I've never lived anywhere that *didn't* use natural gas. I have a very sensitive nose, and once detected a small leak in our basement which the plumber came and fixed right away. Explosions aren't something I worry about.

I don’t have it (it’s not available here unless you set up propane) but grew up with a gas range and heater. I love cooking with gas, but I, too, seem to have a super sensitive nose and can almost always smell gas. I worried terribly about gas explosions in the house I grew up in because I could always smell it and worried about a leak. My mom must have introduced that fear because I was home alone a great deal, so had to depend on myself to detect problems of many different kinds. I do have a propane grill and one burner camp stove that I use when the power is out, if the woodstove isn’t yet hot enough to cook on, or during the summer when I don’t use it at all.

If you could smell it when the stove was off, then there was a leak. The odor is added for safety reasons, as gas is naturally odorless.

Yes, i have a natural gas stove, furnace, dryer and generator. Ive always had natural gas and dont worry about it. I have a CO2 detector in the basement.

I also have a propane gas grill and I have to admit I kind of stand back every time I light it .I remember years ago that a house a few miles away blew up when there was a gas leak. The homeowners were away so no one smelled it.

I use natural gas for water heater, pool heater, clothes dryer, range, and house heating. Electricity is much more expensive to use, and I have not heard any reports of explosions near any of the places where I have lived. Instead, we have fires that get caused by downed electrical lines, but no fire that I have ever heard of that were caused by natural gas.

We also have propane tanks for our Ooni oven and we have an outdoor BBQ that is connected to a gas line. I much prefer cooking with gas than with electricity, and that includes induction, which I use sometimes, but less and less now, as I have had too many problems with it. I do have electric ovens, which will be installed in my new kitchen next month, I believe.

Since we get rolling blackouts during the summer, it is nice to have a gas range, which will work when there is no electricity. We have some camping burners that use propane that we store with earthquake supplies, since gas gets cut off after a major quake, such as Northridge in 1994. We are have less risk of major quakes in the Palm Springs area than we did when we were in Los Angeles, which is riddled with fault lines.

Natural gas. Have a gas range also. We are thinking about converting our wood burning fire place to gas while we still can. Too many stupid "save the air" days making a wood burning fireplace pretty useless. Nothing like a real wood fire IMO but it is what it is.

seagrass_gw Cape Cod

We have a gas range that's adapted to run on propane - and have a 50 gallon propane tank just for that appliance. We lose power in summer and winter coastal storms. We heat with fuel oil, but our furnace is original to the house when we built in 1991. We have natural gas lines in our street, they apparently bracket our property. Several years before Covid, we had made the decision to convert to gas heat so that we could get rid of the propane tank, the fuel oil tank in our basement, have a more efficient heating system and a whole house generator installed , but around that time the gas utility put a moratorium on new service because they were upgrading their infrastructure.

That moratorium has been lifted. We're hoping to put on a first floor bedroom addition since I'm not able to get up the stairs anymore. Hopefully, the addition will be approved and when it happens we will bring gas to the house and also have the town water line brought under our driveway as well. We won't tie into town water, because our well water tests fine, but might as well tear everything up at the same time...If it were up to me, I'd like a smaller less complicated property with a house all on one floor. But I get vetoed whenever the subject is discussed.

I haven't lived in a house with natural gas or propane after the parents' all-electric build in 1964. There is no natural gas in the a-bit-outside-town road/neighborhood where I've lived for 20 years, the only choice would be propane, of which my house has none.

Both grandparents and other some other relatives had gas. I could always detect it when the range burners or oven or open space heaters were on. The heat generated in the kitchens during cooking/baking was astonishing.

I think there are plenty of other causes of home fires and even destruction. Electrical fires are probably (just guessing) far more common than natural/propane gas fires.

We have gas heating, water heater and a gas range.

Natural gas ... growing up we had LP on the farm for the oven, dryer and kitchen heater/stove.

I've never lived in a house that had other than natural gas water heating, interior heating and cooking appliances. That includes when living in Europe. In my state, electricity remains a significantly more expensive energy source to use for these applications than natural gas. Law changes in our area to limit or prohibit the use of natural gas may or may not stay in place, it's a foolish thing to do.

As for its safety, here's some information I found from a search from the source of the Electrical Safety Foundation. As its sponsorship includes well recognized manufacturing companies as well as several labor unions and UL Labs itself, I will accept it as being a credible source.

" Home electrical fires account for an estimated 51,000 fires each year, nearly than 500 deaths, more than 1,400 injuries, and $1.3 billion in property damage.:"

Based on this info, might all electric homes be safer if gas appliances were installed? These numbers for electrical damage are larger than the ones cited in the original post for gas accidents and damage.

