Propane
 

Lucky we filled up our propane tank last week at $2.23 a gallon.
This week it's at $2.99!

We refilled ours last week too, it was 2.29. They have something coming on the news here at 6:00 about running low on propane in our area. When I got ours filled up it was still at 56%(we have a 500)I told DH that I think we still have plenty more cold weather coming we need to go ahead and fill up...Glad we did. We normally have 56% left at the end of winter..not this year.

Should be "Pro-Pain". $2.75 here.

I run heating oil so don't deal with it myself, but you folk are all lucky.

In the upper Midwest they are driving tankers down to Missuri and south to get some, any, and its around $4.00 here today. And you are limited on what you can get.

And we are going to 15-20 degrees below zero tonite, running out is not an option....

This is serious.

They say next winter could be worse if nothing changes?

Paul

I paid $2.85 a gallon today, up from $2.45 a month ago. Delivery owner said it was going up to $3.35 next week and more increases expected.

I really feel for you folks.
I just came up from downstairs where I was really enjoying the toasty feeling six feet away from our wood stove.

Tomorrow I will shovel a path to check the propane level. I did some searching on exports of USA propane and found out that it is being exported at ever increasing levels. If someone who is better with computer navigation than myself would address this maybe we could understand why our prices are rising so quickly and just who are we competing against? Also I wonder what the USA's increase of propane produced had been for the last 5 years.... Here in so. WI currently -5 .

Probably just supply and demand. The extra cold weather has likely drained a lot of tanks and put a crunch on the delivery system. The exports are likely contracts that must be honored too.

Well that was my 8th grader's theory, anyway...


A month ago, we paid $1.67. Today I paid $3.29!

This is correct. Weak dollar overseas and demand in China according to my supplier.

Interesting. I heard an NPR report yesterday about propane price increases and they stated that ships from foreign countries have been bringing propane to East Coast ports.

According to that report, the shortage of propane began during the fall when major agricultural firms used five times the amount of propane that they normally use, in order to dry grains. The wet summer was the reason given.

We got word yesterday from a propane dealer( a good friend). Propane is going up .70 cents to $4 bucks today. We have wood heat. But a gas cook stove. And I threw a fit about 1.95 a gallon. Ill shut up now about that fill up.
I'm so glad we have wood heat! I feel bad for my neighbors who have propane. There are a few suppliers who can't get any more propane. So it won't matter how much you are willing to pay. They just don't have it.

Here's that NPR story from yesterday:

http://www.npr.org/2014/01/22/264742...opane-supplies

Thank you. I have all three forms of heat, propane, pellets and wood. Up to now propane has been cost effective since I use it for all other heat requiring appliances, normally about 300 gal a year. Cut to length and split standing dead Oak (cutting live Oak is illegal) costs me $250 a cord as at age 73 I am no longer able to go into the forest and get my own.

Question here, you're buying propane on a monthly basis? Is your tank really small? I'd expect a full tank to last you the whole winter.

I'd look into wood heat as a backup. It's a 1 weekend DIY project for a couple. I installed two woodstoves, one in the kitchen, and one in the living room. Their average installation costs (used stoves + new chimneys) ran about 1200$. That's passing through the second floor. The chimney cost will vary with the style of installation, but will almost always cost more than the stove.

A cord of wood can be stacked in a corner and forgotten till needed. Keep it dry and it will last forever.

Yes.
It's a 100 gallon tank, and of course they don't fill it entirely full.

We have such a small tank because we're building a new house (should be in it by this fall, if all goes well) and it'll have wood heat with electric back up. The propane will run the cookstove and our tiny barrel with be plenty for that.

