Still worth getting a Model 3 if Electricity costs more than Gas?

[Saghost]

That's totally wrong. Are you trying to scare people? Hundreds of millions of people have gas without ever having an issue with it. I'm one of them.

To answer the original OP question though......Yes. I would still do what I could to save the environment.

In what way is it wrong? It happens, and I have no reason to doubt the video. It's rare, but pumping explosive gases into the house is inherently a risk factor.

And natural gas is by definition a fossil fuel and bad for the environment, though there are certainly potential renewable sources for methane that I haven't seen utilities using yet.

If you aren't going to resort to a clothes line, I think the smallest impact (and the best performance and most flexibility,) is a heat pump dryer - pretty much a dryer with a dehumidifier buried in its heart.

 

[Dr. J]

It’d be like writing your own will and trust and wanting a lawyer to review if it was done correctly. There is no way the lawyer would put their professional accreditation on the line, as it’d be simpler to just redo it their way from the start.

<OT>
Leaving aside the trust, which is complex, your analogy is less than persuasive for a will: Depends on the state; depends on the lawyer; depends on the nut loose on the keyboard drafting the will. I drafted a perfectly sound will for my mother-in-law (in Texas) after a lawyer recommended by her financial guy botched a first draft by getting names wrong and accidentally writing my wife out of the will--and there were only two kids total! So, no, the credential doesn't guarantee quality. True expertise is what you're looking for. And BTW we fired the financial guy as well, and my mom-in-law now has lower expenses, more diversification and better portfolio returns. OTOH, for surgery, I went to the best expert money could buy. And I know my limits around electricity: replacing light bulbs is pretty much it. And now back to your regularly scheduled discussion....

 

[SageBrush]

You are hardcore bro.

It only seems that way because you have gotten used to pushing buttons. I assure you -- I am pretty lazy.

 

[SageBrush]

I think the smallest impact (and the best performance and most flexibility,) is a heat pump dryer - pretty much a dryer with a dehumidifier buried in its heart.

IIRC these things are popular in Europe with Apt dwellers. They are remarkably efficient

 

[Dr. J]

There are even some cases where night time electricity is free (e.g. some parts of Texas).

A Texas Utility Offers a Nighttime Special: Free Electricity
Free Nights & Solar Days: 100% Free at Night. 100% Solar All Day
TXU is First to Offer Free Night-Time Electricity Rate Plan | CleanTechnica
Here’s Who Will Pay You to Use Less Power in Texas - search for TXU

This is basically a marketing scam. Deregulated power in Texas encourages all types of gaming oriented to the required disclosures on the state's electric provider website (powertochoose.org): cost per 500 kWh, 1000 kWh and 1500 kWh. It's become incredibly complicated and opaque, so much so there are now services that offer to find the best plan for you based on past usage. Anyone still with TXU in the Oncor (North Texas) delivery area is paying way too much, even with free nights. For the time spent on the website plus the rate I pay for electricity, my best option was renewing with my current REP at 8.1 cents per kWh, 24 hours/day, all year long, for 2 years. I couldn't beat it for simplicity, and it was only a bit higher than the 7.9 cents I had with them originally. I don't have to think about TOU and I don't have to mess with this crap for another 2 years. YMMV.

 

[Garlan Garner]

In what way is it wrong? It happens, and I have no reason to doubt the video. It's rare, but pumping explosive gases into the house is inherently a risk factor.

And natural gas is by definition a fossil fuel and bad for the environment, though there are certainly potential renewable sources for methane that I haven't seen utilities using yet.

If you aren't going to resort to a clothes line, I think the smallest impact (and the best performance and most flexibility,) is a heat pump dryer - pretty much a dryer with a dehumidifier buried in its heart.

When you post something that is as rare as a blue sun then you make it look like its commonplace then you are wrong.

What if the gas was left on purposely in that house? You never know....so don't post such things.

There are more people electrocuted in their homes by electricity than blown up by gas. Its absolutely true.....should that be posted as well?

There are more homes that catch on fire by bad wiring than by bad gas lines. Its absolutely true......should that be posted as well?

Answer: None of those facts help anyone concerning EV' purchases.


This thread is about the cost of gas vs. electricity. That's the purpose of the thread.

 

[Zythryn]

When you post something that is as rare as a blue sun then you make it look like its commonplace then you are wrong.
....

I intended in no way to imply this is an every day occurance.
The fact that houses and buildings blow up due to natural gas is a fact. The RATE of that occurance is low as you indicate. But it does exist.
More common that the house blowing up is likely CO poisoning. Every year we have stories about this happening in our region. Sometimes in a house, sometimes a boat,car (although the boat and house aren’t due to nat gas) or ice fishing house (may or may not be nat gas).
And then you have the damage to the environment, which I haven’t even touched on.

Again, I am not claiming this happens often. But why take the risk, even though it is small?

So yes, Natural Gas carries risks, and that was an answer to the question, “why not nat gas?”

 

[Garlan Garner]

I intended in no way to imply this is an every day occurance.
The fact that houses and buildings blow up due to natural gas is a fact. The RATE of that occurance is low as you indicate. But it does exist.
More common that the house blowing up is likely CO poisoning. Every year we have stories about this happening in our region. Sometimes in a house, sometimes a boat,car (although the boat and house aren’t due to nat gas) or ice fishing house (may or may not be nat gas).
And then you have the damage to the environment, which I haven’t even touched on.

