Propane heating?

[bigdog]

I am looking at a new year-round home at the lake, and the primary heat is liquid propane in tank. House also has backup heat source using a wood stove, and kersosene Monitor heater.

Question....
How expensive would it be to heat entirely by propane for a 2000 SF house?
House is only 10 yrs old, so I guess insulation should be good.
Having concerns about annual costs, if I heating entirely with propane.

Any propane home owner's on the Forum?

Thanks for your feeback...

[Merrymeeting]

We have a 3000 sq ft house (3 levels) that we heat with propane and a wood stove. The past 2 winters we have averaged about 300 gal/year.

Admittedly, this is with a new, very well insulated house with an insulated concrete form foundation (ICF). We also run the wood stove every day. It is located in the lowest level. As a result, the heat rarely comes on during the day.

All that said, with a well insulated home, propane is competitive with oil and other options you may have.

[Smokienorm]

We had a seasonal condo in Gilford from 2005 to 2012 with electric baseboards (much too expensive to operate) and a modern Monitor heater using K-1 and it was fine- but we only used it for a few weeks in the winter.

In 2012 we moved to Gilford permanently and bought a home in Gunstock Acres- it was built in about 1970 and had forced hot water heating powered by an oil burning boiler + a huge electric hot water heater. In our initial renovation, we replaced the oil boiler with a much more efficient propane boiler (about 1/10th the size of the old unit) that also provides hot water.

We later added another large room and 2 gas fired fireplaces. The propane system works great and we never run out of hot water.

And we learned that to reduce your propane (or oil) costs, you should probably join the Our Town Energy Alliance, which is a co-op buying group that gets members lower prices on propane (and presumably oil). You can find them on Google or if not email me for their contact info.

There are also other buying groups around that do the same sort of thing.

Only the uninformed pay retail for propane or oil.

If the system is already in place, I would have it checked out by a professional before buying the property.

[BroadHopper]

5+ Energy star rated home with System 2000 boiler with domestic tankless hot water. Gas kitchen stove and clothes dryer. The fireplace has propane logs for localized heating. The owner burns about 2,000 gallons a year.

Currently propane is $1.89 so roughly $3,800 a year.

[codeman671]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

5+ Energy star rated home with System 2000 boiler with domestic tankless hot water. Gas kitchen stove and clothes dryer. The fireplace has propane logs for localized heating. The owner burns about 2,000 gallons a year.

Currently propane is $1.89 so roughly $3,800 a year.

That seems like a lot of consumption for a 2500sqft energy star rated home. Our last house was 4300sqft, not insulated well, and used 2000 gallons of LP a year. Water off the boiler, new Prestige Solo boiler with hydro air handlers.

Our current one uses about 1300-1400 gallons of oil a year, 4800sqft with a lot of cathedral spaces. 2004 Buderus oil boiler with hydro air handlers. Fairly well insulated but certainly not up to energy star standards.

[winni83]

That sounds high to me too. We have a house in Moultonborough with 2,600 of living space with an unfinished, but heated, basement. There are two separate propane fired hot air furnaces (one for the first floor and basement and one for the second floor), and propane is used for the clothes dryer, cooktop and oven, fireplace and generator. The house is 3 years old and is well insulated, although not Energy Star rated. During the winter of 2014 to 2015 we used 940 gallons of propane. We live in the house full time.

[DesertDweller]

Our place is around 3,000 square feet. Built in 2006 and has a ton of windows and one very large cathedral ceiling. Forced air heat, hot water heater, stove, and dryer all fueled by propane. Also have a propane fed fireplace. Used occasionally in the winter with the heat set to 50 when we are not there. Last year we used about 950 gallons of propane. Bought 1,000 gallons on a pre buy at around $2 a gallon.

[songkrai]

Originally Posted by bigdog

Any propane home owner's on the Forum?

Propane would be my last choice.
The less you use the more it costs.

You don't own the tank. It is rented. Even most of the propane companies do not own the tank. Some propane companies charge an annual rental fee.

You are stuck with the propane company the provides the tank. Every time you switch propane companies the old company tanks their tank and the new propane company provides a different tank. If there is propane left in the old tank you do get a refund for the propane that you paid for but there is also a removal fee to remove the old tank (not always, but mostly). Then the new propane company has to come in and check all of the fittings.

I'd use the Monitor heater the most.

[SAB1]

Originally Posted by songkrai

Propane would be my last choice.
The less you use the more it costs.

