Buying an All-Electric Home? Need advise! (Dallas, Plano: for sale, rental, insurance)

[MrsBrittney]

Hi folks! I apologize if this has been addressed but I did a search first and really only found a post relating somewhat for Georgia's coast, not the Dallas area.

My husband and I moved here last year from California. We rented a home there that had gas for nearly everything you could, and considering we rarely ran our a/c or heat (okay almost never, actually) bills were always quite low for both gas and electricity.

We moved to McKinney and rented a much larger home (2600 sq ft) and I believe everything, with the exception of the water heater and actual heater (though I need to retouch base with the property manager because the heater itself might be electric as well) is electric. We learned REALLY quickly how high electricity bills can be once we went through a summer here! Ouch!

Now we're off the purchase our very first home. The home we found is absolutely perfect for us, but the one hesitation is its completely electric - heating and all. Considering we assume some of our biggest costs with electricity come from the a/c, cooking and our dryer ... it shouldn't vary too much, right?

We're curious if people find heating bills with electricity in the winter to be as costly as air conditioning bills in the summer? We're just curious what we should prepare for having that switch of having our water heater and heating system turn from gas to electric? The home we want is the same as our rental so that wouldn't affect anything there.

Also, is there a reason this seems to be the trend in the newer moderately priced housing areas here? It seems the homes before 2002 we viewed had gas lines. We also wonder if an all-electric home would hurt us if, in a decade or so, we ended up reselling?

My friend also told me something that insurance companies sometimes offer lower rates to homes without gas lines because no flammables (but she tends to make things up, so I don't know how valid that statement is).

And - completely stupid question I'm sure - as we look toward natural gas solutions, that is for CARS right? I just had a blonde moment and was like, "Omg, if we switch everything to natural gas and I don't have gas lines...." so pardon me if that last question just screams I'm a moron or something. Its early and I haven't finished my coffee!

[Macbeth2003]

It is a trend because It makes it cheaper to construct and prep the home for sale.
Heating with Electricity will not be anything like the expense of Air Conditioning. That said, Electric Heaters, Ovens, Stoves, Dryers, and Water Heaters are generally more costly to operate than gas ones.

Dryers particularly. My parents just switched a year ago to a gas dryer, and it caused their Electricity bills to drop considerably, despite a rise in Electric rates.

[MrsBrittney]

Thanks!! Basically we're trying to figure out how much difference we should brace ourselves for compared to our current rental - and since the rental is electric stove/oven/dryer/ac - the big changes will be heating the home and the water.

And the resale value! But if its a big trend for construction, perhaps resale won't be too damanged as more of the competion will have the same!

[tycobb2522]

I had/have an all electric home in Grapevine Garland, and Plano, and my utility bills were/are quite reasonable compared to those who had gas. I had the gas lines removed from my home in Plano and converted everything to electric. I keep my house at 70 degrees in the summer and winter, so my bills are really low in the winter.

I can walk into a house with gas and instantly know it by the smell. I hate the smell. Sooner or later gas lines are going to leak, and I don't want to deal with that danger. Most people see gas as a desirable amenity; I see it as a liability. But then I seldom have the same opinion as the majority.

[lpepping]

My home is all electric as well and we see high electric bills in the winter. They are pretty much as high as the summer bills. If I had to do it again, I would seriously reconsider all electric and do some more research.

[lh_newbie]

Heat pumps are electric. So is resistive-electric heat. Heat pumps are WAY more efficient. It all depends on what type of heater you have - how efficient your AC is - how well insulated the home it - are there shade trees - what's the orientation? Do you have a huge bank of windows facing South or West? That'll drive up your cooling bills (passive solar heating). Are the windows single or dual pane? Are they cheapy aluminum windows - or wood or vinyl (better insulated than alum)?

Saying all electric is only part of the story that will affect your bill.

For example:

Home A has resistive electric heat, is only 1200 sq ft, but has old aluminum windows and barely any insulation in the attic. Windows are primarily oriented East/West

Home B has a geothermal heat pump, is 2000 sq ft, but is insulated well and has vinyl windows.

Both homes are "all electric", but home B will have much lower bills, even though it's a larger home - both in the winter and summer. You have to evaluate the entire home, not just the energy source. Windows are primarily oriented South/North - and there are shade trees on the South side.

For what it's worth, we have a home built in 1976. It had horrible insulation and an old HVAC unit. We replaced it and our summer cooling bills were literally cut in half. We have gas heat, but even that went down 30% after we insulated the attic. We've replaced some windows as well, so this winter we should see another decrease.

[Macbeth2003]

tycobb makes a good point. He is sensitive to the smell, and so for him it is a negative. Conversely I like to cook, and one can never cook as well with an electric stove as a gas one - ask any chef - it heats and cools faster, is more stable at any given temperature, and heats more evenly.

My parents refuse to have electric heat. My dad was in natural gas and oil and simply points out that you burn gas to make electricity - which has an energy loss -, transmit it over lines - another energy loss - and convert it back to heat - another energy loss - . Gas you burn once, just one loss step.

My sister won't have any gas because she has a dog that is incredibly sensitive to it.

Weigh all the pluses and minuses and figure out what meets your needs.

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by tycobb2522

I had/have an all electric home in Grapevine Garland, and Plano, and my utility bills were/are quite reasonable compared to those who had gas. I had the gas lines removed from my home in Plano and converted everything to electric. I keep my house at 70 degrees in the summer and winter, so my bills are really low in the winter.

I can walk into a house with gas and instantly know it by the smell. I hate the smell. Sooner or later gas lines are going to leak, and I don't want to deal with that danger. Most people see gas as a desirable amenity; I see it as a liability. But then I seldom have the same opinion as the majority.

My wife says my gas smells - maybe she can figure out how to remove my gas lines...

DOH! Sorry, I'm in a silly mood this morn...

[cdelena]

I lived in an all-electric place in Dallas and found on exceptionally cold months (they are not uncommon) the electricity use was as high (or higher once) as summer.

[nsumner]

One thing you mentioned is that the home is new. New homes will be a LOT more energy efficient than older homes. Don't be afraid to ask current homeowners in the same community with the same builder what their electric bill has been running. Your Realtor should be able to help you identify those.

Naima