# The price of propane



## CJofWolfcreek (Jan 25, 2013)

I finally got around to wiring up an electric plenum onto my propane furnace. $2 a gallon was the motivator, now it's over $4 a gallon. So my house now has dual fuel heating. State electrical inspector signed off on it today. With the wiring certified I can now run it on utility control which cost less than half of regular electricity per KW hour. 

Next step? Generator tie in.


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## light rain (Jan 14, 2013)

With your utility control how much does it cost per kwh? Will this require any major changes in your daily routine?


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## CJofWolfcreek (Jan 25, 2013)

The price for utility controlled electricity is $.0345 per KWH or about 3 and a half cents. Propane would have to come down to 85 cents a gallon for it to be more economical.
Even if it was on my main, without the discount, propane would have to be running at $1.70 a gallon.

The system is completely automatic so there is no difference in our daily living other than not having to cry as I write out a check for propane. The tank sits just above 50% and between the stove and when the utility company controls the load to switch over to propane, that should last us until the price comes back down.

I had the HVAC company mechanically install the plenum about 5 years ago with an income tax refund. Getting an electrician out here for a small job is next to impossible. So when propane hit $2 a gallon I decided to wire it myself. About $300 in parts, a weekends worth of work and wrangling an inspector to come out and pay him $50 for the wiring certificate. It's all good.

Oh power company rep who did final connection and tested the radio called tonight when they went into control mode. Had me check and see if everything was working...it was still on electric. Seems they need to install a repeater in our town so the radios get the signal. He said they may get around to doing that in the summer. And he said propane is now over $5 a gallon in our area.


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## Dead Rabbit (Oct 30, 2010)

$4.96 per gal. here right now.

this summer im having them install a bigger tank to where i can fill up during summer when its just over $2 and one tank will get me through whole winter, instead of having to fill up half way through the winter, and being raped at the same time.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Excellent job CJ. Is that price per KWH "clean" or do they add surcharges on after the fact based on the KWH price? FPL in Florida used to do that and I had to revise my spreadsheets to reflect the additional costs.


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## CJofWolfcreek (Jan 25, 2013)

there are some minor surcharges associated with having a second meter that cost about $7 a month regardless of how much off peak power is used. There are an additional two fees on the account that I believe are static in cost totaling about $15 since I'm using an evil (sarcasm alert)electric company that gets most of its energy from coal.


Will update this thread after a full month on electric heat but I'm anticipating a rise of about $300 in the electric bill based on a weekend usage that i have documented.


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## Harry Chickpea (Dec 19, 2008)

Yep, understand static charges. Better your e company uses coal than ships it to China where it gets a pass by environmental dweebs.


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## CJofWolfcreek (Jan 25, 2013)

Meter has been read...seems i was off a bit on my estimate. Cost for january- february heating with electric in North Dakota will be closer to $200 for the month.
:nanner:


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