Should I cancel Natural gas half of the year

[themagicman]

I was wondering if you all thought that it would be a good idea to cancel natural gas in my home for 6 months out of the year. I wanted to see if there was any issues that I was not thinking out with this. Does anyone else do this?

My house uses natural gas for my heat, my fire place, my oven and my stove. I am thinking of not having natural gas from April-September. I would not need the heater or the fireplace during these months. I am planning on getting an electric one eye burner to replace my stove during this time and still trying to find a way to easily replace the oven during these months (Any suggestions are appreciated!)

Doing this would save the the admin fees that they charge each month, even when not using any gas(This runs about $30 a month and cannot be changed by changing providers)

I was wanting to know what you all thought about this.

*Do you think that it is worth the inconvenience to save the (~$180 a year)
* Is there anything that I am not thinking of that could make this idea not work? Is it bad for your heater or your stove/oven to sit idle for 6 months without gas coming to the line?

[GizmoTX]

How is your water heated?
Usually electric is more expensive than natural gas.
Assuming the gas provider will even do this, what will it charge you to stop & then restart service?

[Chrissy]

Sure, give it a shot.  $30/mo is similar to what I saved switching cell phone providers, and I get a lot more usage out of my phone than you do your gas.

[JLR]

Does your provider charge connection/disconnection fees? Here  when we move house we seem to end up paying around $60 each way. If you had to pay $120 in connection/disconnection, would it be worth it?

[I'm a red panda]

I wish we could, but our company charges a set-up fee (of $100), probably to prevent this.

We have 0 useage of gas during the warm months (ours is only heater and fireplace, everything else is electric), but there is a $10 a month delivery charge. So usually 6 months a year, we pay $10.  It truly sucks.

[themagicman]

How is your water heated?

Water heater is electric!

Does your provider charge connection/disconnection fees? Here  when we move house we seem to end up paying around $60 each way. If you had to pay $120 in connection/disconnection, would it be worth it?

Just called my natural gas company and they said it is a $25 seasonal reconnect fee. I also get mail from other providers that say zero reconnect fees often. But worst case it looks like it would be $25

We have 0 useage of gas during the warm months (ours is only heater and fireplace, everything else is electric), but there is a $10 a month delivery charge. So usually 6 months a year, we pay $10.  It truly sucks.

It is the worst feeling sending them $30 a month in the summer for nothing.

[themagicman]

Does anyone know if not having the gas running to my heater or stove/oven could mess them up?

Also, does anyone have any good alternatives for the oven? Maybe using the grill as an oven?

[spruce]

Just switch out the gas range for electric.  Do you have an outlet nearby you can use for the stove? Are you handy with home improvement stuff? Shouldn't be too hard to disconnect the gas range, cap the gas line at the floor, install a new outlet if necessary, and put in a new stove. You can probably find a good one on craigslist and sell the old one on craigslist. It may cost a little more up front but you'll get it back in time, and it will save you the hassle of trying to figure out alternate cooking methods for the summer.

With the heater, you may have to relight the pilot light every fall, but otherwise I don't know that it would mess anything up.

[caliq]

Do you enjoy cooking?  I personally am not a great cook but there are some meals I absolutely can't make on my flat-top electric range that I could make on gas.  We don't have gas available here but if we did I would switch in a heart beat because this stupid electric stove is so slow at adjusting temperatures and is constantly messing up my food.  YMMV, but I wouldn't voluntarily give up gas! 

[GizmoTX]

When 2 of the burners died on our electric cooktop (previous house), we purchased an induction single hob unit to try it out. Induction only works with magnetic stainless steel & cast iron, so this won't work if you don't have any, but it is much faster & efficient than coil electric & doesn't give off excess heat the way gas does.

Depending on what you use an oven for, a slow cooker and/or toaster oven could sub for it. Or consider an electric pressure cooker, which cooks things much faster & more intensely than stovetop or slow cooker, yet doesn't spew heat because it's sealed. Some electric PCs have a slow cooker mode.

[themagicman]

Just switch out the gas range for electric.  Do you have an outlet nearby you can use for the stove? Are you handy with home improvement stuff? Shouldn't be too hard to disconnect the gas range, cap the gas line at the floor, install a new outlet if necessary, and put in a new stove. You can probably find a good one on craigslist and sell the old one on craigslist. It may cost a little more up front but you'll get it back in time, and it will save you the hassle of trying to figure out alternate cooking methods for the summer.

With the heater, you may have to relight the pilot light every fall, but otherwise I don't know that it would mess anything up.

I do not have an 220 outlet there (I think this is needed). Is this something that is fairly easy to do yourself or something that I would need an electrician for?

Do you enjoy cooking?  I personally am not a great cook but there are some meals I absolutely can't make on my flat-top electric range that I could make on gas.  We don't have gas available here but if we did I would switch in a heart beat because this stupid electric stove is so slow at adjusting temperatures and is constantly messing up my food.  YMMV, but I wouldn't voluntarily give up gas! 

We aren't big cooks and eat out a lot. Usually our "cooking" consist of making pasta or eggs or items like that.

Depending on what you use an oven for, a slow cooker and/or toaster oven could sub for it. Or consider an electric pressure cooker, which cooks things much faster & more intensely than stovetop or slow cooker, yet doesn't spew heat because it's sealed. Some electric PCs have a slow cooker mode.

I like these idea!

[worms]

We aren't big cooks and eat out a lot.

Perhaps a bigger saving to be made there, than the $30/month fee for the gas! :)

[themagicman]

We aren't big cooks and eat out a lot.

Perhaps a bigger saving to be made there, than the $30/month fee for the gas! :)

This is definitely true! We just enjoy going out to eat so much that this is a much easier cut!

[Pigeon]

Do you ever have sudden cold snaps at unexpected times of the year that might cause burst pipes?  We do, but I'm much farther north.

Personally, I'd cut the eating out a bit before I had the annoyance of no gas.

[spruce]

I do not have an 220 outlet there (I think this is needed). Is this something that is fairly easy to do yourself or something that I would need an electrician for?

You probably want to call an electrician if you don't have one...you could do it yourself if you have an ample conduit there, but you may not and they may need to add a breaker to your panel. I agree with other posters though - cooking on gas is much better than on electric, and if you eat out a lot maybe try to tackle that instead!  $30/month isn't much compared to how much you're probably spending on restaurants.

[Gone Fishing]

How many people do you have in your household?  If it is more than two it might make sense to hold onto the gas service and have a gas water heater installed.  Your electric water heater is probably the largest single use of electricity in your home on an annual basis.  It would take some homework to determine if this would be a better deal or not, but probably worth the exercise.

Some of the imputs needed:

Cost of gas water heater and installation (some gas companies will subsidize this to get you to use more gas)
Cost of electricity per KWh.
Cost of gas in your area.
Number of people and water habits in your household (Dishwashing, hotwater laundry, showers, etc)

Another thing to consider if you dry a lot of laundry is a gas clothes dryer.

Websites like this can help you make the comparison:

http://energy.gov/eere/femp/energy-cost-calculator-electric-and-gas-water-heaters-0   

This may all seem counter intuitive, spending money to save money, but in many parts of the country, natural gas is WAY cheaper than electric, although natural gas prices are more volatile.  I would look for a 2-3 payback period.

Another alternative may be to go ALL electric (heat pump) when your furnace evenutally ages out if your winters are mild and your demands for water are low.  Not only will you get rid of the $30/mo altogether, but your power company may give you a discount for being all electric.  Somethng to consider if your furnace is 10-15+ years old.     

Sorry for complicating things!