Electricity or gas: Choose wisely!

Here in Australia, we have two options to choose from- electricity and/or gas. Although both have their own pros and cons of use. At the end of the day, all we would want to do is cut down on our electricity and gas bills but which is more affordable?

Electricity vs Gas

All houses need electricity. It’s available to all states around the country. It also covers most applications such as powering the house, heating, cooking, clothes drying and much more. Because of this reason, many consumers are satisfied with electricity only.

On the other hand, gas comes in two forms – Natural gas, which is mains gas and bottled gas, which is delivered through tanks. Natural gas is most often used in NSW, VIC, SA, and WA. It are cheaper than electricity, however, it has limited applications.

Costs Comparison

Electricity consumers are charged based on total electricity consumed per kilowatt-hour (kWh). You have to pay a “supply charge” which is the cost of transferring electricity from the grid to your home.

Natural gas usage is computed based on total natural gas consumed per megajoule (MJ). The supply charge is also included which is around 65 to 85 cents per day.

Supply charge tends to vary on the state you are in and your distributors, lower usage makes a higher portion of the supply charge and vice versa.

States	Electricity	Natural Gas
QLD	28 cents/kWh	6 cents/MJ
NSW	32 cents/kWh	4 cents/MJ
VIC	30 cents/kWh	9 cents/MJ
SA	42 cents/kWh	4.2 cents/MJ
WA	27 cents/kWh	11 cents/MJ
TAS	26 cents/kWh	8 cents/MJ

Average and typical electricity and gas usage rates per state. Above rates assume a single-rate tariff.

Pros and Cons

In costs comparison, electricity is obviously costlier than gas. For appliances, consider the following pros and cons in purchasing.

Appliances	Electricity	Gas
Water heating	Cheaper to buy, but consumes a lot of energy which results in costly bills.	More expensive compared to the electric system. However, it is cheaper in the long run because of gas lower usage rates.
Space heating	Less efficient than gas heaters but electric heaters have more variety of choice and much safer.	Can efficiently heat small to medium sized room. But the house must have “flue” to avoid harmful fumes.
Cooktop	Widely used and more convenient. Also, more affordable, but slightly more expensive to run than gas Cooktops.	Heats faster than electric but more expensive to purchase.
Oven	More advanced features like auto-off that’s why it’s widely used. But, same with others, it consumes more energy.	More expensive, but heats faster and uses less energy. Best for consumers who want to save for the long run.
Clothes dryer	Energy-efficient models are available. Safer to use.	Produces hazardous fumes. Cheap to run, but expensive to buy.

Safer and Greener

Which is safer?

Gas and electrical appliances have both potential harms for safety. Make sure on using gas the house is properly ventilated to avoid carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Install a CO alarm to detect any leak. To optimize your energy usage, ensure that your electrical appliances are installed and maintained properly. You can take it one step further by having your wiring inspected.

Which is greener?

Gas appliances use 30% less energy than electric appliances, meaning it’s friendlier on the environment. Less energy, less greenhouse gas emissions. The good thing is, there are many energy-efficient electric appliances these days that consume less energy.

Still undecided which is better? Save more with both electricity and gas

Find out the cheapest energy plans in your area at Econnex.

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