Home heating propane cost

[jayste]

What always gets me is the difference in price if you own or rent your tank. Huge differences I found a place that charges the same price if you rent or own the tank and I payed 2.6x something for propane last week. I only have a 120 gallon tank and the price drops based on the amount of propane that you buy.

Yes, that's beauty of owning your own tank and not leasing one. You can shop around. Around here it's usually a 100 gal. min. delivery. Not that I blame them with opertating costs and all.

 

[charlz]

What always gets me is the difference in price if you own or rent your tank. Huge differences I found a place that charges the same price if you rent or own the tank and I payed 2.6x something for propane last week.

Yep they do that here, I get to pay an additional .10 per gallon for the privilege of leasing their tank... on top of the the $60/yr lease fee. When I was burning $2000 a winter of propane that little fee really added up. They explained that then extra fee is 'insurance' if something were to go wrong with the tank I wouldn't have to pay to fix the tank... I asked what happens when your tank vents all my propane to atmosphere.... they said I get to buy another tank of propane including the insurance fee

 

[Ford850]

$3.10 a couple weeks ago in northern Ohio.

 

[srossman]

Yes, that's beauty of owning your own tank and not leasing one. You can shop around. Around here it's usually a 100 gal. min. delivery. Not that I blame them with opertating costs and all.

The other problem that I had was finding a place to sell me a tank. I was only able to find one distributor locally that would sell me a tank. Everyone want to rent you a tank and make the extra money on the propane.

 

[WayneB]

Just had a 100 lb tank filled this morning and it was 59.99. Last fall it was 54.99 for a 100 lb tank. Just around 2.60 to fill up the tank today.

 

[Licklog]

Paid over $3.00 per gallon in the 2008-2009 season. Last summer they quoted me $2.25 for a prebuy price on 800 gallons. I shopped around and found a better price at $1.79. Called my dealer back to let them know I was changing and they dropped the price to $1.75 for any amount I needed until April 1st. As cold as it has been this winter it would have been much more expensive.....

We will see what happens next year. In the meantime I've gotten some quotes for a heat pump system for primary heating and my propane furnace as emergency backup. Electricity is much cheaper in TVA country but heat pumps are lousy below 40 degrees.

Licklog
East Tennessee

 

[Ford850]

Paid over $3.00 per gallon in the 2008-2009 season. Last summer they quoted me $2.25 for a prebuy price on 800 gallons. I shopped around and found a better price at $1.79. Called my dealer back to let them know I was changing and they dropped the price to $1.75 for any amount I needed until April 1st. As cold as it has been this winter it would have been much more expensive.....

We will see what happens next year. In the meantime I've gotten some quotes for a heat pump system for primary heating and my propane furnace as emergency backup. Electricity is much cheaper in TVA country but heat pumps are lousy below 40 degrees.

Licklog
East Tennessee

You might love your add on heat pump. I have mine set to come on somewhere around 22 or 24 degrees. It does a fine job. I also have a wood stove, and I try to burn wood when the temps will require propane use. It works really well keeping my propane use to a minimum.

 

[coobie]

When propane started to sell for $1.89 gal. few years back I installed a wood pellet/corn stove,no regrets yet.I fill my 500 gal Lp tank once a year usally in august.I paid $1.47 gal. then.My neighbors got a fill last week and paid $2.99 gal.coobie

 

[etcallhome]

Last fall I took my 100# tank and had it filled $78.00
Cannot remember what I paid last mo. but Thur or Fri this past wk came and hill my 500 gal tank...Slip showed 3.03 had a line drawed through those numbers and it showed $2.69 I'm hoping when bill comes that its $2.50 or less...
Wishful thinking...........

 

[keegs]

I heat with diesel. I discovered several years back that some retailers offer COD pricing which is usually 20-30 cents less per gallon than the bill me later price. I found most budget plans here run from Nov. through April and they always seem to goose the price during those off months.

Not all retailers offer COD pricing but there are three in my area that do and among those, the price is always within a few pennies. They all require a minimum delivery of 100 gallons. I paid $2.48 per gallon last week.

Not sure if it's the same with propane.

 

[Loren49]

srossman- Did you buy a tank? What was the size and cost if you care to post it?

Thanks,
Loren

 

[masscity]

In my area last fall it was 1.42. Several of us ordered some from Wisconsin (150 mi) and we got it for .92. Quite a difference.

 

[srossman]

srossman- Did you buy a tank? What was the size and cost if you care to post it?

Thanks,
Loren

I'm still renting my current 120 gallon tank. I've just recently added a the gas cooktop and gas dryer to go along with my on demand hot water heater, so I've been monitoring my gas usage closely over the next few months to see how big of a tank I should look into. My goal is to only have to fill up once a year and do it during the summer time when prices are lower.
The last time that I priced tanks they were running 2.00 per gallon (i.e a 500 gallon tank was about 1000.00 and a 1000 gallon tank was 2000.00)

 

[bdeboer]

We just purchased a used 500 gallon tank from a local farmers co-op it was $690 delivered. Price for the current rented tank at our property was a $900 from a different local farmers co-op. I did talk to a guy advertising in the local classifieds he was asking $750, me picking it up.

 

[srossman]

We just purchased a used 500 gallon tank from a local farmers co-op it was $690 delivered. Price for the current rented tank at our property was a $900 from a different local farmers co-op. I did talk to a guy advertising in the local classifieds he was asking $750, me picking it up.

Does that tank need to be re-inspected or anything before you fill it up or is it good to go? I'm concerned about trying to find a used tank then finding out that it can't be filled of some reason or another.

 

[Benbovac]

We paid $1.89 at the end of December.

 

[bdeboer]

Does that tank need to be re-inspected or anything before you fill it up or is it good to go? I'm concerned about trying to find a used tank then finding out that it can't be filled of some reason or another.

According to the Dealer with the $750 tanks, the important thing is that the metal ID tag is there. He did say that rust out is possible but rare.

I suspect the good small local propane dealers will not have "policies" that require much other than the ID tag.

I would worry about purchasing a "rented" tank from private parties on craigslist or somewhere.

If you have a rented tank now, the regulators may also have be purchased with the new tank. $30 each where I purchased my tank.

 

[jayste]

Like I've mentioned before, we own our tank. We usually buy from one supplier. They've never had an issue with our tank. It does have the tag on it and is in good shape. I guess they just visually inspect them when they fill them along with sniffing the air for a possible leak.

 

[sodamo]

This might make you all feel better - just got my bill today for Jan LP fill.
Gas 109.5 gal @ 5.0500 = $552.98
Monthly Customer charge (for tank) 7.00
State Tax 23.33

 

[WayneB]

This might make you all feel better - just got my bill today for Jan LP fill.
Gas 109.5 gal @ 5.0500 = $552.98
Monthly Customer charge (for tank) 7.00
State Tax 23.33

Wow I won't complain anymore! I guess everything is more expensive on the inslands!