Propane Prices

[CADplans]

Rant,
My neighbors on the other hand get filled when they are only down to 30 or 40% and they make several trips per year to their houses.

What are your thoughts?

Kevin

It has nothing to do with their expenses, it has ONLY to do with their typical customer being too lazy to switch propane suppliers.

They got you as a customer,, they figure they can charge whatever they want,, you will never notice, and just continue paying.

I have to threaten to switch suppliers about every 3 years to keep a low price.
I do call and get other pricing EVERY year,,
There are always new suppliers popping up, so, I usually call them, also.

We had neighbors paying an extra $400 per year for overpriced propane.
As a group, several neighbors called others and had the high priced supplier eliminated from our neighborhood.

 

[coaster]

It has nothing to do with their expenses, it has ONLY to do with their typical customer being too lazy to switch propane suppliers.

They got you as a customer,, they figure they can charge whatever they want,, you will never notice, and just continue paying.

I have to threaten to switch suppliers about every 3 years to keep a low price.
I do call and get other pricing EVERY year,,
There are always new suppliers popping up, so, I usually call them, also.

We had neighbors paying an extra $400 per year for overpriced propane.
As a group, several neighbors called others and had the high priced supplier eliminated from our neighborhood.

Are you guys leasing tanks from companies or do you own your own?

 

[NoTrespassing]

Unfortunately it's the supplier's tank. I've tried to find a 1000 gallon tank to purchase but have been unable to. I talked to a competitor of my supplier and they quoted me 30 cents less per gallon than my current supplier but I would have to get their tank and pay $25 per year rental. My current supplier doesn't charge rent on their tanks.

Kevin

 

[coaster]

Unfortunately it's the supplier's tank. I've tried to find a 1000 gallon tank to purchase but have been unable to. I talked to a competitor of my supplier and they quoted me 30 cents less per gallon than my current supplier but I would have to get their tank and pay $25 per year rental. My current supplier doesn't charge rent on their tanks.

Kevin

I just received the rental fee last week - over $100 this year. So I'm gonna tell them to sell me the tank or come and get it. I have another company that says they'll put a new tank in for me if my current company won't budge. They also want me to lease their tank, but I'm not going there - out of the frying pan and into the fire? No! They said they'd put it in for me anyway.

 

[lilranch2001]

Unfortunately it's the supplier's tank. I've tried to find a 1000 gallon tank to purchase but have been unable to. I talked to a competitor of my supplier and they quoted me 30 cents less per gallon than my current supplier but I would have to get their tank and pay $25 per year rental. My current supplier doesn't charge rent on their tanks.

Kevin

It took me almost 5 years to buy my own tank, finding a 1000 gal tank seems to be few and far between.

 

[coobie]

I purchased my own 500 gal.propane tanks few years back and never looked back.I shop price every year..

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[NoTrespassing]

So, I went to my propane supplier after work today and spoke with the manager. He claimed that a new tier system had been implemented and that he changed my tier status to get the better price of 1.799 rather than the 1.899 I was going to pay. I mentioned that I checked another supplier and they quoted me 1.599. His reply was, "we can match that price if you want" to which I replied, "that would be nice".

So, after all was said and done, just by inquiring, I was able to save 30 cents per gallon on a 370 gallon bill for a savings of $111.00 on the gas plus tax and fee savings for a total of $118.27.

We were both very cordial during the negotiation and it was well worth the stop!

Kevin

 

[coaster]

Couple questions for you guys:

1) What's currently a reasonable price per gallon for propane these days? I live in the northern VA area

2) If you were to approach a company that you're currently leasing a tank from with the proposal to buy the tank, what would you say is reasonable for a 14-15 year old 500 gallon in-ground tank? I'm currently leasing, but I think I'd rather buy it from them and shop around each year.

