Propane for your house

CarnationSensation · Apr 15, 2014

Just bought a new house and the water heater, stove and fireplace run on propane.
Im out in the Monroe area now and am curious who you guys use for your propane company? I have never had a house on gas or pane so this is all new to me.

Who do you go through?
Who do you recommend?
What the going rate per gallon?
And do you know about how many gallons you use between fill-ups?

House currently has Northern Energy Propane as the supplier. Dont know the details of the account yet but will be calling this afternoon. I have been told to shop around...

Thanks! :beer:

1 grumpy · Apr 15, 2014

That's who I use. I have one 100 gallon tank and do a fill up twice a year but thats just for me. Summer rates are cheaper than winter.

boxboy · Apr 15, 2014

first keep the pilot light in the fireplace off (and the propane valve for that matter) it uses a lot of propane with no gain...

See if you have a rented tank or an owner tank? I recommend as large of a tank you can buy... if you don't already own the tank (just because the tank is at the house doesn't mean you own it) if you have a rented tank you can only go to the company who rents it to you and the propane charge is usual higher and they fill the tank on their schedule (usually when propane is the highest) not yours. If Owner tank you want to fill the tank when the propane is the lowest cost. My tank is filled 3 times a year I have a rented tank... filling the tank in the winter months is way more money then in the summer time... I use American Distributing Co. out of Marysville.

I use propane for hot water tank, fireplace, force air propane heater, stove top, and clothing drier. I have a 500 gallon tank.

CarnationSensation · Apr 15, 2014

Thanks for the replies and info.

Just talked to the company and got more info.

It is a 250 gallon tank that is leased to us. First year is free so i can look around for owner tanks and see what i wanna do. They did say the lease will be $100 a year after the first year.

First year promo rate will be $2.99 a gallon for the whole year. The current rate for normal customers is at about $4 right now with these guys.

Pilot lite on the fire place is off but i probably would have never thought about that so I will definitely leave it off. Thanks boxboy!

They did give me some info from the previous owner. He was filling up 2 times a year at about 100 gallons each fill up. So 200 gallons a year. Was a single man living alone though so it will go up a bit im sure with me and the wife.

Propane company told me they like to fill it at 30% and only fill it to 80%. I understand they don't want it to get too low in case it runs out and have to re-lite the pilots but does anyone know why they only fill to 80%? With these instruction I really only get use of 50% of the tank. But like i said i dont know propane and im sure this is probably normal with most tanks/companies?

Jokenring · Apr 15, 2014

80% is max fill for any propane tank.

WA-Wheeler · Apr 15, 2014

Jokenring said:
80% is max fill for any propane tank.

Yep, propane needs room to stretch it legs :awesomework:

ChopTop84 · Apr 15, 2014

CarnationSensation said:
Thanks for the replies and info.

First year promo rate will be $2.99 a gallon for the whole year. The current rate for normal customers is at about $4 right now with these guys.

OUCH!

Do it yourself propane is just over 2 bucks a gallon in buckley/enumclaw area. Gets closer to 4 bucks a gallon the closer you get to the city. It was under 2 bucks a gallon all last summer. Delivered is always more for some reason. Oh, and dont forget to add sales tax to their advertised price.

I did the math for my house, and if propane was under 3 bucks a gallon delivered, it would be worth it. Once it went over 3 bucks, it was cheaper for me to be electric.

You can do your own math. 1 gallon of propane has the same heat energy as 27 kilowatt hours of electricity. A 100 gallon tank wouldnt last me a month in the winter months.

mark · Apr 15, 2014

ChopTop84 said:
OUCH!

Do it yourself propane is just over 2 bucks a gallon in buckley/enumclaw area. Gets closer to 4 bucks a gallon the closer you get to the city. It was under 2 bucks a gallon all last summer. Delivered is always more for some reason. Oh, and dont forget to add sales tax to their advertised price.

I did the math for my house, and if propane was under 3 bucks a gallon delivered, it would be worth it. Once it went over 3 bucks, it was cheaper for me to be electric.

