[Homestead] Propane versus electric

Lynda lurine at softcom.net
Wed Jun 21 15:16:37 EDT 2006


I was only addressing refrigeration and not advocating getting rid of all 
propane.

That said, I agree on heating things.

For cooking, however, when I have saved a few more dollars, the propane 
stove is going in the paper to be sold!  Electric, induction if I can scare 
up enough money, is coming in!  We're buying a really old stove that has 4 
electric burners and two wood burners. Electric is far more efficient than 
propane AND cleaner!  Of course, I realise that cooking with electric is a 
HUGE learning curve for some folks but I've been using it since I was old 
enough to stand on a chair to reach the pots and pans on the stove.  And I 
like being able to cut the heat down to a true simmer and not having to 
worry about a draft or gust of wind through an open window blowing out a 
really low flame.

For water heaters, we are in the process of converting to solar and area of 
use on-demand water heaters for those occasions when solar isn't a good 
option.  In one of the bathrooms it will be electric and in one it will be 
propane to cover all bases.

We heat the house with wood which out here all we have to do is go out and 
pick it up off the ground and split it, so that is cost effective <g>

With the price of electric vs. the price of propane in this area (the county 
owns its own power plant), it pays to use electric and to have a generator 
for the once in a blue moon power outages that would necessitate doing more 
than gritting your teeth until the power comes back on.  And there hasn't 
been one of those in over 10 years.

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gene GeRue" <genegerue at ruralize.com>

> All good advice. Let us not swing the brush too wide, however.
> Propane is a better choice than electric for heating appliances.
> Plus, if your propane tank is large enough you are immune to electric 
> outages.
>
> I have long wanted a large propane tank. Got one last fall; it holds
> a thousand gallons. I will now refill it once per year at the time
> that propane is least expensive. Electric outages will not affect my
> ability to heat water, cook, heat the house. I have an RV fridge that
> is three-way, twelve volt, 120 volt, and propane. It is small but a
> good backup for when big storms knock out the electric. We were once
> without electricity for six or seven days.
>
> If I relied on electric for anything I would either have redundancy
> or a good generator.
>
>
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