Again, I am not claiming this happens often. But why take the risk, even though it is small?

So yes, Natural Gas carries risks, and that was an answer to the question, “why not nat gas?”

Did you read my post right above yours concerning electricity? You seem to have avoided commenting on those. For those without Gas run into their homes the dangerous electricity occurrences are 100% over gas.

Question: Why take the Electricity risk is the answer to why take the Gas risk because its more deadly/harmful per capita?

Fact: Even though planes fall out of the sky and kill bunches of people every time they crash.....planes are tremendously safer than all other forms of transportation.
But yet...some would want to post the picture of a plane crash to show how "dangerous" they are.

 

[Saghost]

Question: Why take the Electricity risk is the answer to why take the Gas risk because its more deadly/harmful per capita?

That's not an either/or question, unless you're planning to live here:

To comply with current US building code you have to have a bunch of electrical outlets in a house - and trying to live without them makes life much less comfortable. You don't have to have the (generally fairly small) extra risks associated with natural gas.

 

[Dr. J]

and very temperate weather

Full disclosure: it's hot as Hades in the summer, including most of July, all of August and most of September. Other than that, it is temperate.

 

[Dr. J]

That's not an either/or question, unless you're planning to live here:

To comply with current US building code you have to have a bunch of electrical outlets in a house - and trying to live without them makes life much less comfortable. You don't have to have the (generally fairly small) extra risks associated with natural gas.

Gas: gasoline (in the video)
Gas: natural gas (piped into the house)
Gas != Gas

 

[Saghost]

Gas: gasoline (in the video)
Gas: natural gas (piped into the house)
Gas != Gas

True. But I've never seen a polished ad made where all the little consumer electronics we use every day had a natural gas engine and compressed gas tank or flexible hose plugged in to the wall, and I figured this was an effective, amusing way to make the point about how much we rely on electricity in our daily lives.

 

[csphili]

In what way is it wrong? It happens, and I have no reason to doubt the video. It's rare, but pumping explosive gases into the house is inherently a risk factor.

And natural gas is by definition a fossil fuel and bad for the environment, though there are certainly potential renewable sources for methane that I haven't seen utilities using yet.

If you aren't going to resort to a clothes line, I think the smallest impact (and the best performance and most flexibility,) is a heat pump dryer - pretty much a dryer with a dehumidifier buried in its heart.

I do use a clothes line XD.

Anyways it's totally worth getting the 3 even if electricity costs more than gas. Home charging convenience, performance, style, the environment... Then get some solar panels ASAP.

 

[Dr. J]

wow...no way would i stick with ev if electric costs more then gas...no way! whats th point?

You have to read the entire thread...or just beat your head with a hammer, much the same effect.

 

[McRat]

It might not apply the OP, but like I said earlier, there was a huge push for All Electric Homes in San Diego. I grew up in one.

Electricity was the Future at the time and the San Onofre Nuclear Power Station was our Savior. This did not sit well with Big Oil. The founder of Arco started a group called Friends of the Earth, and spent considerable money to finally shut down San Onofre before it's time.

The last laugh though was on Mr. Anderson (Arco). He donated a building to the LA Museum of Art which was named after him. Then after he croaked (bizarrely, he died in Roswell, New Mexico, or is still alive on an alien planet), they renamed the building. No good deed ever goes unpunished.

 

[Dr. J]

Agreed. That's why I love this story so much...

Test drive of a petrol car - Tesla Club Sweden

That is GREAT!

 

[Dr. J]

the building inspector (called the AHJ, authority having jurisdiction)

Ah!
I thought you were making up that acronym: A**H*** Jurisdiction. Previous posts kind of lose a bit of their edge....

 

[Dr. J]

A final buzzkill (from me) for @Glamisduner, the OP. I vaguely remember a reference to deductible home equity loan interest about 14 pages ago. With the recent tax bill, this has gone the way of the dodo:

"The Republican tax reform law killed the interest deduction on home equity debt. Previously, borrowers could deduct the interest paid on up to $100,000 in home equity loans or home equity lines of credit."

Most home-equity loan borrowers don’t understand how Trump’s tax code affects them

Sorry about that.

 

[McRat]

I do use a clothes line XD.

...

Ugghh... Reminds me of my youth. My clothes would be as stiff as a board. But it was very common to line dry clothes in all electric homes. Dryers were expensive, and not all the homes had a place for them or a connection. Houses were not big.

Ah!
I thought you were making up that acronym: A**H*** Jurisdiction. Previous posts kind of lose a bit of their edge....

Your definition is AHJ is more accurate than the official one, at least in my city.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Electric clothes dryer here. As well as cooking, water heating, house heating, transportation, lawn equipment and anything else in the house that uses power.
Electric, by definition, doesn't have to mean inefficient. However, many electric appliances are inefficient.

The basic concept of maximizing efficiency before adding solar pv is very sound and good advice.
Just wanted to mention that electric power can be a part of that solution.

By the simplest calculation resistive heat is 100% efficient, all the energy you put in comes out as heat!
Using natural gas to generate electricity and then using that electricity to resistively generate heat instead of just burning the natural gas in the home uses at least twice as much natural gas. That was my only point. Now, if you use heat pumps for house, water, and dryer that changes the calculations. I have a heat pump and it's about 3-4 times as efficient as a resistive heater. Keep in mind that for the majority of the country power at night does not come from zero carbon sources.
For maximum safety and the environment we should live in houses with electricity or gas!