Propane Users: Plans for the Future?

SPIKER · Feb 9, 2014

I WAS going to buy a 500 tank (have a rental now) and had talked to the company several times and had plans. then when I was getting ready they raised prices some so I didn't worry thought I would have enough thru winter, then we got a bad extra cold winter so had to putt 200 more into the rental tank so maybe this summer I'll buy IF prices don't stay up so much...

tcartwri · Feb 9, 2014

ovrszd said:
Suppliers here did not honor the pre-buy contracts. Even on the ones that paid upfront. Used the Emergency Clause in the contracts.

Wow, that's bull.... :mur:

Gunny · Feb 10, 2014

I'll do my usual summer fill and hope that prices have moderated by then, but I will put in a pellet stove this spring, with a couple of tons of pellets stored in the garage. Then I hope I wouldn't have any problems getting through another hard winter.

The last four winters or so have spoiled us, I never used to worry about having enough propane to get through the winter.

HillStreet · Feb 10, 2014

I will just stay the course with 500 gallon leased tank and 3 cords of wood a year. I will fill in August and April.

Gem99ultra · Feb 10, 2014

newbury said:
We had two 250 gallon propane tanks with about 200 gallons each in them that were stolen. Since they were just filled to the 200+ gallon level about a month before they were stolen we only replaced the one <snip

Perhaps this is off topic... but HOW does one steal a 250 gallon propane tank, much less two of them?

tcartwri · Feb 10, 2014

Gem99ultra said:
newbury said:

We had two 250 gallon propane tanks with about 200 gallons each in them that were stolen. Since they were just filled to the 200+ gallon level about a month before they were stolen we only replaced the one <snip

Perhaps this is off topic... but HOW does one steal a 250 gallon propane tank, much less two of them?

Click to expand...

Was wondering the same thing. Even half full those suckers must weigh 800lbs.

aczlan · Feb 10, 2014

Gem99ultra said:
Perhaps this is off topic... but HOW does one steal a 250 gallon propane tank, much less two of them?

Rollback truck or tilt bed trailer and a winch?

Aaron Z

KTurner · Feb 10, 2014

Gem99ultra said:
Perhaps this is off topic... but HOW does one steal a 250 gallon propane tank, much less two of them?

With the same equipment used to install them... narrows the list of suspects down a bit, huh? If you saw a propane company truck hooking up your neighbors propane tank, would you think anything of it? Now, same question, but a tractor, flat bed, etc - anything but a propane company truck.

wsc9tt · Feb 10, 2014

A geothermal system is very good idea. Even if electric prices go up, the geo is using far less energy to heat the house since the energy is being used to move heat from the ground to your house. Also many rural customers can do an open-loop system without the huge install cost most people associate with geo.

If you are buying/building a new house spend some time to understand passive solar heat. Just by arranging windows on the south side of the house with enough mass inside to absorb the excess heat can make a huge difference. Around here the coldest winter days are clear and sunny and our house is toasty without running the furnace at all.

Lastly when looking at wood, make sure you actually research the issue. Replacing your useless gas log fireplace with an open wood fireplace will give you something just about as useless. You need a high efficiency wood stove or insert if the goal is to actually heat the house. We installed a masonry heater in the house to heat the main living area. Collecting wood is hard, don't put in a cheap stove that will require twice as much for the same amount of heat!

So between wood, sun and geo my electric bills hardly change in the winter.