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Gas Vs Electric / Induction cook tops / Electricty Unit Rates

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neroden

Model S Owner and Frustrated Tesla Fan
Apr 25, 2011
14,676
63,892
Ithaca, NY, USA
There are Code issues with that, but I get your point.

I think I'm going to stick with my original plan of wiring the garage for a NEMA 14-50 and converting my range and dryer to gas (things I have wanted to do anyway). My house is older, and the range is on a 40 amp circuit (new ones are 50 amp) and my dryer is on a 30 amp circuit.

Aside from gas being less expensive than electricity, I find my range and dryer are usually running during mid or on-peak rate periods, so it should be even more economical having these appliances running on gas.

Well, you've got relatively expensive electricity. I ran the numbers in upstate NY and concluded that electricity was on par with gas, and electricity is actually getting cheaper here; meanwhile, natural gas is getting more expensive *VERY* quickly, for whatever reason. (We discussed the curious contrary trends of electricity prices rising in Ontario and dropping in upstate NY a while back.) I recently replaced my gas dryer with an electric one, and I appear to be spending the same amount of money.

I guess what I'm saying is I wouldn't expect gas to *stay* cheaper, so I would leave the dryer circuit in place for the future. Gas is just much easier to use for a range, however; electric is finickier. You'll probably enjoy that change if you cook.
 
Well, you've got relatively expensive electricity. I ran the numbers in upstate NY and concluded that electricity was on par with gas, and electricity is actually getting cheaper here; meanwhile, natural gas is getting more expensive *VERY* quickly, for whatever reason. (We discussed the curious contrary trends of electricity prices rising in Ontario and dropping in upstate NY a while back.) I recently replaced my gas dryer with an electric one, and I appear to be spending the same amount of money.

I guess what I'm saying is I wouldn't expect gas to *stay* cheaper, so I would leave the dryer circuit in place for the future. Gas is just much easier to use for a range, however; electric is finickier. You'll probably enjoy that change if you cook.

All in, with taxes I pay $0.1220/kWh Off Peak, $0.1629/kWh Mid Peak and $0.1828/kWh On Peak.

I also have an electric water heater, but no easy way to convert it to gas. If I could, I'd save a couple of hundred bucks a year even though the water heater is on a timer set to only run in Off Peak periods.

Fact is, I already have a gas range to install (bought at my previous house just months before I moved) and I need a new dryer anyway.
 
In the Pacific North West (with abundant hydro power) we are fortunate to pay only 0.085/kWh, currently with no peak charges. That may change but for now life is good.... and will be especially good when my S arrives and I can stop buying gas!

... of course you have to put up with the rain here. We say "summer starts July 5th and winter begins October 15th"
 
All in, with taxes I pay $0.1220/kWh Off Peak, $0.1629/kWh Mid Peak and $0.1828/kWh On Peak.

My prices in Pagosa Springs, CO are so much more reasonable. From LPEA WattWatcher: off-peak is $0.046/kWh and on-peak is $0.156/kWh.

If the performance on snow and ice is as good as Tesla claims, then the 60 mile round trip to Wolf Creek will be very pleasant, costing only about $1 in off-peak electricity.
 
Gas is just much easier to use for a range, however; electric is finickier. You'll probably enjoy that change if you cook.

Anyone that still thinks cooking on gas is better than electricity really needs to do some research into induction cook-tops. They are more powerful than gas, are much more controllable at low power (i.e. simmering), and don't heat up the kitchen in the summer.

Cooking on an open fire inside a structure built from wood and paper is just primitive and dangerous IMO. Get yourself an induction cook-top to go with your induction motor car.
 
Anyone that still thinks cooking on gas is better than electricity really needs to do some research into induction cook-tops. They are more powerful than gas, are much more controllable at low power (i.e. simmering), and don't heat up the kitchen in the summer.

Cooking on an open fire inside a structure built from wood and paper is just primitive and dangerous IMO. Get yourself an induction cook-top to go with your induction motor car.

+1

We cook with gas in our cabin (no electricity except solar panels & batteries there) and with induction at home. No contest, the induction range wins hands down in every aspect. For example, it is MUCH, MUCH easier to clean. And cooks water in half the time or less.
 
