That's the beauty of gas

Why, in this day and age of heatpumps and environmental concerns, would you contemplate switching to gas?

Gas is ... well, it’s G.A.S. And, after all it’s a bit old fashioned, isn’t it?

Funnily enough, more and more Kiwis are switching to gas.

And it’s not just because they live in large houses that are difficult to heat (although there are plenty of those, too).

The big thing these days is gas cooking. OK, restaurants have used gas for cooking forever, but it’s also the biggest reason most Kiwi households now use gas. Maybe it’s a case of “if the professionals use it, it must be good!”

And on the back of gas cooking, more and more Kiwis are now installing both natural gas and LPG for space heating and water heating.

Around 350,000 New Zealand households are now connected to gas, including the majority of all new homes that are built, and the executive director of the LPG Association, Peter Gilbert, says that number is on the increase.

“That’s the beauty of gas – people just love it.”

Mr Gilbert says the popularity of gas is being helped by the fact that Kiwis now have increased confidence about the ongoing supply of gas in New Zealand, and they understand that gas is efficient and cleaner-burning.

“When there was all that concern over the future of the Maui gasfield there was an irrational fear that gas was running out.

“Consumers now know that’s not the case and that New Zealand has plenty of natural gas and LPG for many, many years. That’s made a bit of a difference to people’s willingness to choose gas.”

Mr Gilbert adds there has been plenty of research recently showing that natural gas and LPG are what’s called ‘low carbon’ fuels.

For example, a report commissioned by the regulatory organisation, the Gas Industry Company (GIC) said replacing all of New Zealand’s electric hot water heating with instantaneous gas systems would reduce the country’s C02 emissions by 430,000 tonnes per annum.

Another report by the Centre for Advanced Engineering states that using gas for water and space heating, instead of electricity, could cut New Zealand’s CO2 output by nearly two million tonnes pa.

“These are quite powerful environmental arguments in favour of using gas,” Mr Gilbert said.

“In fact the GIC was so taken with the environmental benefits of using gas for water heating that they recommended the government subsidise these systems to encourage Kiwis to switch from electricity.”

The beauty of gas is that it is available throughout New Zealand, no matter where you live. North Islanders have a choice of either reticulated natural gas or LPG supplied in 45kg cylinders that are affixed neatly and tidily to the side of the house.

South Islanders can only access LPG (which is reticulated in some parts of the Mainland), but that’s certainly no hardship because the difference between the two fuels is really only discernible to an engineer, or a gasfitter. For the average householder there’s no real difference at all.

OK, LPG can be more expensive to run than natural gas, but then again, it’s cheaper to install than natural gas. Swings and roundabouts.

New Zealand’s gas industry has launched a promotional campaign – The Beauty of Gas – to encourage even more Kiwis to switch to gas.

So, if you, too, would like to join this trend, contact your energy supplier (apart from Meridian that doesn’t sell any gas) to find about natural gas connections if you live in the North Island. And if you want to install LPG, contact one of the LPG suppliers Ongas, Contact, Nova Energy, Genesis Energy and Elgas.

That’s another beauty of gas – almost everyone sells it!