Educate me on Home Propane Gas Service - Please

A

alarmguy

Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Messages
13,359
Location
North Carolina Coast
Ok, Ill keep it short (ha ha)
Please only those who know.

New home build, first time in my life having Home Propane Service.
Propane is used for Stove Top Cooking, Tankless Hot Water and Fireplace.

Builder aligned with Suburban Propane. Tank installed from them, currently full from the builder.
This is what they want from me.

$100 a year tank rental
One time $80 inspection fee/introduction, includes checking system, leaks ect.
3 Year Commitment
Gas price is based on daily market price, currently $2.79 a gallon.

They will not sell me the tank, rental is a must. They will not lock in any prices. Daily market.

Should I do it or not? Keep it or tell them to pick up the tank?
 
propane tankless hot water in SC?

that 2.79 a gallon is a good price for propane but how long does that last.
example I pay under 4$ for 1 mcf of natural gas which = about 11 gallons of propane. or ~~$30 in propane
there is a connection charge of course.

My main question is what the heck were they thinking still takes the same btu to heat water tankless.. just no storage waste.

a heat pump water heater (in garage perhaps) would cost a fraction of propane water heating.

Rental tank is fine is this above ground or below? are there delivery fees
you say based on the daily market is it actually 2.79 or is there a markup for delivery?

No one can really answer your basic question you need to shop around to see what is available around you.

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MNgopher said:
The better question: What are your other options? Are they the same or different terms?

Without a comparison, is there really a choice?
Click to expand...

And being more clear where I was headed, we have two delivery services available where we buy propane. Both offer programs to rent their tanks or options to fill your owned tank. Filling options are scheduled (based on heating degree days or monitors on the tank) or on on-call, and rate options are market price fill, locked in price for the year, or a flexible fixed price, the latter two based on a commitment for a certain volume for the period.

More or less, it comes down to customer service between our two options - pricing is similar.

If you are locked into using propane, you need to know what options for delivery you have - and if you choose another provider, what the costs of going with them (and or buying your own tank) will be, etc...

If you don't have another provider, then good luck...
 
Rand said:
propane tankless hot water in SC?

that 2.79 a gallon is a good price for propane but how long does that last.
example I pay under 4$ for 1 mcf of natural gas which = about 11 gallons of propane. or ~~$30 in propane
there is a connection charge of course.

My main question is what the heck were they thinking still takes the same btu to heat water tankless.. just no storage waste.

a heat pump water heater (in garage perhaps) would cost a fraction of propane water heating.

Rental tank is fine is this above ground or below? are there delivery fees
you say based on the daily market is it actually 2.79 or is there a markup for delivery?

No one can really answer your basic question you need to shop around to see what is available around you.

Residential Water Heater Cost Calculator | Efficiency Maine

Compare the annual cost of different water heating systems with our cost comparison tool. Discover how much you could save with an upgrade.
www.efficiencymaine.com www.efficiencymaine.com
Click to expand...
Thank you for the thoughtout reply. They caught me off guard with the phone call today, taking the tank out of the builders name and want to put it in mine.
I like to think things through and wasnt ready to commit to anything. No delivery fee
Doing a search on the Internet it doesnt seem bad. If I have them come and tank out the tank, buy my own tank it looks like maybe I am looking at around $1500 vs what I would pay now $100 a year rental and of course with a rental no cost for anything outside the house.
The numbers they gave me seem to be pretty standard from what I read. Actually the rental fee of $100 is a bit lower than what I read. I thought I would think about this over the weekend but think I may just go with it.
Its a 120 gallon above ground tank 54 inches by 30 inches, though nicely done do to HOA standards in a matching enclosure with the same house siding.

I agree, I am not a fan of tankless water heaters, you really have no choice with new home builders now. They are promoted as energy saving personally I think BS. I rather have a tank but no one does that anymore. At least in the south.
 
Last edited:
If there no other way for you to own your own tank? I would be very hesitant to purchase any petroleum product when the supplier has a complete monopoly.
BTW, my cash price is currently $1.70/gallon.
 
MNgopher said:
And being more clear where I was headed, we have two delivery services available where we buy propane. Both offer programs to rent their tanks or options to fill your owned tank. Filling options are scheduled (based on heating degree days or monitors on the tank) or on on-call, and rate options are market price fill, locked in price for the year, or a flexible fixed price, the latter two based on a commitment for a certain volume for the period.

More or less, it comes down to customer service between our two options - pricing is similar.

If you are locked into using propane, you need to know what options for delivery you have - and if you choose another provider, what the costs of going with them (and or buying your own tank) will be, etc...

If you don't have another provider, then good luck...
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. I was born and raised on Long Island, where everyone had oil heat.
I am used to back in those days dealing with the oil companies and getting a fixed rate for one year.

Why I was so skeptical about the propane. I hate the idea of not owning the tank but as I look into it. It's NOT cheap to buy your own vs rent for $100 a year. Im guessing $1,500 to buy and install an above ground 120 gallon tank?
All to try to save some money on something I don even heat the house with, just a cooktop, fireplace and hot water.
Using what I think will be that small amount of gas it doesnt seem to me I will ever see a payback.
Seems to be a lot of providers but I suspect for a small account like ours where we do not heat the home, heck the oven is electric, only the stovetop is gas I dont think they will be jumping all over doing business with me.
 