Gas leaks and explosions are very, very, very rare and as suggested, the odor of leaking natural gas can be detected pretty easily. Propane is more dangerous because it's heavier than air (natural gas is lighter) and leaks tend to accumulate at floor level. Natural gas rises and can dissipate.

Damage caused by electrical fires link

We have propane for our gas stove as our small country town doesn’t have reticulated natural gas. We would run our hot water system on gas as well but we only have smallish (about 4’ high) gas bottles and a hot water system would require too frequent bottle changes. In our city unit we have reticulated natural gas for both the stove and the hot water system. Heating in both places is reverse cycle airconditoining, so electric.

I can’t recall the last time I heard of anyone having an explosion or fire caused by leaking gas, although I do have a vague recollecton of one happening on the other side of the country some time ago. It was an unusual enough occurrence to warrant making the national news.

Thank you for all of the thoughtful replies. I'm not so concerned about fires being started by gas but rather the major explosive factor. I may be wrong but the number of homes exploding violently from electrical use may be 0? A few years ago a local home exploded which was located about 5 miles away and it shook our house. No one was home at the time when the leak occurred but the house was totally obliterated, thankfully the closest neighbor was about 500 away and only had minor damage. Like some of you I also grew up with gas when living in the city, gas range and water heater. Gas home explosions seem rare enough but they can be devastating.

We have had propane gas for water heating, house heating, clothes dryer and cooking for 38 years at this house. At the previous house we had it for 5 years. We have never had a problem.

Our cities electric was just converted over to natural gas. It used to be coal, but natural gas burns cleaner. The house we live in is heated with hydronic gas floors. Water pipes run under the floors, heated by the boiler/water heater combo unit...since Elmer cares..... We have "no" furnace or AC.

nicole, to keep the terminology straight to avoid confusion or misunderstandings....

Hydronic heat means heat from hot water (or, in a small part of the country, water heated to become steam). The heat source can be natural gas, propane, electricity or even wood. These devices are called "boilers". In more recent years, water heaters or dual function units (producing separately domestic hot water and heated water for space heating, "combi" units) have also be used. The hot water can be routed to radiators or under floor pipes, or even to heat exchangers through which air flows to produced a type of ducted forced air heating not involving traditional furnaces.

Your house as described doesn't have "hydronic gas" floors or heating but simply hydronic under floor piping. Water is heated by a gas water heater and not a boiler. It's the same either way.

Stay warm!

Elmer...I do have a "boiler"....I know what I'm talking about....the "boiler" heats ALL the water for my house...AND NO ONE CARES if I use correct lingo or not.......it's BOTH a water heater and a boiler. It's a combination unit. It's awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!! :0)

The PO is just interested in gas being the heating source and catching the hosue on fire...stick to the subject...

Here I Googled it for you:

Can you combine a boiler and water heater?Yes! They are ENERGY STAR® certified and have a 95% AFUE rating. Because combi boilers provide both space and water heating, it is like having two high efficiency appliances in one.

I saw the feature on ABC Nightly News tonight when they showed three houses in different areas exploding. As someone who has a natural gas home, it's worrying. Gas heat, gas hot water, gas stove.I guess I'll just think of the odds.

Nicole, there is nothing in my comment, including my description of what a combi unit is, that requires explanation or change.

Elmer....the Polaris site calls it a "water heater" not a boiler. LINK

Quote from the Polaris site:

Polaris Water Heaters

$8.00 – $6,611.00

The Polaris Water Heater is a 96% efficient condensing water heater that is designed specifically for domestic water production AND space heating.

THEY call it a water heater. This is the manufacturers terminology.

Your terminology is inaccurate.

Yes, I have hydronically, natural gas heated floors.... not solar...not electric....not propane...so if I insert the word gas....EXCUSE ME!

We have natural gas (furnace, generator, dryer, water heater, range) at our primary home. Except for the years we lived in apartments we have always had natural gas.

Our place in PA is rural and in the mountains and naural gas isn't available. We have a 1000 gallon propane tank buried in the backyard and it fuels the furnace, water heater, dryer, range and generator. We built the house 27 years ago and haven't ever had any worries.

This is the first home I've ever lived in that didn't have natural gas - there's no natural gas lines where I live (though it's only about 10 miles north of town). My home is all electric, but I have a propane tank outside to power the stand-by Generac generator. Fortunately, in the year or so I've owned it, it's only ever kicked in for about an hour.

We have a natural gas WHG and a grill outside. Vented gas logs in the LR fireplace. We replaced a gas cooktop with induction this year. SO has been seeing those exploding houses as well and wanted to limit our exposure to NG in our older home.

Yes, a natural/propane gas explosion would be devastating. So would your house being hit and destroyed by a tornado or a hurricane, which happens far more often that a gas explosion.

" So would your house being hit and destroyed by a tornado or a hurricane, which happens far more often that a gas explosion. "

Those are location dependent; a gas explosion isn't.

