Are you thinking about switching to propane? Back in 2015, this was probably the right move. But in today’s day and age, this is not the right decision. Propane was once considered the best way to heat your home. However, as time has gone on, this has proven to no longer be the case. It’s important to know what you’ll be getting yourself into before the switch. So I’ll be going over exactly what you need to know here!
What are the Benefits?
Now, propane isn’t without it’s benefits. If you don’t have access to heating oil or natural gas in your area, then propane is the next best option and it does offer very similar benefits. There are quite a few similarities that it shares with heating oil. Those tend to be the following:
Heating the Home
Heating Hot Water
However, propane has a few other utilities that heating oil doesn’t! This does give it a little bit of an edge on heating oil. Although because it produces less heat per gallon, it doesn’t get a lot of other legs up on heating oil. But you can use it for the following:
Powering a Generator
Fuel For Gas Fireplaces
Powering Gas Stoves
Outdoor Grills
What are the Disadvantages?
While propane is very similar to natural gas, there are quite a few differences. The biggest difference is being delivered by a truck. The fact that it requires a truck to be delivered, puts it in the category of a form of heating oil. Another huge difference with heating oil and propane is that with heating oil, you own your tank. Usually with propane tanks you rent it from the provider. However, you are given the option to buy out the tank, but it’s usually expensive!
But having your tank be owned by the supplier can lead to the following disadvantages:
Difficulty Switching Dealers: If your dealer owns your tank, then switching dealers is going to be hard to do. This is because propane dealers will tend to have you buy out the tank and this will cost you a lot of money. Propane dealers do this because they want to lock in your business, essentially restricting you to buy only from them! This also means that you can’t fill up your tank if you run out! That can be very frustrating!
Price Comparing Difficulties: If you were to call local dealers and try to get prices from them, chances are they won’t tell you. In short, this is due to dealers not wanting to fill another providers tanks. In most states in the US, including Connecticut, it’s illegal for a propane dealer to fill another’s tank. This is often due to safety regulations and ownership laws. However, with heating oil, using a website like FuelSnap, you can see a list of all the dealers in your area and their pricing!
Expensive Propane Pricings: Propane not only produces less heat per gallon, but it also tends to be much more expensive than heating oil. At the time of writing, in CT, propane is $3.85 per gallon, while heating oil is $3.15 per gallon. That is 70 cents more for less heat! This means that you’ll need roughly 35% more propane to get the same amount of heat as heating oil.
Should You Heat With Propane?
Long term, propane is not a great heating oil solution. It’s very restrictive when it comes to ordering for your home and can be expensive. When you’re comparing it to heating oil, it is outclassed. Heating Oil is the obvious choice, and is often more reliable. With being able to produce more heat per gallon at a cheaper price, it’s able to be a better solution long term.
However, propane is still a great source of heating for your home utilities! Just one small tank will be able to cover water heating, powering a stove and much more in your home! Plus, getting a small refillable tank for a grill means that you can the occasional summer barbeque!
Happy Heating,
Hunter