I got a better idea where our propane in WI comes from by going to the Energy Information Administration site. I guess Texas and Kansas are big holding areas underground in those states. Also from Canada. I know the very low temps. here are a factor, and in 2013 WI got 10" of rain more than in 2012. Also other areas are experiencing abnormally low temps. I do wonder how low those reserves are in Texas and Kansas... We have a 500 gal. tank and an old house. We also have a woodstove and 2 oil-filled radiator heaters. When we had the extra $$$ some of it went for a new roof and needed items but a lot of it was foolishly spent. So now it is a matter of increasing insulation, increasing air flow distribution and maybe a different heating option instead of a propane boiler. I wanted it at the time for cleaner air in the bedrooms. We cannot get additional woodstove because our ins. co. said no way. Called today about propane. Not to order, just to see if they had any and what was the cost. It went from 2.02 on 1-8 to 3.449 today. They do have it but wouldn't commit to what would be available in the future. I appreciate their honesty. Our 500 gallon tank that was filled on 1-8 to 80% and now sits at 59%. Some of our stress right now is definitely of our own personal decisions. Now my focus is on how to improve and adapt.
As I type this I have heard 4X about the Justin Beiber arrest on Fox News. I don't give a flying fig about that! Why not cover what REALLY affects the average American citizen...

Had a nice talk in the cold with my delivery guy this morning. He's also a neighbor. He came by to top us up a bit and since we had scheduled it last week we were only $2.59. New deliveries are over $4 with a 200 gallon minimum. He's dreading telling many of his customers this and is hoping more people aren't home when he delivers as he'll hear the brunt of the complaints. He's been working overtime hours to keep up with deliveries. We're hopefully full enough now to get us through to spring and warmer temps and lower prices.

over $4 here, glad I have solar hot water heat:bouncy:

Wait... prices "per gallon"? They don't measure it like that anymore, it's per liter now on the receipt/bills, Amerigas.

I hear some areas they are rationing it, only for houses, if you have a barn or shop no delivery.

Pretty tough on fellas with pigs....

This all happened before corn drying season, it was not in any way that we used 7 times as much for drying corn. Someone is blaming farmers again, always a scape goat.... Locally we used less than normal. Perhaps one tiny little area used that much more, but nationally we likely used about on the high side of the typical average. In 2009 the whole country used a lot more mnationally; not this year.

I heard today we used to export 5%, this year we are exporting 20% of our USA production. Pretty much all goes off the west coast....

Now that the price is up a few shiploads are being imported to the east coast.

Paul

In 2012 we were in such a bad drought corn tripled in price. Hay was 15 for a small square able and a large square bale was 200$. We still had a flash drought so I doubt it was the whe corn drying. We all over the US are being hit with bitter cold temperatures. I'm attempting to help get a neighbor set up with a wood pellet stove. They may freeze seriously. Thy already have to have their coats on in their house to stay warm. The husband/father is about to go in for back surgery that the insurance will not cover. 44,000 they have to pay.
This is a very hard winter for many. I'm attempting to do all I can to help my neighbors.

We sign a contract with FS (Farm Services) every spring, the cost doesn't change, regardless of the market price. They come out every two months and top off the tank, and that is it, some of you might see if you can find something like that in your area!!

Sound like a way to charge you a bit more. It is still gallons here.

Checked our receipt and it definitely says "gallon".

We signed our contract or 1.78 for 300 gallons (central Indiana) and it looks like we will make it alright. If we go over it will be 2.75 per gallon. We plan to up our usage on next year's contract.

Yep, per gallon. DH just came home tonight with the message it's over $4 now, headed for $5. One local company is rationing, the other is filling everyone so he has room to store whatever he can get. Yes, they a hauling it from down south, too. They filled us after Christmas but the shop is low. It 's a smaller tank. The suppliers will have to buy it high and sit on the outlay for a long time, until the customers can pay their bills.

We just changed one of our wood stoves for a propane stove so we can have heat when we're not here and because we're getting older and need some heat if we're unable to bring in wood or get to the woodhouse. We have a 500 gallon tank. Instead of a fill-up, we could get only 200 gallons today and this was 12 days from when we ordered it. Price was $3.66. We (we farmers in our area) used much more propane this year drying corn and, supposedly, the gas dealers had ordered about the same amount as usual, so they're running low. That's what they're saying because it resonates with us. Yes, we did dry this year and often we don't have to dry the corn or at least not as much. Actually, I think it's an excuse that is being used to hike the price. We're at their mercy unless we drag the wood stove back in from storage and many people don't have that option.

