gas vs. electricity (Austin: buying a house, buying, live)

[Jennibc]

So when I am doing my Austin dreaming (as we head into winter up here, that's when the pull is the strongest) I start looking at homes in Austin. I've noticed that some homes in Circle C have gas stoves and others are electric. Are there parts of Circle C that don't have access to gas or did some homes just opt to put in electric stoves and cook tops? Additionally, it looks like many of the homes in Shady hollow have electric ranges. Does that area have access to natural gas?

[FalconheadWest]

Just because there is gas or propane in an area doesn't mean the cooktop will also be gas. Many people hate cooking with gas and builders like to please the masses, not the few. Many times, they will plumb for gas in the kitchen so a home owner can change out the cooktop, but it's usually an extra $500-800 so some builders don't do this thinking home owners could really careless. You never know unless the listing shows it's "plumbed for gas" in the kitchen, or you actually get into the house and look under the cooktop to see if there is a capped gas line.

We switched our electric out for gas almost 2 years ago, but I could have lived with electric since you can't really "simmer" spaghetti sauce without it splattering with gas, even with the simmer burner.

[Jennibc]

Most people I know prefer to cook with gas, bake with electric. Most of the newer, higher end homes appear to come with gas cook tops.

[TexasHorseLady]

Gas should be available in those areas, but whether a particular house is already plumbed for it is something you'd have to check individually. It's much easier to convert to electric when you have gas than vice versa. I was a personal chef in another life, and am a serious foodie, so I'd have to think twice about buying a house that had an electric stove that couldn't simply be jerked out and replaced with gas.

FalconHead, that's what splatterscreens (or big glass lids, like I use) are for!

[FalconheadWest]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

FalconHead, that's what splatterscreens (or big glass lids, like I use) are for!

Yeah, that's what my husband says, but I don't like those. It makes stirring the sauce a nuisance. The condensation drips everywhere when you lift it up if you don't lift it directly above the skillet.I prefer to not use lids...

[TexasHorseLady]

Wait. You mean you try to make spaghetti sauce without a little mess? Heresy!

[FalconheadWest]

Of course! When a mess is made, that means I have to clean it. I absolutely HATE cleaning up after cooking. I wish the dishes could do themselves, and the counters had a self-cleaning mode.

[TexasHorseLady]

You should emulate Julia Child and get your husband to do the cleaning in exchange for getting to eat your luscious creations!

Your comment about "the masses" hating to cook with gas, by the way, doesn't reflect my experience (or evidently that of the other agents in my office, based on their reactions to builders who only have electric as an option). My buyers who have a preference tend to go for gas. (I say this even though my own mother much preferred electric - but, then, she originally cooked, even baking angel food cakes, with a wood stove, so electric was a VAST improvement to her!)

I've had only one buyer who preferred electric. She preferred electric because she was afraid she would burn herself on a gas flame. The rest all asked for gas cooking.

[FalconheadWest]

Most of my clients these days think the smooth-top cooktop is the way to go. I personally don't like it, but they think it's neat that many of them have an instant cooling as soon as you turn it off so kids can't burn themselves. They also say it's easier to clean as there are no grates or burners to remove.

[TexasHorseLady]

I HATE smooth-top cooktops - but that's because I swear by my cast iron cookware, and you really can't use cast iron on those without damaging them sooner or later. I cooked on a lot of cooktops when I was personal cheffing, and those were the worst.

There's a thread on here somewhere about just that topic - smooth-top cooktops. Interesting reading.