Propane

[realist]

A couple of days ago we had a delivery of propane and my wife almost had a cardiac arrest. The cost for the propane on the tag was $4.38 which is more than diesel. So I started making some inquiries of other companies. One thing that I found out is, if you have more than one company in your area, it is easy to switch out the tanks. Also if you own your own tanks then the cost is about $1 per gallon less. I figure that I used about 200 gallons over the past 5 months. My goal is to have two 500 gallon tanks this will allow me to buy when the market is low as well as having a good supply of stable fuel on hand. One company I contacted told me if I switched the cost would be $2.19 per gallon for the first fill and then currently $3.01 there after. However if I had my own tank then the cost would be $2.75. So the moral of this story is keep a close eye on your bills and know the going rates. Right now tanks are at a premium so I will have to wait to get my own, that is another spring project.

[helomech]

Around here they rent you the tank. I am wondering now if they also charge more per gallon, or if they just charge the rental.

[realist]

They do that here too. Once they have you as a renter they hose you. Kinda like renting a house. Some will also only rent the regulator, others sell it to you. Check it out and don't let them get away with anything.

[helomech]

Great thanks for the heads up. We are about to put in a propane stove, heater, and generator.

[realist]

Hay have you ever considered a propane refrigerator? The initial cost is a bunch but they last forever. They make no noise and use about 200 gallons of fuel a year if you leave them on all the time. They have a freezer so for remote locations or for reliable cooling in a SHTF situation, I highly recommend them. I had one in a cabin of ours that we got used. It was old then and last another 20 years until the cabin roof collapsed. I will be putting one in the cabin that I hope to put in this year. I am also putting in gas lighting as a back up.

[helomech]

Seen them in RV's, but never in a home. They are usually small aren't they?

[Sniper-T]

Nope... can get full sized as well. we have them at our rural cabins up here. and yeah, they do last forever.

we run propane fridge, stove and lights in our cabin, all off 100# bottles.

[helomech]

Nice to know, thanks.

[Grumpy Old Man]

You can get a whole bunch of stuff that runs on propane from Lehmans

Appliances | Gas Refrigerators and Freezers - Lehmans.com (http://www.lehmans.com/store/Appliances___Gas_Refrigerators_and_Freezers?Args=)

[Grumpy Old Man]

I am an industrial account and get my 500 gallon tank filled every other month and I'm paying $2.49. But, they own the tank and service it. It also has a wet line which you might want to consider getting. We use it to fill our tanks for the forklifts.

You can also consider an annual contract; that usually knocks off a few cents.

[realist]

Sniper how much propane do you go through a year at your cabin?

[Sniper-T]

little... we only use it as a cabin... so the appliences are used on sporatic weekends only. We plan on 200 # /yr. for all aplliences, although we maintain twice that in reserve.

The lights are the killers. the fridge sucks a bunch initially, but then is a trickle. the stove is blah... cause we cook on the woodstove, but the oven sucks it hard.

The most is 300#, but at a buddy's nearby, that we use hard, we'll hit close to 500#

[ladyhk13]

We rent our 500 gal tank and my mom owns hers. We now use the same company (we switched to hers since it was cheaper) and they give her a lower rate because they don't have to maintain the tank or repair it if something goes wrong. We usually buy our season's worth in the summer and the company gives us a break on the price. They hold a Customer Appreciation Day and anyone who goes in on that day can get their gas at a discount for the winter. Check with your company to see if they do something like that.

[realist]

Thanks Sniper that is about the amount I was planning on. I figure about 200 gallons a year used periodically throughout the year. I do plan on having a 500 gallon tank for the long term.

The thing that I like about propane is it stores for long periods and does not have any maintenance needed except to fill it. Our old tank lasted more than 20 years before we moved. So unless a tree falls on the tank there should be no maintenance.