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Propane sticker shock
- Thread starter foompla
- Start date
finn
Well-known member
A heat pump with a COP between 2 and 3 changes the math. Of course COP will be much lower if/when it gets super cold out. My PTAC Heat Pump switches to straight electric at 24 degrees. I did a lot of research, in my area there was never a case for propane cost wise. I have natural gas in my house, but I would have to convert from .5 psi to 2 psi to add another furnace which was $3k for the upgrade not including the gas line. My standby generator is a natural gas hog and put me on the ragged edge of capacity of .5psi system. Here, I can use as much electricty as I want at 11 cents a KWH.
Cheers
There are probably ten days between November and March where the nighttime temperature is above 24 degrees here, and natural gas isn’t an option if you live outside of town.
In my area, Propane hits 4 bucks a gallon often. If you are using BBQ tanks from an exchange service, you are paying a lot more. I pay about 11cents KwH here.
I cut and pasted this because many people dont know....
Propane contains 91,547 Btu per gallon. A typical furnace will convert about 85% of that to heat, which means that 1 gallon of propane provides about as much heat as 23 kilowatt-hours of electricity. If propane costs $2.40, then electric resistance heat is cheaper if grid electricity costs 10 cents per KWH or less.
Why screw with propane if it is more expensive than electricty?
My two cents
Suggest you revisit the calculator.......... .11 is not a bargain compared to average NG unless your using geo thermal heat pump at a huge install cost. Especially when propane is available 1.50- $2.00 per gallon.
https://www.efficiencymaine.com/at-home/home-energy-savings-program/heating-cost-comparison/
I get upsizing the meter is needed for high consumption NG......but.........many of us run two home furnaces, water heater, drier, range, garage heater, gas fire place with normal service. Generators are often the tipping point.
Meter upsizing is free in out area, customer pays for upsize pipe on house side install.
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