Propane heat killing us $$$ Help! (Joshua Tree: houses, live in, prices)

[GreenScoutII]

Same deal east of Pueblo Colorado where we lived until just recently. Propane is just ridiculous in price.

Have your furnace checked to make sure it's operating as efficently as it should be, and if it is an older model, you might consider replacing it.

Also, you might look into a pellet stove. We had one in a 2000 square foot home and on it's lowest setting would burn about one 40 pound bag of pellets in 24 hours. That kept the main areas of the house almost uncomfortably warm on all but the coldest days. Unfortunately pellets have been getting more expensive too. Last year I bought a ton (50 bags) for about $250. So, depending on where propane goes, wood pellets might be an option. Keep in mind that you could buy a lot of propane for the cost of the pellet stove though.

[misplaced1]

Originally Posted by jennr8er

We moved to Yucca Valley just over a year ago and have been not-so-kindly introduced to the world of propane heating and cooking. The first winter out here we were filling our 200lb propane tank once a month at a cool $400 a pop. At the time our son was less than a year old so keeping the house at about 68 to 70 was pretty necessary. This year we've invested in a couple of space heaters in the main living areas and have turned down the thermostat to 66. Unfortunately, propane has gone up almost 0.75 a gallon and half a tank now costs about...... $400!!! We are out of our wits, AND MONEY, and need some suggestions about how to battle this horrible enemy called propane. We don't have the option of natural gas in our neighborhood and I'm thinking the cost of switching to an electric furnace may be too much?? Our home is 2500 square feet and the rooms that aren't used too often I've closed the vents and the doors. Any other suggestions? We're going to get some firewood for the fireplace but I'm wondering if that's going to make a dent in light of the size of the house and the cost of firewood? Does anyone have any suggestions?

Unless you have an insert, it is likely that most of the heat will go up the chimney on a standard fireplace.

Have you been able to check out the insulation in the house. Plug up any air leaks around doors and windows, dryer vent, outlets, check the attic for insulation and see if that can be improved.

[jennr8er]

I would love to but we don't have piping for natural gas. Yet, across the main thoroughfare in town they are...... wish I had known that previously.... ho-hum.

A heat pump? Would that work here during the low winter temps of 30-40 degrees? Where would it pull the heat from?

[jennr8er]

Originally Posted by GreenScoutII

Same deal east of Pueblo Colorado where we lived until just recently. Propane is just ridiculous in price.

Have your furnace checked to make sure it's operating as efficently as it should be, and if it is an older model, you might consider replacing it.

Also, you might look into a pellet stove. We had one in a 2000 square foot home and on it's lowest setting would burn about one 40 pound bag of pellets in 24 hours. That kept the main areas of the house almost uncomfortably warm on all but the coldest days. Unfortunately pellets have been getting more expensive too. Last year I bought a ton (50 bags) for about $250. So, depending on where propane goes, wood pellets might be an option. Keep in mind that you could buy a lot of propane for the cost of the pellet stove though.

True, a family member uses one and we often request they turn the thing down because it's too warm. And at the rate we're going we could pay for a pellet stove in two months of propane costs........ something to consider. Thanks.

[Jasmine728]

Do you rent your tank from the propane company? If propane is your main option maybe see if you can get a bigger tank or buy your own tank. A bigger tank will allow you to buy more propane in the summer or early fall prior to the ppg going up. That way you can buy more and then only do minimum fills if you have to during the winter when the prices are high. A propane furnace set at 60 degrees will burn a gallon of propane an hour so you can go through quite a bit if you are cranking that furnace. See if your propane company has a pre-buy option.... that locks in a price for you for the whole year. Also a customer owned tank allows you the freedom to call around for the best price.

[sandcreature]

If your house is not well insulated you will use alot of propane trying to keep the temp. However you should be able to tell by how much the heater is working. If its always running, its always using propane. My house is approx the same size and I will use about 30% of a 125gal tank in a month during the cold season (average of 27 ambient). Go do a soapy water test at all the connections at the tank including the regulator. I had a problem there.

[jinj]

Originally Posted by jennr8er

A heat pump? Would that work here during the low winter temps of 30-40 degrees? Where would it pull the heat from?

30 to 40 Deg isn't very low.

The lowest temp I have seen since I installed a heat pump was 8 Deg F, and the heat pump worked fine. Its a Bryant dual stage model.

I save money each month by not using propane, plus its safer.

