your propane usage stats?

gibbsgirl · #1 11/12/14, 05:48 PM

This is our first year on propane. I got no past experience to go by, so please share yours.

I'm asking, how much do you use?

How big is your house?

What's your thermostat set at?

What runs on propane?

Where are you?

In five months on a 400 gal tank I'm now down to 40%, but really we weren't running anything on propane until about 2-2 1/2 months ago. House is about 2200 sq ft, 2 story with basement. I like it warm, it's set between 70-75 depending on how cold it is outside. Propane is for downstairs heat (first floor), kitchen stove. I'm in West KY. and our house heater is old and probably not very efficient.

Just trying to get my bearings. I'm freaking out about how much we've used. thought maybe we had a leak, but now I'm not sure.

I've got plans to put in other house heating systems, but haven't had the money to yet. now I'm wondering if it'd be cheaper to get that stuff put in now, than pay for so much propane. Sheesh, it's honestly not even that cold out yet. But, I really don't like to be cold inside.

agmantoo · #2 11/12/14, 06:47 PM

Check on propane and you will see that there is not a lot of energy in it for the price you have to pay. I only use propane as a back up means of heat in an emergency.

OH Boy · #3 11/12/14, 07:30 PM

I am located near Columbus Ohio and we have a 2800 square foot house. Furnace, cooktop, and water heater are propane. Also I have a wall heater in my garage that we use to keep it above freezing (probably 40-45 degrees) in the wintertime. We keep the thermostat in the house at 65 degrees most of the time. We use on average about 1200 gallons a year.

I always fill our 1000 gallon tank in the summertime and get the rest on a pre-buy contract and have for the most part been able to get it at $1.50 a gallon, sometimes less. Gotta plan and budget ahead though.

If you just buy propane as you need it, it will be a lot higher in the winter.

The best thing you can do is purchase a tank instead of renting one. Keep in mind they will only fill the tank to 80% (so my 1000 gallon tank actually only stores 800 gallons). So get the biggest tank you can. If you own the tank, you can buy from any supplier. If you rent a tank, you are locked into just one supplier and take my word for it they know it and you will pay a higher price!

If you get a large enough tank to hold whole years worth (or more) you can just fill it in summer at the lowest price, then you are good for the whole year.

Dixie Bee Acres · #4 11/12/14, 07:43 PM

I have a 500 gallon tank, of course they can only fill it to 80%, or 400 gallons.
We filled it in October 2013, in February 2014 we had it topped off, had used 67 gallons. That was when we ran out of firewood.
I checked the tank a week or so ago, it is down to 55%, or 275 gallons, meaning we have used 125 gallons since February.
Have lp cookstove and furnace. Live in Indiana in a 1.5 story, 1900 sqft house built in 1939.

fixitguy · #5 11/12/14, 08:10 PM

You need to check your attic for insulation. You might not have much. I would not want less than a R-30 in your neck of the woods. Good insulation also helps in the summer with cooling.

My old Wisconsin repair shop had maybe a R-12 when I bought it. I rolled in some R-38, and WOW, it was very noticeable the first day.

MO_cows · #6 11/12/14, 08:57 PM

We have a 500 gallon tank. Small house, a shade under 1000 sq ft. Propane for hot water and furnace. We used to be able to squeak by the whole winter if we started with a full tank, but we would turn the thermostat down during the day while at work. Now my dad lives with us and he's cold all the time anyway, we use more gas. We used to keep the thermostat at 66 when we were home, but dad can't stand it unless it's 68, 69. We keep an electric space heater in the living room. It makes the room more comfortable and that's where the thermostat is located so it keeps the furnace from running as much. Since the cold weather started early this year, we'll probably be getting another fill on propane in January or February. Last year there was a temporary shortage and prices went to $5/gal. We used just electric heaters then, managed to get by without running the furnace and it was pretty comfortable. Our electric bill went to almost $300 for that month but it was still cheaper than $5 propane.

Harry Chickpea · #7 11/12/14, 11:48 PM

We have an electric heat pump and a six brick propane radiant wall heater and a propane cooktop on the stove, and a standard big ol tank (500 gal?) We budget about $500/yr on a prebuy for propane use and carry a credit because we typically don't use it all. We use our heat pump primarily down to about 40 degrees outside, and at temps lower than that set it low enough that the propane is the main source. Importantly, the propane helps in keeping humidity up midwinter, because the heater is unvented and the waste products are water vapor and carbon dioxide.

Right now we're trying to use the very dregs of the tank, because we are due for a new one from the supplier. This one has had the gauge tightened a couple of times due to tiny leakage, and the fitting for the truck is outdated. The tank was showing 10% on the gauge in March, and here it is November and we are STILL working at using up the remaining gas (hopefully this week). We aren't stingy on how much we use the wall heater, but we don't allow it overnight because it will sometimes not ignite one of the bricks properly, and the house holds a lot of the heat overnight anyway - (2,400) sf in a properly insulated newer manufactured home in north Alabama.

I debated buying our own tank, but for us it doesn't make particular sense. The supplier has a bunch of 15,000 gallon tanks in the area and the contract reads that we won't run out. In last years crunch, they used a combination of drawing their own tanks down and short filling to keep every customer going. The amount in the tanks dropped, but never to a level where there was a danger of running out. Two other companies in the area didn't play that way and lost a LOT of customers.

Everyone has a different experience. Ours has been great overall.

Veronica · #8 11/13/14, 06:00 AM

We switched propane companies this year, as our old company was unreliable and I couldn't trust them to fill the tank when needed. Only our furnace uses propane. We live in a former barn which is pretty well insulated with thick walls. Total square footage is around 3000 sf.
We don't own the tank, and got a smaller tank this time (300 gallons) as we don't use that much propane. We filled it over the summer at $1.99 and the company just came and checked and we have used only 13 gallons. I have the temp set at 62, and use the wood stove as much as possible since we have free firewood. Depends on how cold it is but probably we use around 200-250 gallons a year.