You can do your own math. 1 gallon of propane has the same heat energy as 27 kilowatt hours of electricity. A 100 gallon tank wouldnt last me a month in the winter months.

There is a bit of truth to that.

Short of natural gas, which is only a little cheaper, electricity if so cheap around here it many times can be the cheapest way to heat you house.

Do a little math and research as you get used to your new place, you may be money in the long run to add some space heaters, wall heaters or even base-board electric heaters vs running a LPG central heat especially if you only need a small temp difference.

Electric cook range might be more cost effective than gas as well.

boxboy · Apr 15, 2014

I should note I have a propane furnace and I have a heat pump. The system I installed will switch between the 2 systems but the heat pump will not run on my generator but the propane system will... The heat pump is way less money to operate if the temps stay above 32 degrees under 32 degrees the system switches to the heat pump.

As for the 30% fill one winter the propane truck was not able to get to my house and we ran out of propane I drove and borrowed a tank from the company and had to by-pass the tank to get heat... I now watch for winter storms and have them fill the tank if it is less than 50%. It sucks to run out although that was before the heat pump...

messix · Apr 15, 2014

buy your own tank and shop the prices
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/for/4424775727.html

ChopTop84 · Apr 15, 2014

as a follow up. I pay 10 cents a kw/h for electricity. If 1 gallon of propane is equal to 27 kw/h, then I need to pay less than $2.70 a gallon for propane to make it worth my while.

My dads place, he still pays 4.6 cents a kw/h because his private electric company signed a long term price lock deal years and years ago. He would have to pay less than a $1.25/gal for propane to make it worth his while!

So, find out what your cost of power is for your new place, times that by 27, and there is your break even price for propane (0.10 cents times 27 gets me 2.70)

CarnationSensation · Apr 16, 2014

My furnace is electric. Only my Fireplace, water heater and cooking stove are propane. Also, the house does have a heat pump, my furnace has been off for the last week but the heat pump has been running, house has not got below 64 degrees yet even at night (Hasn't been that cold lately though) so i think i can get away with the furnace off all summer.

I dont think i will ever go get my own propane, not sure how that would work anyways unless I owned my own propane truck or had a way to disconnect my tank and get it in my truck to go fill it. Anyone do this themselves? How do you go about it?

If i buy my own tank are there any year limits on the tanks? Do they expire?

Zoediak · Apr 16, 2014

CarnationSensation said:
If i buy my own tank are there any year limits on the tanks? Do they expire?

Tanks do have a certification and have to be inspected/re-certified.

I forget the intervals, but I remember that one of my relatives had a delay in getting their tank refilled once because it needed to be re-inspected. They would not fill it until after that was done.

he owned his own tank too. If you rent them, the company that you rent it from takes care of all that jazz.

junkyard jim · Jun 6, 2014

The place in Lake Stevens (next to the junk yard) was $1.60 last time I filled.

trashyman · Jun 9, 2014

Been down this road before. Rented a tank for years....which is a ripoff. Plus, if you own your own tank it was $.50 cheaper/gal. Ended up buying an old 250gal one off craigslist (1954model) from someone who had just bought a new 750??gal. Was a little nervous about having one that old but my propane co. said that the older tanks were actually heavier built than the new ones. But, since it was under 5-10% it had to be re-inspected. Not much to em really except a valve, relief, and gauge. The guy said the very worst thing you can do to them is let it sit empty. Also, I believe it's illegal to transport them on the road w/o hasmat so haul after dark or cover it up.

boardbysled · Jun 9, 2014

[YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt4nTg0nD_M&feature=kp[/YT]

Trail Beast · Jun 10, 2014

Upgrading you air handler, & adding a heat pump would pay for itself over time.
I've got customers that experience $600/mo LP bills, & they installed a ductless heat pump that nearly eliminates the LP bill.
Let me know if you want to look into it. Either a conventional heat pump, or a ductless would serve you well.
Balance Point Cooling & Heating / 425 508 0124