How much is that cord worth?

[Dan_IN_MN]

We have our own 500 gal LP tank.

You can find your own tank to buy if you look around. Then get it filled and be done with it, have a good long term stash.

We bought our place from a guy that delivers propane, so of course he had put in his own 500 gal tank. It's nice not having anyone telling us how much propane we need to buy to keep the tank! When we bought it, this was a point he made more than once!

I got our tank filled this fall for $1.20/gal. I caught our delivery guy at the local convince store and asked him to fill it. He said that it had gone up to $1.35/gal but if I filled it I could get the $1.20/gal. With him saying/doing this, it makes me wonder what control the driver has over the price. This fill should last us a few winters if we keep up with burning. We also heat our domestic water with lp.

With wood heat the house is much warmer.

Funny guys mention companies checking their meters. I have a friend who is so frugal with his electricity that the power co was always checking to see if he had bypassed the meter. He got tired of this and put his bill in a friends name as his estate executor. They've left him alone after that.

 

[stihly dan]

In southern NH. The gas co will only fill there tanks. If you own your own Tank No fill. I tried to do this too.

 

[Patrick62]

In southern NH. The gas co will only fill there tanks. If you own your own Tank No fill. I tried to do this too.

If your gas company is being difficult but you want propane for a backup, do the 100# cylinder solution. Get it filled at the rental shop.

Tell the gas company to haul off the big tank. Problem solved.

 

[darkbyrd]

Maybe... maybe not...
The average price of LP in Iowa is $1.35 per gallon right now, in North Carolina it's $2.65, and in New Jersey it's $3.45... three times higher than Iowa.
So... How much is that cord worth?

Looks like I got a good average. That is why I posted my source. People can do the math themselves if they really want to know.

Me, if I don't heat with wood, I will be cold. No backup, no alternative. It is nice to sit back and say "That is a $300 stack of wood right there, and I didn't have to install a furnace to use it!"

 

[stihly dan]

I only use gas for the stove and dryer. But I will be doing the 2 100# tank plan in the summer.

 

[angry inch]

My story is similar, except I called for my summer fill a few years ago and when I got my bill it was 2 times what it should have been. I called and the L.P. guy told me that I already had my summer fill in Feburary and that this was the new rate for L.p. for the year. I felt I got screwed with no notice about the rising cost so I went out and bought an OWB and have not looked back!

I have a similar one also. I figgurd i would do the keep full that way i woulnt have to even think about it every thing was going good they just check it when they are in the area and if it needs i think at least 200 gal. They fill it . Well thats all fine and dandy but one year they did the summer fill and it cost me something like 1.20/gal. more than if iwould have wated till fall. So the way i looked at it it cost me more to heat my house that summer than itdid that winter. Now put a paddlock on the cap so i decide if i want lp or not!

 

[Mac88]

Utility companies will rape you every chance they get. We have the honor of spending over $20 every month strictly for the pleasure of having an NG connection. The actual November consumption charge was only $11.55 on 18 therms (about 1750 cu. ft.), on top of the hook-up and other assorted charges. Some day I'll run the conversion of wood vs. NG for our actual consumption, and factor in the cost for equipment fuel and maintenance.

 

[zogger]

Utility companies will rape you every chance they get. We have the honor of spending over $20 every month strictly for the pleasure of having an NG connection. The actual November consumption charge was only $11.55 on 18 therms (about 1750 cu. ft.), on top of the hook-up and other assorted charges. Some day I'll run the conversion of wood vs. NG for our actual consumption, and factor in the cost for equipment fuel and maintenance.

Seems like the cost of two years NG hookup would pay for a large used propane tank.

the one at the house here is the boss's, he has a dozen or so spares kicking around and just brought one over. I have from when we were living in the RV two 100 lb tanks, and six of the smaller 5 gallon/25 lb tanks. The only bummer on the smaller portable tanks like that is you have to haul them in to get filled, trucks dont like/wont fill them. It's not that bad if you just take them in all at once and go direct to a propane place, not a quickstore.

 

[stihly dan]

Utility companies will rape you every chance they get. We have the honor of spending over $20 every month strictly for the pleasure of having an NG connection. The actual November consumption charge was only $11.55 on 18 therms (about 1750 cu. ft.), on top of the hook-up and other assorted charges. Some day I'll run the conversion of wood vs. NG for our actual consumption, and factor in the cost for equipment fuel and maintenance.

Same with electricity, used $80 of power. Bill was $176

 

[VW Splitter]

No natural gas or LP at my house, electric only. We use a heat pump in the summer to stay cool and a wood stove to stay warm in winter. Summer bill runs $120/mo. In the winter it it drops to $75/mo. Also have the water hooked up to the wood stove. The colder it gets, the hotter the stove gets, the more hot water I make, the lower my electric bill goes down. I enjoy beating the power co out of what ever I can.

 

[Mac88]

Same with electricity, used $80 of power. Bill was $176

We used 567 kwh. Total electric charge was $65, $30 of that was misc. BS charges. We have fluorescent lights everywhere, gas range and water heat. The only thing that kills us is the AC in the summer when the rates are higher.

 

[agstr]

Yup

Using wood to heat and as a backup for cooking is the best homeland security advice I've gotten -- follows the distributed energy model, not a greedy conglomerate's dictates. Good feeling to be free of a privatized municipal infrastructure not benefiting citizens