Propane tanks strapped to your house is common even in cities since it's cheaper to install (but then costs more per cubic meter).

The downside to propane tanks is they become fireworks if a neighbor has a fire which heats them up.

In Japan anyone who goes all-electric these days is getting a heat pump water heater ("eco-cute") by default, resistive electric heating doesn't really exist out of small plugin units like kotatsu and radiant heaters.