Oil vs propane heat

[chas0218]

Just filled my propane tank last week ,paid a buck a gallon. try to get oil for that. if you dont want to rent a tank then just buy it , then shop around for the best price.

at a 35% consumption difference between fuel oil/propane it would be a wash with fuel oil costing $1.65/gallon. This is assuming you're comparing same efficiency furnaces. There are oil furnaces that are 96% efficient so you would be better off with an oil burner if you can't get that price all the time. My area sells fuel oil mix for $1.99/gallon and $2.10/gallon for propane.

thatç—´ why I bought my own 1,000 gal underground propane tank. I can have anyone I want fill it. Also I fill it in summer at lowest price, than heat thru winter. Our heating costs are down over 20% over similar heating when we filled every other month on rental tank. My furnace is 98% efficient. The exhaust pipe is 2 inch plastic pipe. Nearly no heat is lost.

At 100% efficiency you're producing the same amount of heat as an oil burner at 65% efficiency. My oil furnace is 88% efficiency rating so I would be getting 23% more heat per gallon of fuel oil.

 

[Sigarms]

I'm heading into my first complete Winter in our new house. Air to Air heat exchanger. Propane fired forced air. Propane fired hydronic floor heat.

I've got to ask, how are you heating your water for the floor heat?

 

[ovrszd]

I've got to ask, how are you heating your water for the floor heat?

Propane fired tankless.

 

[Fuddy1952]

My GF lived to 90 burning wood and coal. My dad is 95 and uses wood.

Wood is good for you.

In my family, the ones who had the worst habits (overweight, smoked, drank, no exercise, ate a horrible high cholesterol diet, hated anything healthy) outlived the ones who did the opposite! One uncle chain smoked cigars lighting next one off of the last, lived to 97.
All true, but all joking aside I would read up on burning coal/wood in the house. Dad did make it to 88, Mom living still at 92...but both have (had) classic symptoms of smoke inhalation.
My guess is the outdoor burners are better if you're not downwind from it.
Dad saved lots of money with it, had acres of trees to cut, split by hand. My guess is it cut 5 years or so off his life, besides the years of coughing, etc.

 

[Oaktree]

If you own your own propane tank anyone will fill it.The reason I purchased 2 tanks 500 gallon.I just filled up last week at 92 cents per gallon pretty cheap IMHO..

Maybe things are different where you are, but that's not how it works everywhere. I've had trouble getting suppliers to fill tanks owned by my last employer, and those who would had the highest prices. We finally got sick of the hassles and had one supplier drop their tank.

Prices vary a lot by region too, here are this week's average prices for kerosene, fuel oil & propane in N.H. As you can see, propane's no bargain here.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I wood (would!) not have a wood burning anything in my home. Read up on it. My parents installed a Fisher wood stove in 1973. Both parents had long-lived parents. Dad (rip) passed away 5 years ago, Mom lots of health problems from the stove. Neither parent smoked, drank, and ate a good diet, perfect weight, lots of exercise.
They were always careful using stove properly, chimney cleaned every year.
Wood burning in home not good. As I say...research it.

Well, my dad lived just short of 101, I guess the wood stove didn't hurt him any...

SR

 

[atsah]

In my family, the ones who had the worst habits (overweight, smoked, drank, no exercise, ate a horrible high cholesterol diet, hated anything healthy) outlived the ones who did the opposite! One uncle chain smoked cigars lighting next one off of the last, lived to 97.
All true

That just shows you how different people are put together.. Most people that do what they did didn't last very long..

 

[atsah]

I would read up on burning coal/wood in the house. Dad did make it to 88, Mom living still at 92...but both have (had) classic symptoms of smoke inhalation.
My guess is the outdoor burners are better if you're not downwind from it.
Dad saved lots of money with it, had acres of trees to cut, split by hand. My guess is it cut 5 years or so off his life, besides the years of coughing, etc.

Hmmm, everyone burns wood here and I see lots of people sitting on their porches in there 90's so I don't worry to much about it.. A 70's vintage Fisher stove wasn't what I would call "air tight" that's for sure..

88 and 92, that would be fine with me, much more than that isn't much fun for most people...

 

[lennyzx11]

Not to stray off topic too far. But the simple exercise of gathering firewood would seem to be a benefit. Too many people “retire” and waste away in their favorite lazy boy recliner. (Yeah, I got one too). Outside cutting, splitting, and other things associated with the wood stove is one of the chores that I actually enjoy.

 

[atsah]

Not to stray off topic too far. But the simple exercise of gathering firewood would seem to be a benefit. Too many people “retire” and waste away in their favorite lazy boy recliner. (Yeah, I got one too). Outside cutting, splitting, and other things associated with the wood stove is one of the chores that I actually enjoy.

Could not agree more, a friend of mine has his own skidder and cuts for the pulp wood mills, he does it everyday year round, he is 84 and told me if he stopped now he would be dead in no time.. The rule is, he has to call his wife every two hours so she knows he is okay..

 

[kenmac]

I'm heading into my first complete Winter in our new house. Air to Air heat exchanger. Propane fired forced air. Propane fired hydronic floor heat.

