Heating costs 650$ to 750$ every six weeks. Is this high? (renting, how much)

sweetvelocity · 06-14-2011, 05:24 PM

I used to live in a house that had a wood stove and was very cost effective to heat. Wood was about 40$ a month and electric was about 100$. Very nice. Now since I will be moving back I will be renting a family members trailer. It is newly remolded and dry walled and insulated. She just recently told me that the gas tank was running about 650$ to 750$ every six weeks. That seems awfully high. They use Coyne Oil company.

canudigit · 06-14-2011, 05:45 PM

I assume you're talking about propane, and if so I know that the price of propane has skyrocketed in the past year or so, at least according to my sister, who lives in the country and heats her house with propane. She tells me how much it costs to fill their tank and it is at least as much as the price that you stated here. Isn't it ridiculous? We have natural gas, and even at that, our house, which was built in 2007, is supposed to be extremely energy efficient, and has just under 1800 square feet, costs between $250-$300/month in the winter months to heat.

I guess you could do what my sister does, and keep your house at 68 degrees in the winter and just wear a lot of clothes. I can't stand it that cold, we keep ours at 73 degrees all winter long.

Well, enjoy the summer months!

sweetvelocity · 06-14-2011, 06:00 PM

Heck. I might leave it at 50 degrees if the pipes wont freeze.

sweetvelocity · 06-14-2011, 08:12 PM

So I have been doing some digging. Did you know that Natural gas is regulated? Yeah I know.That big bad word "REGULATED". Well it does not work out so bad for the natural gas users. Propane is unregulated. They can charge anything they want. I guess I really do not have such an issue with that, but they are not fair about it.

If Joe the farmer uses 600 gallons a year for he might get charged $2.50 per gallon. Not a terrible price. Mr Farmer is not that conscientious about his propane usage and money is not that big of a deal for him.

Now This other guy Jim, that lives alone and does pay close attention to his usage and cares about spending and saving. He only uses between 350 and 400 gallons a year. Makes good sense to save right?
Nope. Gas company can't have this. This guy must be punished and now her gets to pay $3.50 a gallon for not using enough freaking propane. Real classy.

I understand why people hate regulation, but in a perfect world people are not greedy asshats. This is not a perfect world.

mostie · 06-15-2011, 06:51 AM

You said that you are renting a trailer- It seems that I have heard about people having a fireplace or woodstove in a trailer (which would scare the daylights out of me, but that's another story, lol)- is there a possibility to have one (safely) installed? I'm not hugely familiar with propane (yeah, city girl, lol)...is that what things such as the stove would run on? Gosh...for six weeks worth of propane, you could probably buy an inexpensive stove and maybe a woodstove or something (?). That would really upset me, too- that's a lot of money. And of course we know that the propane companies just aren't making enough money to keep body and soul together...(pfffft!).

wagonman76 · 06-15-2011, 10:12 AM

I heard somewhere that you can't have a woodstove IN a trailer, it's against code or something. But I know of several people who built a room off one side of the trailer and put the woodstove in there.

That much cost to heat a trailer does seem like a lot considering the small space of a trailer, but then again the thinner walls and windows might make up for the smaller space when it comes to heat loss.

Debbie SE MI · 06-15-2011, 10:58 AM

When i was in N arizona my propane cost for winter heat was double what it cost me in SE MI for natural gas, I will never live where propane is all I can use for heat. Their was no monthly bill it had to be paid on delivery.....it was a single wide small trailer I kept it at 55 and was still freezing. My last winter their I used a space heater and would just put it in the room i was in. I was happy to get back to MI in Feb.....

sweetvelocity · 06-15-2011, 12:47 PM

Someone else thinks that the numbers are skewed. They thing is is 650 to 750 gal for a year. Called a local propane company there and they said that sounds way more accurate.

wagonman76 · 06-16-2011, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetvelocity

Someone else thinks that the numbers are skewed. They thing is is 650 to 750 gal for a year. Called a local propane company there and they said that sounds way more accurate.

650-750 gallons a year is what I used to use to heat my 1050 sq ft house before I switched to wood. It also has high ceilings including a cathedral ceiling in half the house so I'd imagine that's where most of the heat goes. Also I had a gas dryer using some of that.