What's reasonable Propane usage?

[dave1949]

I am surprised nobody has mentioned doing a Leak Test. We had one done this summer and found a small leak on an outdoor connection that was in an out of the way location. We never smelled it.

Jack

Well, that is a thought. Did you use soapy water to find the leak? Our tank and lines were put in three years ago, I guess a sane person would check for leaks

Dave.

 

[dave1949]

Good Mornin Dave,
As Bird stated, there are a lot of variables when it comes to propane useage !

I thought I might chime in because that energy form is what I use to heat my cabin in Vt. The cabin is about 900 sq ft maybe a bit more, and I have a 330 gal storage tank. I am only there a couple weekends per month, and when Im not there I leave the thermostat at 50 F.

In a normal winter, I can get by on one full tank ! I was lucky this year, I jumped on a promotional rate, $1.55 per gal, and I filled my tank early ! I also own the tank, so I can shop for the best price rather than have price dictated to me by a sole supplier !

We have a baked enamel stove that is the sole heat source, looks like a wood stove and it easily heats the whole place even in the coldest weather, other than the bathroom and the downstairs bedroom that I use electric heaters in when it gets bitter !

Good luck !

Thanks for the info Scotty.

That was a great price on propane!

Did you ever have any dealer refuse to fill your private tank? An aquaintance of mine ran into that - which I thought was pretty strange.

I haven't surveyed recently, but I was buying from the lowest cost supplier, so my tank or theirs, I think the price is the same?

Dave.

 

[dave1949]

Dave, I'm like everyone else; gripe about the high cost of everything, but just looking at the old records, my propane in 1996 cost $396.62, including tank rental, and electricity cost $1,722.85, so the total was $2,119.47. This past year (2008) in this total electric house my electricity cost $2,145.64. So my total utility costs in 1996 were very close to my 2008 costs.

That's a good thing Bird, I would have never guessed that.

Do you track your KW hours? Our elec. bill has a rolling 12 month usage chart. My low was June (282 KWH) and my high was December (564 KWH) over the past year. Obviously, we are baking too many cookies at Christmas time.

My Sept. thru April average was 415 KWH/month, May thru August average was 316 KWH/month.

I am guessing you use most of your elec. for AC?

Dave.

 

[RayMunising]

Just so you have another data point ... we average 360 gallons per year. We use propane for hot water (3 people) and drying clothes. We have a propane boiler for heat but rarely use it. I heat with wood, 3 to 3-1/2 cords per year. If it is a really bitter winter I'll fire up the boiler and use it but it doesn't run very much. Our oven is electric. Usage has been pretty consistent for the past 20 years. Propane prices have varied from a low of 63 cents per gallon in 1992 to a high of $2.89 last year. This year the price is $1.59. I fill up once a year.

Whenever I fill up I write down how much propane it took to fill up the tank and the price per gallon. If anyone is interested here's my usage for the past 20 some years ...

# gallons/price per gallon
435/0.75
260/0.77
380/0.79
380/0.63
350/0.69
330/0.69
400/0.87
400/1.07
380/0.79
355/0.79
370/0.77
380/0.79
356/1.12
385/1.12
380/1.09
375/1.34
350/1.49
380/1.89
300/1.98
310/2.89
320/1.59

 

[dave1949]

Thanks Ray,

Your situation is probably close to ours, except we cook with propane, you dry clothes. Your average yearly use is just a bit more, but you have one more person.

That's good data to have. I keep track of my usage by delivery also. I have found the pressure guages on the tank to be pretty much useless.

If propane prices would stay lower, like around $1.50, I wouldn't think so much about it. I just checked propane prices, they vary about 100% from lowest (S. Dakota) to highest (Rhoade Island). Go figure.

I am just thinking the next time energy prices sky rocket, I will be sorry if I haven't found a cheaper alternative. I think solar might be the way to go. Can't see feeding a wood boiler in the summer and they are expensive items to begin with. I have plenty of wood to burn, but that's work too.

Thanks again, Dave.

 

[dave1949]

Hey Ray,

I just looked up Munising, MI. I guess a Yooper is a UP resident? Was only up there one time, back around 1975 I think. Beautiful country.

Took me a long time to figure out 'pasties' are some kind of food

Good luck on your move and all. I am sure it will be nice to be near L. Superior.

Dave.

 

[scott_vt]

Thanks for the info Scotty.

That was a great price on propane!

Did you ever have any dealer refuse to fill your private tank? An aquaintance of mine ran into that - which I thought was pretty strange.

I haven't surveyed recently, but I was buying from the lowest cost supplier, so my tank or theirs, I think the price is the same?

Dave.

Good Mornin Dave,
No I have never have had that problem ! When I bought the tank from the farmer up the road from me, we had a local propane company come and hook up the line from the tank to the house. I installed the pads for the tank to sit on and also dug the trench for the line.

They came up and pressure tested the tank and then filled it. I would imagine at some time down the road that it will need to be tested again, although Im not sure when that would be !

Up here I believe we get a slight discount for owning our own tank, basically because we are responsible for any maintainance that would need to be done to it.

As far as the price goes this year, I was thrilled to get it at that price, although Im sure it will be more by the time it gets cold !

 

[EarPlug]

Well, that is a thought. Did you use soapy water to find the leak? Our tank and lines were put in three years ago, I guess a sane person would check for leaks

Dave.

The propane company did the pressure test which indicated a leak. They used a "certified" testing solution that acted just like soapy water. I asked about it and they said it is used because it has a know level of components and they will be sure of the reaction. I would have your supplier do the test. It only takes about 5 minutes.

BTW - the line that was leaking was a new about 2 years ago when we had a new tank put in.

Jack

 

[dodge man]

There are four of us, our stove is electric, but our house is heated with L.P. and our hot water is L.P. Both are very high efficency units, the kind vented with PVC. Your usage doesn't sound high to me. If I were to guess, we would use about 200-300 gallons a year for hot water. Most of your usage would likely be for hot water, I don't know for sure, but I would guess the stove usage would be less than 20% of your usage.

Have the L.P. company check for leaks, they checked ours. We didn't ask them to but they did find a leak outside on the tank. They swaped out the regulator on ours that was leaking.

 

[RayMunising]

Hey Ray,

I just looked up Munising, MI. I guess a Yooper is a UP resident? Was only up there one time, back around 1975 I think. Beautiful country.
Took me a long time to figure out 'pasties' are some kind of food
Good luck on your move and all. I am sure it will be nice to be near L. Superior.
Dave.

Yup a yooper is UP resident (UPer). Actually I think you have to be born in the UP to be an official yooper. Someone that moves to the UP is a transplant so I'll actually be a transplant. I am currently a troll. Anyone who lives in the LP is a troll ... because they live below the bridge. Thanks for the well wishes. Unfortunately the plan to move to the UP is on hold because the economy in Michigan is so bad we can't sell our house.