I just bought my first house last summer and I have propane heat. (N Collins). I had my tank filled at the beginning of October and it was out at the beginning of December. I was dumbfounded. I realized one of the reasons I used so much was that I was turning the thermostat down at night, something I didn’t know was a big no-no with propane, vs the natural gas I grew up with. I set all the thermostats at 66 (the guy at Norco recommended 66-68). Exactly 2.5 months later I have gone though $850 worth of propane. I can’t find the receipt with the amount of gallons, but holy fuck! The house: 1650 sp ft, 2 stories, no basement, mostly newer windows (all are new where the wind always hits), $10K worth of blow-in insulation work done by HughesCo 2 years ago. The people who owned the house before me told me how much they spent per winter, and it seemed high (can’t remember the number), but they kept the place at 77 degrees so it didn’t worry me at the time. Time to look for alternatives. I’m new to all of this, so any advice would be appreciated.
pellet stove, i was sick of $300 gas bills every month. two tons should make it through the winter, $440 total and i didn’t shop around for pellets.
440 for 2 tons of pellets is cheap, its like 250 a ton at lowes
$219 @ Tractor Supply in Arcade all the time, just have to watch for it on their sign. no tax either
I have never heard that about propane. What difference does it make if it is natural or propane? I never believed in turning it down anyway because it just takes more to heat the mass up again.
Last year I spent about $700/month but the price of propane has come waaaay down this year.
I keep mine at 69 degrees.
Bump, because they just refilled my tank after a month and the bill (for a month used) was over $700. This is just fucking insane. Prices haven’t changed much since last year and this year has been a heatwave compared to last. I had my house at 66 degrees, now dropped it to 62 and I’m cold and miserable. I was told by them that lowering it every night wastes more energy than it saves with propane. Everyone has a different answer, nobody has helped me save any money. Norco just scoffs it off. I’m still going to call them again so they can make sure I don’t have a leak or something. Is there anyone I can pay to come out and assess the whole situation, who’s not going to try to sell me on something that would take me 10+ years to make the money back? Just another reason this house was the worst mistake of my life.
Is that a misprint, $700 a month???
PM me for pellet fuel prices…
how bigs the damn tank? im looking at a house with a 500 gallon tank, but the way your talking fuck that place…
Last year I was paying about 650 every other month to heat 792sq/ft. I was dreaming of the spring when I could gut my house… This year I’ve spent $0 on propane for home heat. I switched over to a Blaze King Chinook stove, thermostat and all. 30 hr burn times on softwood, clean burning, catalytic, etc… stove with options was $4300, chimney $1200. Did the install myself and had it inspected/certified. Wood is free for me, so in a couple years I’ll be saving big time.
Last year I was freezing with 66 indoor temp… Now I’m sitting cozy in a 72-74 degree house, loading my stove once a day regardless of temp. It was my favorite part of the gut.
In other news though, I used about 90 gallons of propane from April of last year until Jan 26th. I just had my tank filled up with 277 gallons, @ $2.65/gal. Should last me about 3 years. Last year propane was $2.25/gal!! 40 cent increase for me with Reliable, and they still give me the home heating rate because I chose to keep the 320gal tank instead of swapping to a smaller size.
No difference between nat gas/propane. Turning it down when you’re not there is perfectly fine/normal… As long as you’re not going to be there for 8+ hours. It takes about 5 seconds for them to do a leak check if they have the right tool. Ask them… If they give you a hard time I’d highly recommend a switch to Reliable Propane. They’re ABSOLUTELY fantastic people to deal with. They go out of their way to help you, even if they’re not making any money off of it. If you call and need help installing something, they’re out usually the next day, sometimes even same day. They’re free to switch to if I recall… They’ll install your line to house + regulators and tank for free as long as you buy propane 
If your Serious about saving money on your heat… Go to hearth.com
Those guys there can help out. Outdoor boilers, wood stoves, pellet stoves… etc… Pellet stoves aren’t very good if you want to save a lot of money though. Pellets are pricey. cordwood is cheap… Even cheaper if you buy a log load and buck/split it yourself. Even better if you scrounge it all for free on craigslist!
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Propane heating usually is 1.5-2x the price of natural gas.
They might just have a big tank so it gets filled less often. Tank size is irrelevant really.
I have a 320gal, just got it filled and it should last me for about 3 years since I’m not heating with it anymore. Just DHW, stove, and dryer.
