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Thread Number: 3323
Gas or Electric? |
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| Post# 83521 9/16/2005 at 15:43 (6,790 days old) by washoholic (San Antonio, TX) | ||
Everyone knows that Electricity costs more in the summer and less in the winter, and Natural Gas costs more in the winter and less in the summer. But is it cheaper to run an Electric Dryer in the winter than it is to run a Gas Dryer in the winter? I have a Gas Dryer that I always use, and a friend is staying w/ me who brought his Electric Dryer. Should we use the Electric Dryer for the winter? Please tell me your thoughts! Jeff | ||
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| Post# 83523 , Reply# 1 9/16/2005 at 16:10 (6,790 days old) by maytagbear (N.E. Ohio) | ||
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First.... There's the matter of loads. Plus, if you don't have a contract for your gas price..... Here, electricity is expensive year 'round. Lawrence/Maytagbear | ||
Post# 83524 , Reply# 2 9/16/2005 at 16:10 (6,790 days old) by COLDSPOT66  (Plymouth, Mass) |
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I would stick with gas whenever you can. | ||
| Post# 83527 , Reply# 3 9/16/2005 at 16:49 (6,790 days old) by washoholic (San Antonio, TX) | ||
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Gas is $1.32 per cubic foot in summer. Gas is $1.64 per cubic foot in winter. Electricity is 4.073 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 800 kilowatt hours and 6.051 cents per kilowatt hour for everything over 800 kilowatt hours in summer. Electricity is 4.073 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 800 kilowatt hours and 3.205 cents per kilowatt hour for everything over 800 kilowatt hours in winter. | ||
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Post# 83533 , Reply# 4 9/16/2005 at 17:38 (6,790 days old) by Petek (Ontari ari ari O ) |
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There's so much variance by regions and providers as well as state or provincial taxes that figuring out what is cheaper in the end is complicated. Then you also have to look at special levies, rate riders, transmission costs, etc that seem to appear on your monthly bill as well. Those can sometimes add up to more than the actual cost of the consumed product.
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Post# 83535 , Reply# 5 9/16/2005 at 18:03 (6,790 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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| Post# 83539 , Reply# 6 9/16/2005 at 20:49 (6,790 days old) by washoholic (San Antonio, TX) | ||
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Pete, I agree. I only listed the price per kwh and per cubic foot to keep it simple, but there are also pleanty of other hidden expences in the bill. Dadoes, I like the way you figured it, but the total bill includes all the appliances and I'm not sure how to break it down to just the cost of the dryer. I guess there's just no way to know. Jeff | ||
| Post# 83542 , Reply# 7 9/16/2005 at 21:27 (6,790 days old) by veg-o-matic (Baltimore, Hon!) | ||
According to Consumer Reports (1972) "an electric dryer would take about 2.5 KWH of electricity to dry a load, a gas dryer would take about 9 cubic feet of gas and .2 KWH of electricity." I guess dryers have gotten more efficient since '72, but assuming gas and electric machines both increased efficiency at the same rate, you should be able to get a good rough idea how much to dry a load. Proportionately, at least. Just don't ask me to do the math! veg | ||
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Post# 83546 , Reply# 8 9/16/2005 at 21:38 (6,790 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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| Post# 83556 , Reply# 11 9/16/2005 at 22:51 (6,790 days old) by washoholic (San Antonio, TX) | ||
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Using the Dadoes method to figure cost of the utility bill; mine is as follows for Summer rates (Electricity more expensive and Gas cheaper): Electric $0.944 KW/H Gas $1.625 per CCF (the price I listed in the post above is what the gas company told me on the phone today that the price would be for this winter which is lower but does not include tax or other hidden charges and is also per hundred cubic foot). Using the data from Bob's (Veg's) post, drying a load of clothes in a 1972 dryer: Electric 2.5 KW/h times $.0944 equals $0.236 to dry the load w/ electric. Gas (9 CFG times $0.01625 equals $0.14625) plus (.2 KW/h times $.0944 equals $0.01888) equals $0.16513 to dry the load w/ gas. So here we go: Electric $0.236 Gas $0.16513 But that's using the summer rates as I have no bills this year on the winter rates. I’ll just have to wait until I get the first bill of winter. Thanks you guys! YOU ARE AWESOME! Now I have a way to figure which is cheaper. Bob (Appnut), is the $0.10 KW/h figuring it the way that Veg figures it or before taxes and charges? Jeff | ||
| Post# 83568 , Reply# 13 9/16/2005 at 23:48 (6,790 days old) by washoholic (San Antonio, TX) | ||
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Steve, the guest is staying for about 6 months to a year or whenever the housing market gets better for buyers. We only have 1 dryer vent and it is in the house next to one of the washer boxes (washer hook-ups). He’s a plumber and so is my other roommate so we have 2 washer boxes (Thank God for plumbers!). Thiryater, I used to live in an apartment that had a device that vented the dryer into, like a bucket of water and after one load the apartment was covered in lint and my allergies were so bad that I had to leave for a few hours until the lint settled. I think Tom is talking about something much different with high efficiency filters. And as far as the humidity, I run a humidifier in winter and think the extra humidity would be good and save me on water for the humidifier. Tom, I was hoping you would post as you are a wealth of knowledge, know a GREAT deal about everything, and I ALWAYS enjoy reading your emails (from earlier this year) and your posts. The gas dryer is in the house, but since the guy has been staying w/ me; we have been using the garage as a room and will be heating it this winter. There is a 220V outlet in the garage from where my plumber friends replaced the electric water heater w/ a gas water heater. They ran a gas line for the water heater and I’m sure they could run another dryer vent. Actually they wouldn’t have to run a dryer vent if I used a “lint box.” Tom, WHAT AN AWESOME IDEA! Please post more or email about where I can buy or how I can make a “lint box.”(Not to mention getting to have another dryer hooked up.) Is that what you use? THANKS A BILLION! Jeff | ||