Anyone that still thinks cooking on gas is better than electricity really needs to do some research into induction cook-tops.
Thanks for the pointer! Induction cooktops are neat.... but they're not suitable for our cooking. For my fiancee with arthritis in the wrists, we use aluminum and Corning glass cookware to reduce weight.

"To be used on an induction cooktop, a cooking vessel must be made of a ferromagnetic metal, or placed on an interface disk "

"Cookware must be compatible with induction heating; glass and ceramics are unusable, as are solid copper or solid aluminum cookware. Cookware must have a flat bottom since the magnetic field drops rapidly with distance from the surface. (Special and costly surfaces are available for use with round-bottom woks.) Induction rings are a metal plate that heat up a non-ferrous pot by contact, but these sacrifice much of the power and efficiency of direct use of induction in a compatible cooking vessel."

So, no-go.

Cooking on an open fire inside a structure built from wood and paper is just primitive and dangerous IMO. Get yourself an induction cook-top to go with your induction motor car.
I grew up in a house made of stone and brick, which made the open fire a lot less worrisome.
 
There's a reason why "Now you're cooking with gas," means Now you're doing it right. I have a glass-top range (not induction) and while it's WAY better than older electric stoves, it's not as nice as gas. Except that I don't have to worry about CO and the fire hazard is less. (All my appliances are the ones that came with the house.) For heating water and leftovers I use the microwave.
 
There's a reason why "Now you're cooking with gas," means Now you're doing it right. I have a glass-top range (not induction) and while it's WAY better than older electric stoves, it's not as nice as gas. Except that I don't have to worry about CO and the fire hazard is less. (All my appliances are the ones that came with the house.) For heating water and leftovers I use the microwave.

You can't compare old glass-top ranges with induction ranges. Night and day difference. It would be like comparing the iMiEV to the Tesla Model S...;)
 
There's a reason why "Now you're cooking with gas," means Now you're doing it right. I have a glass-top range (not induction) and while it's WAY better than older electric stoves, it's not as nice as gas. Except that I don't have to worry about CO and the fire hazard is less. (All my appliances are the ones that came with the house.) For heating water and leftovers I use the microwave.

Induction and a standard glass top electric are worlds apart when it comes to heat and temperature you see. You get much better control and even heating with induction. Use a cast iron skillet, or some specifically 'induction ready' stainless on an induction burner and taste the difference.

And as for efficiency and safety of induction nothing can come close except a microwave. And those generally don't cook all that well.
 
There's a reason why "Now you're cooking with gas," means Now you're doing it right. I have a glass-top range (not induction) and while it's WAY better than older electric stoves, it's not as nice as gas. Except that I don't have to worry about CO and the fire hazard is less. (All my appliances are the ones that came with the house.) For heating water and leftovers I use the microwave.

Use extreme caution when heating water in a microwave oven. Water can become super-heated (beyond the boiling point) and "explode" when you remove it from the oven. This is the No. 1 cause of microwave injuries. Check the first page of your microwave manual.
 
I use the induction range as it is MUCH faster. That Panasonic is 700W @ close to 100% efficiency while the induction range is 2800W @ 75% efficiency for a total of 2100W.

Yes, it would be faster, but the idea is that you keep the thermal pot on all day so you can have a cup of tea whenever you want.
 
You can't compare old glass-top ranges with induction ranges. Night and day difference. It would be like comparing the iMiEV to the Tesla Model S...;)
Okay. But I'm not about to buy a new range. As we used to say when I worked on a farm: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Use extreme caution when heating water in a microwave oven. Water can become super-heated (beyond the boiling point) and "explode" when you remove it from the oven. This is the No. 1 cause of microwave injuries. Check the first page of your microwave manual.
Yes, I know.

You heat water with one of these, not the microwave.
... the idea is that you keep the thermal pot on all day so you can have a cup of tea whenever you want.
I drink two cups of decaf coffee a day. Keeping a pot of hot water on the boil all day doesn't sound like such a great idea to me. But I can nuke a 12-oz mug of water to coffee temperature in 2 1/2 minutes.