Propane Users: Plans for the Future?

[charlz]

One possible thing to keep an eye on when selecting an alternative to propane might be electricity. I know California is/was experiencing NG shortages for their power plants and were asking people to cut back on electricity. If you are in an area where they are converting from Coal-fired to NG-fired power plants the same thing may happen in your area in the future. Not sure it would get to 'rolling blackouts' in the middle of winter but something to think about when wanting to isolate yourself from one form of energy or another.

 

[ray66v]

My plan: Told my Dad I am moving back home for the winters, if propane gets over $3.50. We are using $600+ worth a month now, at $2.

Moving back home is humorous, because I am essentially retired. :laughing:

But, not really a bad idea on all levels, he does have free gas. :thumbsup:

 

[tcartwri]

I'm pretty sure after this winter we are going to see some kind of price regulation, which I know will mean higher average prices year round.

 

[bucktaker]

searching for either a 1000 gal tank or two 500's to store enough summer fill to last all yr.

Got lucky and got my Jan fill before all this nonsense.....should be good fo the rest of the year if the weather moderates enough to run the heat pump instead of propane furnace

 

[newbury]

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?

We are pretty sure one of the propane companies took them. They didn't just cut the copper feed tube but disconnected it and bent it over so it wouldn't collect water. However upon questioning they wouldn't own up and we couldn't track them down. They are probably at some remote deer camp.

 

[dave1949]

We are pretty sure one of the propane companies took them. They didn't just cut the copper feed tube but disconnected it and bent it over so it wouldn't collect water. However upon questioning they wouldn't own up and we couldn't track them down. They are probably at some remote deer camp.

Or backwoods meth lab.

 

[timster2]

Propane truck just stopped by, however, because my tanks were still half full wouldn't give me any propane. Seems because of the shortage they are only filling tanks half way. So much for conserving, now I have to keep checking my tanks so I don't run out.

 

[QuasarZ]

These posts are interesting and I am learning a bunch. I will be building a house in the spring and my only gas source is propane. I am trying to learn about all of the alternatives. Keep it coming!

 

[lutt]

This propane has gotten way out of hand like everything else anymore. We use a forced air wood furnace in the basement. I also have natural gas. As many ice storms as we have had on the last 25 or so years here on northeast Arkansas, I wouldn't be without wood. Not a big fan of heat pumps, no matter how efficient they get them, they still won't feel as warm as wood. Plus, it's something else to worry about putting power too. If I built a new house, I would design it around a centrally placed wood heat source. My house is built like that now, even of we loose power the furnace still will hear the house. LUTT

 

[therealmjfox]

Propane is way out of hand and is no longer cost competitive with just about any other heating method, and hasn't been for some time. I crunched the numbers using data from the dept of energy and my results are here: Unjustified Precision: Propane heat is for suckers... and yes that includes me.

I agree that heat pumps can feel chilly but it's even cheaper to run a heat pump in emergency mode (meaning force it to use the electric strip heaters, which are nice and toasty but expensive) than to use propane and it has been for some time. The DOE data bears that out and so do anecdotes. I have a coworker with a similar sized house who did that during the polar vortex and complained about getting a $350 electric bill. My propane bill for roughly the same time period was $850.

I'm also looking into a 1000 gallon propane tank to replace my 500 gallon one so I can do more summer fills, but I'm not convinced that is consistently cheaper. It would have been this year but that's just one data point. Historical data on summer propane prices is hard to come by, the DOE only tracks prices October through March.