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Post# 83571 , Reply# 14 9/17/2005 at 01:16 (6,790 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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| Post# 83592 , Reply# 15 9/17/2005 at 09:54 (6,789 days old) by washoholic (San Antonio, TX) | ||
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Confusing power bill
In VA our power company (Dominion VA Power) uses a marketing strategy on the bill. The bill says we pay 4.073 cents per kilowatt hour for the first 800 kilowatt hours and 6.051 cents per kilowatt hour for everything over 800 kilowatt which may seem cheap. But then each KW/h is subject to a fuel charge (multiply the KW/h usage by 1.888 cents to figure this). Then add the “basic customer charge,” and the distribution (not sure of the calculation, but my distribution was $40.12 on my last bill of $189.98). Add the State/Local Consumption Tax, and then the Virginia Beach Utility Tax and there you have the total bill. This ends up being 9.44 cents per KW/h including all charges and taxes which is pretty close to the 10.5 cents Appnut pays and the 10.2 cents Dadoes pays. My point is that at first glance my price per KW/h looks cheap, but if you do the math it’s very close to what everyone else is paying. | ||
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Post# 83606 , Reply# 16 9/17/2005 at 12:05 (6,789 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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I get electric from the local Cooperative. They're "non-profit" and have a CRF (Cost Recovery Factor) that is adjusted as needed to meet the required "margins" for operating. The last billing details: Generation -- Energy 1521 kwh X /kwh 0.04688 $71.30 *Demand Cost Recovery Factor 1521 kwh x /kwh 0.03154 $47.97 *Load Management Total Generation: 7.84155 cents/kwh $119.27 Transmission, Distribution & Ancillary Svcs -- Energy 1521 kwh x /kwh 0.01633 $24.84 *Demand Cost Recovery Factor 1521 kwh x /kwh -0.02154 $-32.76 Total TD&A: $-7.92 (Local) Distribution -- Customer Charge $15.00 Minimum 475 kwh x /kwh $0.03089 $14.67 Distribution 1046 kwh x /kwh $0.1380 $14.44 *Demand Total Distribution $44.11 Total: $155.46 1521 KWH / 155.46 = $0.102209 * Demand not applied to residential. * I do not participate in load management. Generation charges are attributed to operating costs of the generating plant from which they purchase electricity. Being that it's a Cooperative, numerous coops have joined as STEC (South Texas Electric Cooperatives) and share ownership in this particular generating plant, which I understand it burns lignite. I imagine other plants can feed into the grid if needed, as during periodic maintenance of the plant or times of demand exceeding capacity. TD&A charges are attributed to transmission/distribution of power FROM that plant. Local Distribution is attributed to operating costs of the local cooperative. Looking back at billing history Feb $0.10458 Mar $0.12644 Apr $0.12379 May $0.12731 Jun $0.10985 Jul $0.10772 Aug $0.10221 My F&P DEGX1 dryer is rated at 5,400 watts. Based on the current (ha, pun!) cost of $0.102209/KWH ... and assuming the heating element running full-time (which of course it doesn't), it costs about $0.55193 per hour. | ||
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Post# 84023 , Reply# 19 9/19/2005 at 22:38 (6,787 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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Please forgive me if this is a repeat. I did not see it above. An electric dryer is said to consume 2.5 KWH per load, IIRC. (That would mean the element is "ON" about half the time..constantly on at first, and nearly constantly off at the end of the cycle. This is why the themostatic automatic-dry cycle controls function so well [where the timer advances only during the heat's "off" cycles]). Gas is usually always cheaper than electric since it takes three units of gas to produce one unit of electricity. (Therefore using fossil fuels directly for heat requires one-third of the total energy.) Of course, areas with hydro-electirc generation may produce electricity much cheaper than gas and "healthier" to the environment than fuel-burning or nuclear generation. | ||
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Post# 84026 , Reply# 20 9/19/2005 at 22:52 (6,787 days old) by appnut (TX) |
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Well, this aws a discussion at a party I attended Sat. Several local area residents observed their combined natural gas & electricity bills were more than an all-electric home's bill. The gas homeowners report their bills have doubled in the last two months and it's not even winter. They are "concerned" but they also know they can "bear" it very well.
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| Post# 84032 , Reply# 21 9/19/2005 at 23:28 (6,787 days old) by whirlcool (Just North Of Houston, Texas) | ||
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Plus, they are predicting.... that Natural Gas this winter will climb by another 25% or so before the winter ends! | ||
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Post# 84065 , Reply# 22 9/20/2005 at 07:03 (6,787 days old) by toggleswitch (New York City, NY) |
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There is frequently a discount in the rates for homes that are all-electric. Not sure if it makes the bill lower than a house that has and uses gas. Certainly in this area the discount is prolly meant to make electric affordable for heating. Using electric for heat in this area is good FOR THE UTILITY in that it tends to help balance the load/demand for electricity. As you know summer demand FAR exceeed winter demand in this area. During the summer, the utility must add diesel generators online to handle peak demands. These are expensive to run and to maintain when NOT running. | ||
| Post# 84108 , Reply# 23 9/20/2005 at 09:54 (6,786 days old) by lightedcontrols () | ||
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,,,,,and one final word...............(from me on this subje Gas is nasty. | ||
| Post# 84111 , Reply# 24 9/20/2005 at 09:57 (6,786 days old) by agiflow () | ||
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I guess it all depends on what you ate. | ||
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