You don't own the tank. It is rented. Even most of the propane companies do not own the tank. Some propane companies charge an annual rental fee.

You are stuck with the propane company the provides the tank. Every time you switch propane companies the old company tanks their tank and the new propane company provides a different tank. If there is propane left in the old tank you do get a refund for the propane that you paid for but there is also a removal fee to remove the old tank (not always, but mostly). Then the new propane company has to come in and check all of the fittings.

I'd use the Monitor heater the most.

Unless you buy the tank".......that allows you purchase gas at the best price.

[winni83]

There are a host of variables with the propane issue. I do not own my underground tank, but I also do not pay rent (actual or imputed). Early this fall my propane supplier was offering contracts at a price higher than Our Town Energy. If I switched, the likely scenario would have been that the new propane supplier would have “bought” the tank from my current supplier (tank is only 3 years old). Yes, there would have been inspections, etc. and I would have had to pay a tank rental fee to the new supplier. Bottom line is that I negotiated a per gallon price with my existing supplier which was slightly less than Our Town Energy when a tank rental price was factored in. If you own your tank, then the process is simpler if you switch suppliers, but if there is a problem with the tank, the regulators at the tank, etc., then it is your problem to fix. Propane offered the ability to use if for more than just heating and by using it for other appliances which would otherwise use electricity, it allowed me to use a smaller whole house generator, which of course also uses propane. Obviously, switching tanks if more complex with an underground tank, but the underground tank is not an eyesore nor does it need to be hidden or screened.

[BroadHopper]

I goof. I talk with the home owner and the quote she gave me was the combined energy cost of her home i.e. electricity, propane and kerosene for the generator in $. I arrive at the 2,000 gals estimate by dividing the total cost by the current price for propane.

She has two 50 gals tanks, something about the laws in Gilmanton will not allow propane tanks larger then 50 gals, that she fills at least 4 times a year. So that means she uses about 400 gals a year. Sounds pretty low considering the fact that she lives there year around.

[songkrai]

Originally Posted by SAB1

Unless you buy the tank".......that allows you purchase gas at the best price.

Yes, but with a lot of caveats.

As I stated before. If you own the tank you can't just telephone and order propane from another company.
You have to open anew account.
The next/other/new propane company then has to come out to your home and examine all of your appliances, lines, and tank.

You could open a new account with every propane company. Each would have to come to your home and examine everything.

Later, you may or may not get a good price for propane if you order from any company. As your usage would show low usage and the price potentially could be higher.

Propane prices are a tier system. The less you use the more it cost. The more you use the less it costs.

Just not as simple as telephoning a propane company and just getting a delivery. If you own your own tank.

[Pineedles]

One suggestion to those of you who have cathedral ceilings. Install one or several ceiling fans to force the hot air down. It will make a difference.

[thinkxingu]

No one has mentioned comfort and convenience. We have electric baseboard that we love--it's quick, easy to maintain, doesn't irritate my wife's allergies, and, with programmable thermostats in every room, we can keep different rooms at different temps and it works perfectly with our wood stoves that we use each weekend (no cold rooms). We pay $250/month which covers heating (67 degrees), central air (70 degrees), and electricity for our 2,200 square foot split.

Sent from my XT1528 using Tapatalk

[Jozie]

Don't know if this is good, but this is how much propane we use.

1,100 sq. ft. ranch, unheated basement built in 1988.
Hot water baseboard heat. Hot water off boiler.

7/9/2014 replaced the original LP boiler with a Weil-McLain GV 90+4 LP boiler.
Also replaced the Indirect water heater.

From install date to 10/01/2015 we have used 1,415 gals of propane.
That is with the temp set at a constant 73 degrees. We like it warm.

[Sunbeam lodge]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

5+ Energy star rated home with System 2000 boiler with domestic tankless hot water. Gas kitchen stove and clothes dryer. The fireplace has propane logs for localized heating. The owner burns about 2,000 gallons a year.

Currently propane is $1.89 so roughly $3,800 a year.

I am currently considering a system 2000 oil or gas to replace my current oil boiler. The estimate is $14300 for oil and $13500 for Gas. That includes a hot water tank and replacing my current oil tank. I will have 2 circulators one for radial and one for 3 zones. Can I use my current chimney rather than thru wall?
My current tank is ok so i would try not replace it. Would you suggest I stay with oil?
I do not spend the winter here. Does this cost appear reasonable ?