRC.)

Both burners can be manually lit with a match during a power outage.

A drawback of this system, which has a minimum-bypass flame and a varying size flame with regard to the oven burner, is that you can't get *hold-warm temps (140 to 19*F) as you can on an American glow-bar ignitor system with a cycling burner (full-on, or full-off).

Biggest issue I had:
No keep-warm temps.
When you go from a higher temp (say 450*F) to a much lower temp (say 275*F) BURNER GOES OUT. (You must wait for oven to cool THEN RELIGHT IT.) I am hoping this was a fluke with my particular unit.

Avanti is big in compact appliances

Avanti Products is your best choice for compact consumer appliances. Avanti Products is the innovative leader in compact, countertop and specialty appliances. From the hotel/dormitory room, offices to homes where space is at a premium we have the right product at the right price for you.

www.avantiproducts.com

 

[toggleswitch]

The cabinets are from knocked-down assemble-yourself units from Homo Depot. The faces (meaning doors and drawer fronts) are selectable in terms of various wooden or a white style. The rest of the cabinet is simply avaiable in one wooden or one white type.Notice there is no toe-kick board.

bLowe's had cabinets that were pre-assembeled, which for me was difficult to transport.

They are reasonable in price and for the BOL POS that it
actually is, I'd say it has a nice appearance.

Bob: I'd say gas cooking is WAY too hot for southern climates. Smoothtops further increase the appeal of electric cooking

 

[toggleswitch]

In large aparment building here in NYC, each aparment's gas stove was individually metered. This is a natural extension of when lighting was GAS before electricity and individual metering was necessary even then.

However all that piping was eliminated, I'd say in mid -60' in newer buildngs buildings by using one meter for all gas stoves in the building and having one vertical run pick up all stoves in the same "line" of apartments.

Some very new construction has electric cooking, but this is still relatively rare here in buildings.

Long Island has "spotty" gas sevice. Depends on builder at the time and avaialbilty as well. Many homes cook eletrically and retain electric cooking even when gas became avaiable much later. I believe if three adjacent homes request gas you can get the service instaled for free.

I do beleive that even new homes here with gas heating and domestic hot water often have builders install electric cooking and dryers. Piping and installation is more expensive for them. (and SCREW the environment appears to be their attitude!)

 

[~sudsshane]

Natural Gas or Propane?

Most people here have electric. I agree with Toggleswitch regarding the smooth top ranges. If I had electric, I would much prefer that than the coil top electric ranges.
You know what is so strange?? my neighbors just up the street have natural gas and the gas line stopped 4 houses down. I checked to see how much $$$ it would cost to run a line to our house and was told several thousand dollars. Also, propane is very expensive here. Much more so than natural gas.

 

[oxydolfan1]

I LOVE that little oven and I love some of the other Avanti models even MORE...

Thank you, toggle....there are a few appliance vendors in Chinatown that sell Avanti products, and I will take a closer look at it for future reference (I really never need a standard size range)...

I LOVE appliance shopping, and appliance stores!