Kruse said:
If there no other way for you to own your own tank? I would be very hesitant to purchase any petroleum product when the supplier has a complete monopoly.
BTW, my cash price is currently $1.70/gallon.
Click to expand...
Nice, does that include any delivery and/or account charges?
Yes, I can tell them to come get their tank, no problem but is it worth it to me to spend up to $1500 for my own 120 gallon tank when its not even used for heating?
 
In my area (NC) there are multiple propane companies. In my experience they all operate on some level just below organized crime. You have to really shop around and then ask lots of questions. Delivery fees? Environmental fees? Tank rental fees? Minimum purchase per year fees? I would not agree to anything until I talked with all your local options. No idea of what company is best, YMMV. I rather suspect terms are based on who is the most hungry for customers. Use used car dealer vibes dealing with these folks as far as I am concerned.
 
The 120 gallon tank seems small to me for a house service. Renting a tank is not all bad. They would be responsible for any tank repairs such as regulator and gauge repair.
 
Propane is great. I have propane at my vacation home. It is more economical to use than you think.
I would not sign a contract. Suburban is one of the companies that I fired, and they were the worst one. Stay with a locally owned company if you can find one, talk to your new neighbors. You can purchase a used tank for far less than $1500, not much that can go wrong with these. 120 gal is plenty. Mine was $200 plus a $100 delivery fee, but that was 20 years ago.
Run a propane pipe to your gas grill. If you haven't purchased all of your appliances yet, consider a gas/propane dryer.
 
sopususer said:
In my area (NC) there are multiple propane companies. In my experience they all operate on some level just below organized crime. You have to really shop around and then ask lots of questions. Delivery fees? Environmental fees? Tank rental fees? Minimum purchase per year fees? I would not agree to anything until I talked with all your local options. No idea of what company is best, YMMV. I rather suspect terms are based on who is the most hungry for customers. Use used car dealer vibes dealing with these folks as far as I am concerned.
Click to expand...
Yes, I will double check fees and it really will be double check. Im told no fees, only $100 year rental, daily market price for propane and ONE TIME never again $80 inspection/homeowner met and discuss. She said as of today daily market is $2.79
 
wag123 said:
Propane is great. I have propane at my vacation home. It is more economical to use than you think.
I would not sign a contract. Suburban is one of the companies that I fired, and they were the worst one. Stay with a locally owned company if you can find one, talk to your new neighbors. You can purchase a used tank for far less than $1500, not much that can go wrong with these. 120 gal is plenty.
Run a propane pipe to your gas grill. If you haven't purchased all of your appliances yet, consider a gas/propane dryer.
Click to expand...
Yeah, problem with the neighbors, they dont think like me. Suburban has this area locked up in that respect, at least with all the new construction of a couple hundred homes. The public in general just goes with whatever. Yes, I thought about the gas grill, that will be nice. House comes as it is, new, with everything set up, already have all appliances.
I thought about a dryer but already have bought an electric. TO be honest though, is electric really more money to operate than propane? I can see natural gas being cheaper but propane? Isnt that just as bad as electric? We only pay 10 Cents a kWh.
I think 10 cents a kWr is so cheap that I wish I had an all electric house! Am I wrong?
 
alarmguy said:
Yes, I will double check fees and it really will be double check. Im told no fees, only $100 year rental, daily market price for propane and ONE TIME never again $80 inspection/homeowner met and discuss. She said as of today daily market is $2.79
Click to expand...
Go ahead and pay for the inspection, they all charge about the same. Get an inspection certificate.
 
120 gallons seems on the small side to me. Check with the company on that.

Most companies have a fill level device that automatically tells them when it’s time for a refill. You can also monitor the level on your smartphone.

I had propane years ago and it was fine. The propane fireplace will use a fair amount of gas so if you plan on using it often keep that in mind
 
PimTac said:
120 gallons seems on the small side to me. Check with the company on that.

Most companies have a fill level device that automatically tells them when it’s time for a refill. You can also monitor the level on your smartphone.

I had propane years ago and it was fine. The propane fireplace will use a fair amount of gas so if you plan on using it often keep that in mind
Click to expand...
Yeah, I did the measurements. Tank is 54 inches x 30 Inches.
Its just a cooktop, fireplace and water heater
Oven is electric
Is propane cheaper than electric? We only pay 10 cents kWr
 
alarmguy said:
We only pay 10 Cents a kWh.
I think 10 cents a kWr is so cheap that I wish I had an all electric house! Am I wrong?
Click to expand...

One gallon of propane has 91,502 BTUs.

One kWh is 3412 BTUs.

91502 divided by 3412 = 26.8

Therefore one gallon of propane provides the same heat as 26.8 kWh.

Assuming that your propane appliance is 100% efficient (if it has a flue it's not; between 10% to 50% of the heat goes up the flue), one gallon of propane provides the same amount of heat as $2.68 in electricity at 10 cents per kWh.

And this is why I have a heat pump (and an electric tank water heater--will get replaced with a heat pump water heater when the time comes, like when it leaks).

All I use propane for is a gas cooktop and a gas fireplace. Rarely use either. I own my 100 gallon tank and it hasn't been refilled in 6 years.
 
alarmguy said:
Yeah, I did the measurements. Tank is 54 inches x 30 Inches.
Its just a cooktop, fireplace and water heater
Oven is electric
Is propane cheaper than electric? We only pay 10 cents kWr
Click to expand...


The price between propane and electric is going to vary depending on the region

Do you plan on having a generator? That would be a consideration regarding the tank size if you opted for a propane unit.
 
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