Lemmy Lemmy:
stemmer stemmer:
So sad... With all the natural gas explosions it makes one wonder why anyone would want natural gas....
I guess some people just like having hot water, hot food and hot air in winter. Ask an insurance agent what the safest fuel is, statistically.
Well, since you asked (and I am an insurance broker BTW)...
According to the National Association of Fire Prevention between 2004 and 2008 (in the U.S. obviously as I've never seen statistics for Canada) the number of fires from home heating equipment by fuel type are:
Liquid-fueled (i.e. oil): 4,170 (38%)
Electric-powered: 3,660 (33%)
Gas-fueled (i.e. natural gas): 2,990 (27%)
Solid-fueled (i.e. wood, coal): 180 (2%)
Keep in mind one of the reason for solid fuel's low number is that solid fuel furnaces in a home are pretty rare. The number of deaths/injuries resulting from these fire as as follows:
Liquid-fueled: 0 (0%)/11 (9%)
Electric-powered: 3 (7%)/36 (27%)
Gas-fueled: 20 (48%)/85 (64%)
Solid-fueled: 18 (43%)/0 (0%)
And property damage from these fire (in millions):
Liquid-fueled: $10 (14%)
Electric-powered: $18 (25%)
Gas-fueled 2,990: $37 (53%)
Solid-fueled: $5 (8%)
These are national estimates of fires reported to U.S. municipal fire departments and so exclude fires reported only to Federal or state agencies or industrial fire brigades. So fires from natural gas are less frequent, however their fires tend to cause greater casualties and result in more damage (probably because there is usually an accompanying explosion). So take the numbers as you will.