For 41 years I heated with Electric Baseboard heat. It was very efficient. Never had a single maintenance issue. Each room had it's own thermostat. I'm apprehensive that the new house will treat us as well. We'll see.

electric baseboard to propane. I doubt you'll see any reduction in cost.
Will be interesting to see what your cost are with the propane tankless hydro heat.

I changed out an old HP for a VRF heat pump. While my electric bills were higher this year compared to last yr.
We had several weeks with record temps.

I would select propane,or all elec. over oil though

 

[ovrszd]

electric baseboard to propane. I doubt you'll see any reduction in cost.
Will be interesting to see what your cost are with the propane tankless hydro heat.

I changed out an old HP for a VRF heat pump. While my electric bills were higher this year compared to last yr.
We had several weeks with record temps.

I would select propane,or all elec. over oil though

I don't expect any savings based on heat type. I expect this new house to be more efficient. We are on a concrete slab. I expect the floor heat to be very comfortable. Again, I'll report the results.

 

[kenmac]

I don't expect any savings based on heat type. I expect this new house to be more efficient. We are on a concrete slab. I expect the floor heat to be very comfortable. Again, I'll report the results.

had a guy not far from me just built a new house. It should be pretty efficient. He had them spray foam the entire home

 

[Fuddy1952]

Could not agree more, a friend of mine has his own skidder and cuts for the pulp wood mills, he does it everyday year round, he is 84 and told me if he stopped now he would be dead in no time.. The rule is, he has to call his wife every two hours so she knows he is okay..

Agree 100%. I helped my Dad (rip) cutting, loading, splitting, hauling wood a lot. It's fantastic exercise. About burning wood inside, all I'm saying is read up on it and be careful. That's all.
Strange how that's what led to Dad's demise and Mom's problems now.
I think it's great we can smoke, drink, etc. if we chose to. Personal judgement.

 

[coobie]

Maybe things are different where you are, but that's not how it works everywhere. I've had trouble getting suppliers to fill tanks owned by my last employer, and those who would had the highest prices. We finally got sick of the hassles and had one supplier drop their tank.

Prices vary a lot by region too, here are this week's average prices for kerosene, fuel oil & propane in N.H. As you can see, propane's no bargain here.
View attachment 625827

Thats crazy,here if you own your LP tanks they give you a 7-10 cent per gal.discount. www.caywoodpropane.com

 

[goeduck]

In my family, the ones who had the worst habits (overweight, smoked, drank, no exercise, ate a horrible high cholesterol diet, hated anything healthy) outlived the ones who did the opposite! One uncle chain smoked cigars lighting next one off of the last, lived to 97.
All true, but all joking aside I would read up on burning coal/wood in the house. Dad did make it to 88, Mom living still at 92...but both have (had) classic symptoms of smoke inhalation.
My guess is the outdoor burners are better if you're not downwind from it.
Dad saved lots of money with it, had acres of trees to cut, split by hand. My guess is it cut 5 years or so off his life, besides the years of coughing, etc.

I agree with others that maybe the old Fisher had installation issues. Wood heat goes back how many 1000s of years?

 

[ovrszd]

had a guy not far from me just built a new house. It should be pretty efficient. He had them spray foam the entire home

I spray foamed and fiberglas filled the walls. 24" of blow in fiberglas on the ceilings.

Didn't foam the ceilings because I didn't want to add an evac system.

 

[grsthegreat]

at a 35% consumption difference between fuel oil/propane it would be a wash with fuel oil costing $1.65/gallon. This is assuming you're comparing same efficiency furnaces. There are oil furnaces that are 96% efficient so you would be better off with an oil burner if you can't get that price all the time. My area sells fuel oil mix for $1.99/gallon and $2.10/gallon for propane.



At 100% efficiency you're producing the same amount of heat as an oil burner at 65% efficiency. My oil furnace is 88% efficiency rating so I would be getting 23% more heat per gallon of fuel oil.

but i filled my tank at $1.05 per gallon last summer. not 2.09

 

[Fuddy1952]

I agree with others that maybe the old Fisher had installation issues. Wood heat goes back how many 1000s of years?

It's a never ending argument. Parent's Fisher was professionally installed. It drew fantastically, it was installed in dining room where fireplace was (that addition built 1963). There was very little visible ash anywhere. They had CO monitors installed.
You have to load wood and clean out the ashes. They did it properly. You still get a certain amount of smoke/ash into the house regardless of design or efficiency.
Yes, people have heated by burning wood not 1,000s but 10s thousands of years! Longevity over time has increased in general.
There are many articles on the subject, and I have seen first hand how it affected my parents. Here's one article...

Residential Wood Burning | the lung association
Residential Wood Burning | the lung association

 

[Snobdds]

It's a never ending argument. Parent's Fisher was professionally installed. It drew fantastically, it was installed in dining room where fireplace was (that addition built 1963). There was very little visible ash anywhere. They had CO monitors installed.
You have to load wood and clean out the ashes. They did it properly. You still get a certain amount of smoke/ash into the house regardless of design or efficiency.
Yes, people have heated by burning wood not 1,000s but 10s thousands of years! Longevity over time has increased in general.
There are many articles on the subject, and I have seen first hand how it affected my parents. Here's one article...

Residential Wood Burning | the lung association
Residential Wood Burning | the lung association

correlation does not necessarily mean causation...