P.S.
I’ve typed all this while sitting naked after taking a shower and very comfortably warm.
on medium… (2)
and here’s my 320gal and how it looked after a wind storm…
You propane guys should buy 100 gallon tanks and fill them at the rez… way cheaper.
I just installed a Carrier Infinity last year (took advantage of the government Energy initiative) and we probably pay around $300 a month on average. The furnace is rated 98% efficient, house is 1550 sq. ft. above ground, 900 underground.
I never thought about that. How much cheaper? 100 gallons would last me about a week this time of year.
sak get a pellet stove or a wood burner where that propane thing is now, i’ll help you put it in
you mean 100lb tanks? those are 24gal tanks. Tall skinny ones?
100 gallon tanks are no where near portable enough for a typical homeowner to move… That’s what I was going to use, you save just about $.90/gallon last I checked when reliable was selling for $2.25. You probably save more now. It wasn’t worth it for me not heating with propane any more. If I was still heating with propane, I probably would do it. But heating with wood is SO much nicer. Cheaper, warmer, etc… But hell, I’m saving $300/month and living more comfortably so it’s worth it.
This… Look up hearth.com, figure out if you want a pellet or wood stove. Fuck the propane man. With wood you have heat if the power goes out, and can cook your food on it too.
Or go the baller route and get an outdoor boiler if you live in the sticks. Some outdoor burners even said their homeowners gave them an insurance break because there’s no solid/liquid fuel burning appliance heating their house. I didn’t get an insurance increase for installing a wood stove from NYCM… They didn’t even want pictures or care if it was inspected/certified by the town.
Yes, 100 lb tanks, sorry. I know a couple people doing it. They dont like filling any more than that, and it is illegal to transport any more than that, but money is money. You live like 10 feet from the Rez, would have been worth it last year for you. Probably not anymore.
They aren’t light.
They’re not light at all lol 
I figured for $100/yr it’s not worth the hassle. Last year it would have been worth it yeah. But I would have had to come up with the regulators and hook ups on my own since the ones I use now are owned by the propane supplier. So I just dealt with it instead. I really couldn’t have imagined this small of a house using that much propane… But when I tore it apart, I realized why it cost so much to heat LOL 
I also was thinking that if I go there often to get them filled up, I should probably tip them… which would cost more and defeat the purpose slightly. Especially since I’d probably need their help unloading it from the car/truck and putting it back in 
Taking 20lb tanks there though is a no brainer. My dad brings his 20 and 30lb (for tag along toy hauler) propane tanks out to get them filled there… SO much cheaper.
Last year I found out when you go to the Blue Rhino or any propane exchange place (like Depot), they are only filling their tanks to 15lbs! So you’re only getting 3/4 of a tank. The rez is cheaper to fill, and you get more propane! win-win. I have my grill hooked up to my house supply line, so it doesn’t matter much to me any more… But I felt robbed after I used those exchange places all the time and never knew it.
We heat our 1880sqft 2003 two story with propane. I tink we are on a budget to use 800 or1k gallons a year at $225/mo paid over 11months. Generally we keep the heat at 70 when we are home and 67 when away.
Dan
what kind of pressure are you guys running at the regulator? is it possible you have it cranked too high or you have a leak somewhere? 850 for a couple months seems like alot…
why not own your own tank instead of using the providers tank, and shop around every year for the cheapest rate? in the northtowns the prices seem to vary alot…
Thanks for the input. I have a useless (unless you want to sit in front of it all day) propane stove in my living room. It would be a good spot for a real one. In terms of a chimney, how high does it have to go before it goes out the side of the house? My ceiling is low and there is a bedroom above, so if it could exit through the wall where the existing one is now, it would work. The delivery guy told me he heats his house with wood, as he couldn’t afford the propane prices. That says it all. He did say he wouldn’t save anything if he didn’t cut the wood himself. No way I have the time or ambition to do that, but I have a family member who may be able to help me with that- he has one of those outdoor units and splits his own wood. I’m leary of spending too much to set everything up for a stove, as I have no idea how long I’m staying here. I’m not sure how much I’d get back if I sold the house. I’m still going to look into it for sure. Also, my dad paid about $600 last month for propane, in a massive but brand new house, with a constant 68 degrees.
I haven’t shopped around, but I looked up average rates for the region and it seemed to be in line. I will check around though. The tank is 500gal.