The local propane co. is at $3.75/gal but they will only sell 50 gallons per customer. They are having trouble getting gas. Gonna call Amerigas tomorrow, we are getting low. Sometimes we can coast the whole winter on a fill but it's been colder this year and our electric heater in the living room (home of the thermostat) quit.

News tonight UPG is stopping deliveries to the chicken houses. Be prepared for a ripple effect.

My Mother was quoted over $4.00/gallon on Monday in North Alabama.

Almost $5/gal in Fairbanks for canisters. Delivery price on contract might be lower, but that doesn't help us bush folk who can't get delivery and rely on bottled LPG.

Primarily use wood for heat, but have an LP cookstove and back-up heater. We also have a K-1 kerosene backup heater and will probably get a #2HO Toyo backup for next winter as well. Wood is great if you never leave the house, but we want to make sure we can keep the cabin unfrozen for up to week if we have an emergency in winter... which means we need to use whatever self-feeding fuel is cost-effective at the time and that we can get back to the homestead.

AK has some the highest heating degree days as well as the highest heating fuel costs... double whammy!

Yesterday in Cent. IL, $5.50/gal w/100 gal max. Established customers only and tank must not be over 20% before delivery. I bet wood stoves/pipe sell really good come spring!

When they filled this past week the price hadn't gone up ($1.49) but they are limiting it to 200 gallons per fill. They said they'd adjust the delivery schedule accordingly so no one runs out. We use both LP and wood stove to keep this old farmhouse reasonably warm.

This is really the pits! I think I will drag out the toaster oven tonight and ban use of the kitchen oven until further notice. Our hot water, furnace, and kitchen stove are all propane. UGH. Thank goodness for wood heat, but in the bitter cold temps it doesn't warm the whole house.

I can't remember how they are connected now, but a few years ago I read that propane prices and gasoline prices are connected. So this means gasoline will go up too. This explains the 10 cent jump in gasoline overnight here in SW Missouri. Yep, ripple effect anyone?

I wonder if it will return to its low price after the shortage is over...gasoline never came back down once they figured out how much we were willing to pay.

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I let a relative in another state know that they should talk with their propane co. to see what is going on with their supplier. Also to get a heads up on what the price per gal. is and if they have to be at a certain level to get a fill or partial fill. My fear is that people will let it go to 20% and not realize that they cannot get a fill for a couple of days OR LONGER.

We've lived in WI for over 20 yrs. and have never experienced this situation. And there have been weeks where it never got above 0 and it has gotten colder than what we are dealing with now. Still trying to find out all the influencing factors... Also the member that is trying to help their neighbor get a pellet stove working, God bless you and them.

Just got the call. Propane is now 5.20 per gallon. It jumped 1.90 in 24 hrs

After a couple of years of run-around from them, with a leaking rental tank, p!ss poor customer service, lack of communication, and other problems, I am saying that it is time to renew our commitment to renewable (and free) energy resources. I told my propane company that due to the problems listed above (and it has nothing to do with the cost), they can come pick up their tank in the spring. After I have emptied it 100%.

Is anyone else with me?

I just got a fill two days ago. Don't know how much it was as it is included in my rent. But I still had 50% left, he thought it should be down to 30% but I have Tons of snow blown up against the house, That is a very good insulator. I thought it was about time for him to stop as it was about a month since the last fill.
This is great service from a Ag related company. CENEX.
I have never ever had to worry about IF they were going to show up in time.
And I sure keep it nice and warm in here. Even at 25 below outside I have it 78º inside. I just wear a short sleeve shirt around as it is nice and warm in here.
I have electric heat in the bedroom, but the main source of heat is Propane, been here 17 years now not one bit of problems with getting late or bad service.