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Saving Electricity

On this page:

Gas vs. Electric

Mr. Electricity is your guide to saving energy in your home.

Saving Electricity 101:

Start Here
How much it costs / how they charge
What's a Watt / Kilowatt?
How much energy stuff uses
How to measure electrical use

We're recommended by the government of Berks County, PA.

Related sites:

Watt Watt. News about efficiency and conservation, written by readers of the site.

Home Power Magazine. All about renewable energy for the home.

Thin House. Blog about a family committed to cutting its energy use by 80%.

No-Impact Man. Blog about a family striving to have no net impact. (i.e., What little they use, they offset.) Inspirational.

Off-Grid. News and resources about living without being connected to a utility company.

If you like this site, you might also like some of my other sites:

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Everything you wanna know.

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Ben Folds Five

The rise and breakup of the world's greatest piano pop band.

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Step-by-step guide for first-time homebuyers.
Visit now...

The Military Budget as Cookies

This excellent animation from TrueMajority shows in graphic detail (using Oreo cookies) how ridiculously, large the military budget is, and how we could solve many domestic problems with a modest 12% cut. A must-see. (watch it now)

How to Not Get
Hit by Cars

An illustrated guide for bicyclists. Might save your life.

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MichaelBluejay.com

Natural Gas vs. Electric appliances

Electric vs. gas costs in general

The answer to the question of whether gas is cheaper than electric depends on the cost of gas and electricity in your area. It varies widely from state to state, and even within states -- and even significantly throughout the year. The examples I give below are just that: examples. Your mileage may vary.

Of course, the best way to find your exact cost of energy is to look at your utility bill or check your utility company's website. In the examples below we'll use the U.S. average cost of electricity and average cost of gas from spring 2006.

There are other considerations for choosing one or the other besides cost. For example, with gas your house is more likely to explode. And the byproducts of gas combustion from ovens and heating are unhealthy to breathe, and can actually kill pet birds.

 

Electric vs. gas ovens/stoves

Gas
Electric

Model

Kenmore 30", #73052
Kenmore 30", #93052

Price

$350
$360

Avg. fuel price

0.00147¢/BTU
($1.47/therm)
12¢/kWh

Burner

Energy use (1 hour)

9,000 BTU
2,500 watt-hours

Yearly cost (2 burners x 10 mins./day ea.)

$16.11
$36.53

Oven

Energy use (1 hour)

18,000 BTU
+ 350 watt-hours
2000 watt-hours

Yearly cost (2 hours/week)

$31.89
($27.52 + $4.37)
$24.96

Burner + Oven together

Total YEARLY cost

$48.00
$61.49

Prices from Sears.com in July 2006. Fuel rates are U.S. national averages in August 2009; see more on electricity prices and gas prices.

What this means is that under normal conditions you won't save much money by cooking with gas vs. electric. And gas has other big downsides, such as that gas combustion is unhealthy to breathe, and gas-based homes are way more likely to accidentally explode accidentally and/or burn right down to the ground.

See our full report on energy used by cooking.

 

Electric vs. gas clothes dryers

Electric
Gas

Energy used

3.3 kWh
0.22 therm for heat, +
0.21 kWh to spin the drum

Energy rate

12¢/kWh
$1.47/therm (32¢)
12¢/kWh (3¢)

Cost per load
(assumes 45 minutes per load)

$0.36
$0.35

The table uses average energy rates; use your actual energy rate for a valid comparison.

Electric dryers. Electric use figure from the Multi-housing Laundry Association (MLA). Note that you can't use the label on an electric dryer to figure the amount of energy used, because the heating element isn't on the whole time during the drying cycle.

Gas dryers: Electric component from my own measurement of a standard-size Kenmore gas dryer for a 45-minute cycle. Note that the Multi-housing Laundry Association (MLA) gives a higher figure, 0.5 kWh, which results in a 3¢ difference per load. In my test, the load dropped from 325 watts at the start to 260 by the end of the cycle, because as the clothes got drier they got lighter and so it took less energy to spin the drum. Gas cost per load from Lawrence Berkeley Labs. MLA gives 0.17 therm for a gas dryer cycle.

See our full report on energy used by clothes dryers.

 

Electric vs. gas heat

I don't have comparison tables for electric vs. gas heat specifically, but I do have quite a bit of info about saving energy on heating.

 

Cost of Natural Gas

In August 2009 the national average price of residential gas was $15.15 Mcf, or $1.47/therm.(source) This is the figure we'll use throughout the site, although the price could be very different in your area, and can change rapidly in a short period of time.

Gas is measured in therms, Mcf, or BTU. Therms are used on customers' gas bills, and Mcf is used in the industry and financial markets.

  • Mcf = thousand cubic feet, or 10.31 therms
  • BTU = British thermal unit = 1/100,000 therm (1 therm=100,000 BTU) (Source: American Gas Assoc.)

Some gas bills measure the gas in cubic meters instead of therms. One therm is 2.75 cubic meters, and 1 cubic meter is 0.36 therms.

The U.S. Dept. of Energy shows historical prices for gas in both table and chart form.

Here's the average price of residential natural gas in 2003 by state, in dollars per MCF. Don't assume the state rates are accurate for you, because rates vary even within a state.


U.S. Dept of Energy

 

Cost of Electricity

The average cost of residential electricity was 12¢/kWh in the U.S. in August 2009. The average household used 920 kWh/mo. in 2006 and would pay $110.40 for it at the 12¢/kWh average rate. (Dept. of Energy) Like gas, the cost of electricity varies by location. Don't assume the state rates are accurate for you, because rates vary even within a state.
We have more info about electric costs on our cost of electricity page.

 

Comparing the operating cost of electric vs. gas appliances

Above we provide tables comparing the cost of gas and electric appliances, but you may wish to do your own comparison. To make such a comparison you'll need to know:
  1. The price of electricity in kWh.
  2. The amount of electricity used in kWh.
  3. The price of gas in therms.
  4. The amount of gas used in therms.

#1 and #3 are easy to find, just look at your bill. For electricity, make sure you add all the kWh costs for electricity, since some utility companies have separate charges for delivery and fuel. (More on electrical charges.)

#2 is also pretty easy, using the tables and methods described on this site. For starters, here's our page of electricity used by typical appliances, and how to measure electrical use.

#4 is usually the hardest, because the amount of gas used by appliances for a given task or amount of time is usually not so easy to find. But I'll make it easy by listing those figures for you now, and throw in the electric version for comparison:

Appliance

Therms
per hour
kWh
per hour

Range pilot light

0.0035

n/a

Range burner, small

0.05

0.6

Range burner, large

0.09

1.0

Oven

0.25

2.0

Clothes Dryer

0.23

5.4

Water Heater pilot light

0.0075

n/a

From Wisconsin Public Service, Okaloosa Gas, and the Sears catalog. 1 therm = 100,000 BTU


©1998-2009 Michael Bluejay, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized reprinting is prohibited
All advice is given in good faith. We're not responsible for any errors or omissions. Electricity can kill you; if you're not competent to work on your electrical wiring then hire a professional to do it.
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Guide to Household Batteries   Finding Cheap Airfare   How to Buy a House   Bicycle Safety   SEO 101: Getting good search engine rankings