 

[Ford850]

I've checked several propane companies around me and they no longer sell tanks.
My dad just contracted for over 900 gallons at $2.33/gallon. Way up from last year.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Couple questions for you guys:

1) What's currently a reasonable price per gallon for propane these days? I live in the northern VA area

2) If you were to approach a company that you're currently leasing a tank from with the proposal to buy the tank, what would you say is reasonable for a 14-15 year old 500 gallon in-ground tank? I'm currently leasing, but I think I'd rather buy it from them and shop around each year.

Don't know price in your area. 1.40-2.00 in Central IL. Most suppliers around here won't sell tanks as far as I know. After this weeks experience I actually don't know if a tank would pay for itself in my lifetime unless I found one for under $1000. Tank companies seem to want about $1500 for a refurbished 500 gal. tank plus delivery, $2000 for a 1000 gal. As long as my supplier is willing to match or come close to competitors on price, I'm staying with them. They don't charge rent on the tank and maintain it for me.

Kevin

 

[coobie]

Couple questions for you guys:

1) What's currently a reasonable price per gallon for propane these days? I live in the northern VA area

2) If you were to approach a company that you're currently leasing a tank from with the proposal to buy the tank, what would you say is reasonable for a 14-15 year old 500 gallon in-ground tank? I'm currently leasing, but I think I'd rather buy it from them and shop around each year.

I just filled for $1.29 per gal..

 

[coobie]

Don't know price in your area. 1.40-2.00 in Central IL. Most suppliers around here won't sell tanks as far as I know. After this weeks experience I actually don't know if a tank would pay for itself in my lifetime unless I found one for under $1000. Tank companies seem to want about $1500 for a refurbished 500 gal. tank plus delivery, $2000 for a 1000 gal. As long as my supplier is willing to match or come close to competitors on price, I'm staying with them. They don't charge rent on the tank and maintain it for me.

Kevin

Refurbished 500 gal propane tanks around here go for $500-$600 bucks.That price is me picking up and setting my own tank.

 

[coaster]

Don't know price in your area. 1.40-2.00 in Central IL. Most suppliers around here won't sell tanks as far as I know. After this weeks experience I actually don't know if a tank would pay for itself in my lifetime unless I found one for under $1000. Tank companies seem to want about $1500 for a refurbished 500 gal. tank plus delivery, $2000 for a 1000 gal. As long as my supplier is willing to match or come close to competitors on price, I'm staying with them. They don't charge rent on the tank and maintain it for me.

Kevin

I guess that would be okay if my company was the same. I refilled in May. The best I could get from them was $3.15/gal. The rent on the tank is a little over $100/yr. I'd like the freedom of shopping around every year.

 

[coaster]

Refurbished 500 gal propane tanks around here go for $500-$600 bucks.That price is me picking up and setting my own tank.

That sounds reasonable. It's about what I would expect - definitely no more than $700 or so. Thanks.

 

[Oaktree]

2) If you were to approach a company that you're currently leasing a tank from with the proposal to buy the tank, what would you say is reasonable for a 14-15 year old 500 gallon in-ground tank? I'm currently leasing, but I think I'd rather buy it from them and shop around each year.

Be careful with that. Many suppliers will not fill a tank they don't own, at least around here. This policy may vary by region. Kind of sucks, but I'm guessing it's a liability issue.

 

[coaster]

Be careful with that. Many suppliers will not fill a tank they don't own, at least around here. This policy may vary by region. Kind of sucks, but I'm guessing it's a liability issue.

If you own your own tank, the suppliers in our area say that they will only fill it IF they do some type of inspection to verify that it's safe or something first. But... they never actually do the check, they just fill the tank. A friend of mine has owned his tank for 20 years now and when he happens to contact a new company about filling his tank, they say that they'll have to do the check, but not one in the last 20 years has ever followed up on that - they just come out and fill it up. Sounds like another thing trying to push you into leasing from them.

 

[lilranch2001]

I just contracted for a minimum of 400 gallons at $1.59, I was on budget contract last year, but then I bought my 1,000 gallon tank ($2,200) and also installed a air source heat pump in Jan, and my propane usage dropped considerably this spring, so I went with assuming I will need at least 400 gallons, but the budget they proposed was based on the previous 2 years, which would have been way more propane than I think I need