Who Lives in WA State

Targa Me · Targa Me's Garage

Hello Everyone.
I have a question regarding houses in WA.

Are most houses heated by electricity and not gas? Is gas not common in the state of WA?

Thanks in advance.
Larry

Ayles · 01-12-2021, 07:12 PM

It totally depends. I live in the city and on my street we have all three (oil, gas and electric). Even a couple neighbors with AC.

My house has gas, people across the street chose not to install when they came through 30yrs ago.

Targa Me · Targa Me's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayles

It totally depends. I live in the city and on my street we have all three (oil, gas and electric). Even a couple neighbors with AC.

My house has gas, people across the street chose not to install when they came through 30yrs ago.

Thanks.
My son and his wife are looking to buy in the Seattle area (approximately).
They found a house but it has no gas. We're from CA so I thought "no gas" was strange, maybe not...

LakeCleElum · 01-12-2021, 07:23 PM

Electric rates in WA State vary greatly. It's dirt cheap in areas near the Columbia River where the dams are. Places like Chelan and Douglas counties are the lowest. Many areas don't have natural gas piping, so have to rely on propane tanks.......

In my area, propane seems to be more popular than electric.......When I started to build this house in 2006, I had planned on Propane, but the gas prices spiked about then. ON the advise of my builder, I switched to Electric and am sorry now.

I say, check the power rates in the area you plan to be in. Heat pumps can be the way to go in the mild coastal climate, but are not the answer in the mountains or inland areas......

island911 · 01-12-2021, 10:05 PM

He's right.

And electricity is dirt cheap in Seattle proper as well. (rights to hydro power)

Just outside of Seattle proper gas is about the same $/therm.

ledhedsymbols · 01-13-2021, 02:43 AM

It really depends on location here. The more urban/suburban areas usually have natural gas. Outside of that, there is a lot of electric coupled with propane.

My opinion... Electricity is fairly inexpensive here, and propane is quite expensive. If gas is available, then great. That's the easy solution.

If no gas is available, I'd stick with electric and wood for head and household. A nice induction range would bey choice in that case.

LWJ · 01-13-2021, 02:50 AM

I am across the river from Washington. My house is heated with both gas and electricity.

Long story. I added a heat pump upstairs.

jhynesrockmtn · 01-13-2021, 05:34 AM

I've had all 3, gas, oil heat and electricity. I've had gas plumbed to the house by the utility. They'll do it on their nickel to replace an old electric or oil heating system if you are close enough to the feed. All depends on neighborhood, when the house was built, etc. If in the city or close, the gas lines should be close.

Targa Me · Targa Me's Garage

Learning a lot.
Thanks and keep the comments coming.

island911 · 01-13-2021, 06:50 AM

A big plus for gas is that it is an underground utility. --we just had a wind storm last night. Half the island is dark. (not uncommon.) Anyway, with gas available for heat, a small generator can run the fans...

Flat Six · Flat Six's Garage

All good comments above; let me add my $.02:

1) Coming from SoCal, electricity rates in SEA will seem unbelievably cheap -- base residential rates in urban PNW will be in the 10.5 to 11.5 cents per kWh; when I left Ventura County in 2013 the base residential rate from Southern California Edison was ~28.0 cents and escalated pretty quickly from there. In SoCal my typical monthly electric bill for a ~3k sq ft house (with gas heat, water heater, stove) where we used AC maybe 2 weeks a year were in the $450-$550 range.

2) Homes in greater Seattle will be hit-and-miss re: gas supply. I had a wartime construction (ca. 1942) home in Leschi that had gas service, obviously added sometime post-construction. Newer homes and those built by production builders (I think most will be on the East Side -- Bellevue, Kirkland, Renton, Issaquah Plateau, etc.) are much more likely to consistently have gas service.

3) Homes on the West Side -- city of Seattle proper & surrounding neighborhoods are generally much older and gas availability will be more inconsistent. Some homes -- especially those in more desirable areas that have been remodeled -- will likely have gas service.

If gas heat/cooking is a big deal, a realtor can search/filter MLS listings for those variables (I may be wrong, but I don't recall being able to do that with any of the consumer sites like Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, etc.). But I hear the real estate market in urban/suburban Seattle is so hot, quality listings don't last but a day or two and are getting above-asking, cash, no-contingency offers; YMMV.

BTW, the NG provider for the greater Seattle area is Puget Sound Energy; their service area map is here: https://www.pse.com/about-us

Good luck!

LakeCleElum · 01-13-2021, 10:39 AM

The latest from the Liberal Seattle Mayor - Give a clue which way the wind is blowing:

https://komonews.com/news/local/mayor-durkan-proposes-ban-on-gas-heat-for-new-buildings-apartments

LWJ · 01-13-2021, 11:14 AM

On a different note, air conditioning is almost unheard of in Seattle. The marine breeze keeps temps pretty mild in Summer.

Ayles · 12:24 PM

Just came up from my office and the neighbors are getting a fill up.

Its worth noting that some of the older homes on my street have been torn down and all of the new construction has taken advantage of the existing gas line.