I can’t control whether a hurricane or tornado hits, but I can control whether my home is connected to natural gas or propane. Not connected = 0 risk, which are the odds some if us prefer.

When we moved in we were on propane because NG was not available. There was a fuel oil tank buried on our property which we removed. Energy sources change over time, they go in or out of favor mostly 'fueled' by their cost and safety. We LOVE our Natural Gas option. "Life is DANGEROUS" as one of my favorite podcasters would say. Most of the time these explosions happen when someone did something improper so the "This makes it difficult to determine if there's a pattern in what's causing these explosions." is a bit disingenuous. We do know it's human error that is at the base of most of these explosions. When our NG line was first installed our dog suddenly would not go downstairs that evening. I went to investigate and yep the tell tale smell was there in the utilitiy room. The dog detected it first--and probably saved the neighborhood. The leak was actually outside but we live where the gas might hover/collect in a back drive near. The neighbor at the time often went fishing early in the morning, DH said his diesel could have set off an explosion if all the factors had lined up, Once a system is properly set up and left alone ( well most of the explosions I hear of have been because of systems that are shut down due to snowbirding or being new just going on line...) they are as safe as life can get.

No nat gas in our area so we have a buried tank with liquid propane. We use it to run our gas fireplace, instant hot water heaters and whole house generator. We did have a leak in our gas fireplace which exploded, but fortunately it was a very small one...didn't even break the glass or move the fake logs. More like a woosh we heard. We got it repaired and no problem since. It looks like our steam unit for our steam shower also exploded though we never heard it...we can only tell by the way the metal casing was bent. No one can figure out how that happened as the unit was off. We have shut the water off and unplugged it and not had it repaired as we so rarely used the steam shower. Replacing it would be very expensive as it would require all new controls and such.

I have been on natural gas or propane my entire life. Many moons. 😆

Zero issues. I can't even remember anyone I know having any issues.

I mean sure, I guess it could explode. I am far more likely to get in an auto accident but I still drive, or drown but I still swim in the ocean every chance I get.

Electric heat here would require a second mortgage. 😄 If people can't get gas then most use heating oil. However most chose natural gas if it is an option as it is generally the cheapest.

We have an external propane tank that is used for our fireplace and as backup for our heat pump. We only use the fireplace in winter as backup heating if the power is out.

The issue is that many don’t know when there is a leak although it can be smelled or detected with proper equipment. Propane is a heavier gas and doesn’t ’rise’, staying low to the ground, so any spark can ignite more easily resulting in an explosion.

" The PO is just interested in gas being the heating source and catching the hosue on fire...stick to the subject... "

That's not entirely correct. Gas Explosions are my actual topic of concern. Posters here are smart and conscientious about their gas use and aware of the precautions. Like I said, we use a modest propane tank for emergency gas logs during winter power outages, thankfully that is rare but having the gas log option available to us can be vitally important. I have 3 valves to shut the gas off when it's not in use so I have no worries about our set-up. The tank valve being shut off when not in use is critical.

My concern is how cautious my neighbors are who use gas. The more gas lines entering the home (to supply the water heater, kitchen range, furnace, fireplace, etc.) the more weak links could be in the chain for possible leaks and potentially devastating explosions. So basically I'm not concerned about my gas use which is very limited, but rather my neighbors who may not be as aware or cautious about the potential hazards. We all here could never have a problem, but our neighbors may not be so lucky which could put others living around them in danger.

Lily, I also saw that news report last night about 3 homes exploding, what timing huh?

I don't know how common explosions are so just googled it. link here:.Gas home explosions

I was wondering if they might becoming more common because of faulty construction in an industry that seems to be throwing up subdivisions of shoddily constructed homes (at least around here where demand for cheap homes is very high). Same with some appliances that are lesser quality these days But when I looked, it noted that it's actually failing infrastructure causing more problems. Not what I would have guessed,

When I was a kid being tortured by the smell of gas too often in our home, I was told that when they add the scent to the gas it was an inexact science and sometimes there would be more scent and that's when I could smell it. We also had an older gas heater instead of a furnace...one that sat in the small living room but heated the whole house. It was a boxy stove, maybe 3x3x3 or a little larger. I'm sure it wasn't the ultimate in efficiency and maybe why I often smelled gas. The gas repair folks came regularly because I'd get so worried but I think it was seldom an actual problem, unless it was a stove burner that just wouldn't light or something.

I've been tempted by the prospect of a propane range because it's such a pleasure to cook with gas, but then I recall how much I hated feeling unsafe when I could smell gas and I just stick with electric. Our rates in the PNW are affordable.

vgkg.....I don't think knowing if my unit is called a boiler or a water heater....mattered to anyone? Harrassing someone on the KT is a commonality for that person. Showing superior intellect was also not a reason for THIS post....IF I had a "BLOCK" button I'd use it.....