Propane for home heating

[lazarru]

We are buying a new house that is currently electric heat. We had the home inspection and he inspector identified that the hot water heater needs to be replaced ASAP. He suggested we might want to look into propane as well as instance heat instead of a new electric heater.

DW called the propane company today to get info and of course they talked it up as the best thing ever, which I would expect them to do. Question now would it be worth it. They outlined a number of options from replacing the hot water heater with propane, all the way up to replacing the heat pump and using propane for heating also.

They could only give rough estimates, but somewhere between 3000(just hot water) to 7000(everything) is what was quoted.

Is there anyone out there that is using propane, how much is it running you per month? Any issues with it?

If it helps we're in NJ so electric might not be the best thing to have, although the people we're buying from say that their electic runs about 300-350 per month. If we really could save 100 a month, that would pay it off in 6 yrs which would likely be worth it, as well as propane works well that is.

Thnaks

 

[sweet angel]

You might want to give further information such as size of house, age, type of windows (for heat retention), maybe even the area of the state (since northwest NJ is colder than southeast...

That being said, I have a small 2-bedroom ranch (936 sq. ft) in Ocean County. I had electric heat when I moved in 5 years ago and converted to gas (not propane) about a year and a half ago. I had been on the budget plan for electric and it ran me about $244/month (of course they "adjust" it twice a year). I could go back and get you an exact monthly budget amount if you'd like.

I really don't know anything about propane, but I didn't have a problem with the electric (other than that everyone says it's more expensive).

 

[lazarru]

We're buying in Hunterdern county, house is a little over 2000 sq feet. The windows are all new so we shouldn't have any issue there. Converting to gas isn't an option as there's nobody that has gas anywhere in that area nor will it be there anytime soon, if ever

 

[ntburns22]

Our house is 2200sqft. Last year from mid November-March we spent $3000. We kept the house at 66*. This year we are using the electric baseboard and it is going to be so much cheaper for us this year. Last year was our first winter in the house

 

[golfgal]

Do you have the space to put a large propane tank in your yard? In a normal year propane is less expensive then natural gas, you can usually lock in at a lower gas price over the summer or when ever and buy all your propane for the year at a slight discount. Natural gas in our area is relatively inexpensive, but since that isn't an option for you, propane might be the way to go. Our electric, water, sewer and gas bills for the coldest months last year didn't come close to $350/month (most was about $250 and that was with a week of -50 degree temps and 60 year old windows). A lot of people in our area have propane, in the rural areas. My in-laws have it at their house. One think to check into is if you are going to buy the storage tank or rent the tank. When my inlaws first bought their house the tank was rented and they weren't able to lock into a gas price, they bought the tank the next year and that saved them quite a bit of money over the winter.

 

[sweet angel]

Can you ask the neighbors? How about the realtor?

 

[Tiggeroo]

dh has a heating business in NJ. I know he would say propane is better then electric. Alright he says that price is high. Do you have duct work? Were you planning on replacing the electric baseboards with hotwater baseboards or were you planning on using forced air heat? You should think about doing your dryer and stove at the same time. Even if you can't afford to replace the appliances right now the contractor should stubb it to the appliance for you so you can hook them up when you are ready. If you have any questions pm me.

 

[mickeyfan2]

We use propane to heat our baseboards and our hot water. We have indefinite hot water with the propane. Since it is a heat exchange rather than direct heat hot water heater, it will last forever (it is stainless steel inside). It costs us about $900 per year for heat and hot water.

Make sure you own your own tank. This is where the cost savings is for propane. Make the tank big enough to only do one fill per year (mid summer when propane is in surplus).
Sink the tank in the ground with sand and an anode bag.

Any other questions just ask.

BTW I would never trade my propane fired hot water for another heating system.

 

[Morganpics]

We have a combination propane/wood furnace and use propane to heat water, cook, and dry clothes. We have a small house, about 1000sq feet, and purchased our propane for the year in July. I believe it was 1300 gallons at 1.77 per gallon. We keep our house 70 when home, 60 when away, 64 at night. We are very happy with it.