Natural Gas or Propane ?

[yogitunes]

Most we presume with GAS is naturally piped in....

Do any of you guys have Propane?....or is it strickly Natural Gas or Electric

and by luck I also happen to have a conversion kit to convert from Natural to Propane, from a Maytag Neptune 5500 series, should fit most, if anyone needs this let me know, its yours for shipping cost....

 

[3beltwesty]

On the miss gulf coast most folks close to cities have piped in Natural gas and if in the country or rural a Propane tank with that is filled once a month in the winter and every 2 months in the summer.

For Hurricane usage folks sometimes too have their own Propane tanks at homes too for generators, in case the Natural gas is shut off in another disaster. Normally NG is not effected, but in some beach areas that got massive damage the gas had to be shut of in sections to halt leaks.

The orifice is different sometimes on a gas burner unit for natural gas versus propane of course; since the gases are slightly different.

There are some high end sub divisions too where there is no piped natural gas; and some folks have 250 and 500 gallon huge Propane tanks that supplies the gas dryer, gas central heater, gas stove, gas water heater, and emergency generator too. I was really rather surprised that houses that cost 500k had no natural gas at all; weird.

Here one super dinky generator I have is 2200 watts, 120 volts and is tri fuel; Propane, Natural gas or gasoline too

 

[toggleswitch]

I prefer natural gas if I had to choose between the two.

Propane for cooking STINKS to me, and I am not a fan of the carbon given off, (evidence by orange to white light coming off the tips fo the propane flame). Even the damned side-burner of my propane grill blackened the bottoms of pots and pans!

Again natural gas for a clothes dryer I'll tolerate, not propane.

 

[dj-gabriele]

Honestly it doesn't change a thing to me!
I lived with bottled propane for years and the results, charring, smell, etc, were about the same.

When we connected to the new gas-duct at my parent's, the first months a mixture of propane and butane was piped in, with a flow and pressure and dilution to make it burn like methane, we needed to adjust the nozzles in the combi-boiler and fitted the new cooktop as we were renovating at the time.
Over time, when they finished the duct works, methane was piped in and the only change was in the smell if the flame didn't light as soon as the spark hit the burner when turning the handle. Methane is way more odourized! And burns with a lighter blue flame.

Should I change now I'd go for a mixed induction-gas cooktop as I can get cheap cooking with gas and extremely fast boiling times with electric.
Or smooth top under glass gas hobs, very stylish!

 

[laundromat]

I SELL PROPANE all day long because ,here in Hawaii,there is no natural gas. We sell the best there is and at the lowest price ($4.20/gal.+ tax) in the entire state of Hawaii.We just upgraded our tank from an 800 gal. to a whopping 2000 gal tank. That was quite an adventure because they had to use a lift to take the other one away and place the new one in.The entire process took an hour and a half but the new tank is so much better and we no longer have to get it refilled as frequently as before.I,myself prefer electric but here it's $.45/KWH!!!!!Our average day, we pump out 300+gal.

 

[3beltwesty]

SNG

"Although Hawaiian natural gas consumption is the lowest in the country, the State has the distinction of being one of three States that produce synthetic natural gas."

http://www.eia.gov/cfapps/state/state_energy_profiles.cfm?sid=HI

 

[whirlcool]

In rural areas of the midwest it seems that most everyone has a silver propane tank out in the backyard, next to the house.

 

[circlew]

My sister has propane for their furnace, gas cooktop and tankless water heater. About 3 years ago they got a larger propane tank, and had it burried in the ground.
They live on a farm over 6 miles from a town, so no natural gas service.

According to her husband, the gas is very expensive. Therefore, they keep their house much cooler than I like. I about have to keep my coat on when there in the winter.

 

[alr2903]

Propane burns MUCH hotter than city gas,  ask any cajun.   Many native folks in NOLA have a T valve to hook up a burner to boil seafood.  At large family events they may have a burner going with natural gas, and a one or more with barbeque pit propane tanks. The propane always boils huge pots much faster than the natural gas, or as the locals call it "house gas".  I recently read somewhere maybe here, that the cost of using a LP gas dryer is now higher than using electric.  Liquid propane made modern appliances available to many rural dwellers, water heaters, kitchen ranges, clothes dryers especially in older homes. As Whirlcool posted most rural folks do indeed have a "silver submarine" tank in the back yard. alr2903

 

[luxflairguy]

Believe it or not, Seattle has neighborhoods that still do not have natural gas service. I lived in one for 15 years. We petitioned the gas company several times asking for gas service and were told each time that our household income per capita was not high enough! Isn't that interesting? So we had a 250 gallon propane tank at the side of the house running the 8 burner 2 oven Garland, the H2O tank, the fireplace and 2 outside BBq's. The furnace was oil. Dryer (miele) was electric. We were on automatic fill and that meant for our useage about every 4 months. Usually about 180 gallons. The Garland range had 20,000 btu burners and boy did they cook fast, but also threw-out a lot of heat! I still miss the fast "to boil" time, but must admit that I grew-up cooking on electricity and like the simpleness of that. Our beach cabin also had propane; a Servel gas refer and a 20 inch wedgewood range and wall heater. The tank was round like an old bathosphere!

 

[jmm63]

I live on a rock.......

so we have no Natural gas lines up in this area, I guess its one of the drawbacks for living in the "mountains" Oddly enough, there is nat gas a mile down the road. The stove is a new GE propane, 2-100# tanks supply it but I've only had to order gas once in the three years I've owned this house. I never noticed any difference with cooking with Nat Gas or Propane.

The furnace is oil and I doubt I will switch to a propane one when its time to replace it. I understand propane for heating is even more expensive than oil.

The dryer and hot water heater are electric. It really wasn't worth the expense to change them to propane so I kept them electric, although I bought new ones 3 years ago. Electric bill isn't terrible. About $100/month in winter, and mostly because the water coming in is so much colder the water heater has to work longer. Summer bills are just a little lower.

 

[franksdad]

Natural gas for heat here.  Looking at getting a gas tankless hot water heater in the next couple of years.  Electric dryer.  Don't like the smell of gas dryers. 

 

[runematic]

I use propane for heating purposes.  I use electric for the dryer, range, &  h2o heater.  I have a 500 gallon tank behind the house.  I fill it once in November and once in February (I always have propane left from Feb when I fire the heat back up sometime around the end of Oct).  Propane was about $1.40/gallon in Nov & $2.20 in Feb this year.