Propane Gas Prices, YIKES

[MrJimi]

If you put in a direct vent water heater (not a gravity vent) I hope you at least considered a continuous hot water heater. I don't think that continuous hot water heaters are the "cure all", however for the price difference betweent the two (direct vent and continuous), I think you do see a payback over a short time. Usually if you already have the hole in the wall, instal becomes a breeze.

Then again, if it was a gravity vent system, for the extra $ you could end up paying for a retrofit, well, then the decesion becomes harder.

I'm also assuming one continuous water heater will meet your needs.

It's just wife and I and we bought a 40 gallon gas heater at Lowes and it's turned way down and the water stays hot with just the pilot lite , so far so good. I think we will save gas with this one because it doesn't lite all the time.
What is a directvent and continous heater? I have one 3 " pipe that goes thru the roof and thats it.
I think this is the one I bought
Jim

 

[Sigarms]

A direct vent can discharge the flue horizontally (sp?) through the wall. You don't need to go up through a roof (which can be a pain is some cases). Put the water heater next to a wall, then go straight out on a horizontal run to discharge the flue gas (simple explination).

A continuous hot water heater (AKA instantaneous water heater) only heats the water when you want hot water so you don't waste fuel heating the water. They've gotten away from calling instantaneous hot water heaters because depending on the lenght of run, you would still have to wait for hot water to get to you (ways around that, however, more money). When people are sold on an "instant" hot water heater and they spend good money for an istall and they don't get water "instantly", well, some get pretty upset.

An continuous can also mount on the outside of the house as well.

For myself, I have a direct vent water heater down in the basement now. When that goes out, for the price difference between a direct vent (which I will need to buy anyway for ease of instal because there's no way I'm going up three floors to discharge the flue gas), I'll be getting a continuous water heater, put it up on the inside wall in the basement, and the hole is already there from the direct vent water heater. I will have a lag time on getting water upstairs (length of run) however, the advantage with a continuous hot water heater is once you have the hot water coming out, as long as your demand stays within the specs of the water heater, you will NEVER run out of hot water (you could take a shower for a day and not run out of hot water).

Make sure before anyone promises you you'll never run out of hot water you know what the highest outflow of water use will be and make sure you have "enough" water heater to handle it. For myself, I'm looking at 8.2 gallons a minute which should be find for our household.

 

[deere755]

I can't believe propane is so high. That is just plain stupid for it to be that high. Here in Illinois a lot of people have Ameren CIPS for electricity. The rate freeze was lifted this year and you should see the bills. One friend of mine told me his 1st bill after the rate freeze was $838 another was $600. If utilities keep going up we are all gonna be on well fare. Is there any end to this price gouging.

 

[Diesel-ME]

Speaking of Propane, for the folks thats uses it in their homes, do you own or pay rent for the tank?

Seon,

We just built a new house for my Mom last year here in Maine. We opted to buy and bury a 500 gallon propane tank. It's s super-efficient house (radiant heat, blown foam walls, ICF foundation, etc) and 100% propane (stove, fireplace, boiler, generator, dryer). If you use enough fuel it may be worth buying a tank as you can essentially put out a bid for fuel and/or purchase fuel from a variety of sources at any point in time. Having said that you won't break even on the tank purchase for some years, but it is satifiying to know that you are not locked into a sole source for fuel pruchasing.

Your mileage may vary....

~paul

 

[DK35vince]

Speaking of Propane, for the folks thats uses it in their homes, do you own or pay rent for the tank?

Valley Gas owns our propane tank (500 gallon). We do not pay for the tank, but we must purchase our fuel from Valley Gas since they own the tank.
We just had our tank topped off a week ago. Cost went up slightly to $2.15/gal. Was $2.05/gal 2 months ago when our tank was filled.

 

[johnnyringo]

My goodness. I will never complain about my propane bill again. Here in eastern Oklahoma it is $1.59 per gallon. I own my own tank. Bought it new about five years ago for $850 installed. Used ones are hard to come by.

FYI.. When I first moved into my house five years ago I paid .79 cents a gallon for propane!

 

[George2615]

Quote "I just had our tank filled and the gallons was 73.9 and the total including taxes was 247.84 that comes out to $3.35 per gallon.. Is this crazy or what?
They have us by the ( you know whats )"

I know the feeling very well. My last propane fill up cost over $260 for about the same number of gallons. We only use propane for cooking and HW heater. They come about once every 90 days to refill. I heat with a fuel oil furnace.

The very sad part is that in a one year period it costs me more to take showers and cook food than it does to heat my house for the winter. I have been thinking of going back to an electric HW heater. In fact I might get one anyway and parallel it with some isolation valves so I can switch back and forth.

 

[scott_vt]

Afternoon Jimi,
I have a 330 gal tank at my Vt home we use for heating. I filled up in the fall for $1.94 and just rescently filled up again for $2.07. I own the tank and started shopping around last for suppliers with a resonable price ! I use Amerigas out of Rutland, and so far so good !

 

[MrJimi]

Afternoon Jimi,
I have a 330 gal tank at my Vt home we use for heating. I filled up in the fall for $1.94 and just recently filled up again for $2.07. I own the tank and started shopping around last for suppliers with a reasonable price ! I use Amerigas out of Rutland, and so far so good !

I was under the impression that these tanks had to get inspected or hydro tested every ten years, how does that work if its in the ground?
I will be calling them Monday if they're open. I hope they made a big mistake
Thanks for all the replies
Jim

 

[BillyP]

I was under the impression that these tanks had to get inspected or hydro tested every ten years, how does that work if its in the ground?
I will be calling them Monday if they're open. I hope they made a big mistake
Thanks for all the replies
Jim

It could be different there but here in OK the only time you have to have one tested is if it goes completely empty. The pressure test is $25.

You may be you're thinking about oxy acetylene bottles? They do have to be recertified by a hydro test every 10 years