Hello,

I know I am late to this thread, but we lived in a mobile home once that went through 500$ month LP, after some checking it was determined that our FAU was loosing 50% of our LP to heat up the underside of the mobile and the critters were keeping real warm under there.

As I understand it, Forced Air Units (home/rv/other) typically loose just due to their assembly, occasionally you can add in loss also to leaks under the house, but the efficiency ratings are poor. For example, our 5th wheel had a FAU, with a starting efficiency rating of 60% factory brand new. Over time and use this rating may drop to 40%. Requiring more and more LP to heat.

So, lets say we pay $2.99 a gallon LP
at 50% efficiency we would be getting heat use of $1.49 GA and have a loss of $1.49 per gallon
at 40% efficiency we would be getting heat use of $1.19 GA and have a loss of $1.80 per gallon

For 100 gallon tank F/U =$299
at 60% heat loss = $180.00 loss per F/U (leaving $119.00 used towards actual heating)
at 50% heat loss = $149.00 loss per F/U (leaving $149.00 used towards actual heating)

We have a 5th wheel that is 24 feet long and came with a FAU. We solved our heat loss problem by installing an indoor radiant heater powered by LP. The heater is called a Olympian Wave Heater made by Camco, for Tent use, Home use, Rv use, cabin use, or other.
They have 3 models Wave 3, 6, and 8.

Now, on low (which is 4200 btu), this thing cooks us out. I mean to the point where we must turn it off or open more windows. We really should have gone wave 6 but this is fine. Our rig is not super insulated or anything so its not that. So, since the first one worked out real nice we also ordered a Wave 3 for our Truck Camper and are in the process of installing that now in place of the FAU.

Link:http://www.amazon.com/Camco-57341-Olympian-Wave-6-Catalytic/dp/B000BV01CK

Decide how much sq feet you want to commit to heat, then add up the total footage the heaters are said to cover. Personally I can attest that this thing covers more sq ft than they claim but maybe they low ball the sq ft to be on the safe side, so if it were me i would say that it covers at least 100 more sq feet than it says maybe more.

Also, dont let the BTU rating difference fool you, (IE FAU with BTU rating of 30,000, Wave 8 BTU rating 8400) the FAU does not heat the same way the radiant does. The FAU heats the air in the living space, the Wave heaters heat the objects in the living space.

You might do just fine installing 2 wave 6's/8's, and since the efficiency rating is 99% you use all your gas to heat your area not the cracks and crevices in between. The investment pays for itself in a short amount of time I think.

You can order the heater factory direct, also get the legs and the 90 degree elbow if you go that route - makes life much easier to install and use on the floor if you want to. Don't forget the shut off valve, you can p/u at Home depot. We didn’t order the elbow at first but had to go ahead and order it and wait for it because the install would have been more of a pain.

You can call Camco and ask to speak to someone in the service department, any questions you have they can help you, we had many and they answered them all.

Just like to send the good word for anyone interested in lowering their heating costs.

Take Care

[Donn2390]

Originally Posted by jennr8er

I would love to but we don't have piping for natural gas. Yet, across the main thoroughfare in town they are...... wish I had known that previously.... ho-hum.

A heat pump? Would that work here during the low winter temps of 30-40 degrees? Where would it pull the heat from?

What do you mean by across the main thoroughfare? How far is it? I had an antique oil fired boiler and wanted to go NG. I called the local NG company and asked them where the nearest line was. It was across the highway from my house. They would have to tunnel under the highway to bring in a service line. Granted, it wasn't a major freeway, just a rural highway.
They told me if I would replace my 35% efficient boiler with a new, 90% efficient boiler, they would install the line and the meter at no charge. I replaced the furnace, they came out to make sure, and it cost nothing for the installation. Probably would have cost me many thousands, for them it was something they do daily...
They can't sell NG if you don't have service, so they will work with you to get service, providing it isn't totally unreasonable. Worth a phone call.

[Ichabod 2013]

to buy We are looking in Yucca Valley, a place to retire, love the area.

I'm not feeling too positive about Propane after reading this thread, and one house we are looking at is Electric. My sister has propane and a septic tank where she lives and said to look at the propane tank for rust, if there is any, ask that it be primed and repainted and the septic to be emptied and if recent, see the paperwork. Depending on the age of the house, what shape is the septic tank in? We want 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, may be scaling down to 2 bedroom, 1 bath, if it's that expensive. Thanks for the information.