On Wed, 22 Jan 2014 13:06:07 -0600, IGot2P wrote:

On 1/22/2014 12:30 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jan 2014 12:14:42 -0600, IGot2P wrote:

I usually contract our heating propane (850 gal.) and have normally came
out on top. Well, this past fall they wanted $1.699/gal. to contract and
at that time it was only $1.499 off the truck so I simply topped off
both tanks...500 gal. tank for house and 250 gal. tank for the
shop/garage. As you are aware this winter has been dramatically colder
than normal thus we have used significantly more propane plus there is
somewhat of a propane shortage (real or imagined). I just called to make
sure that they filled both tanks before we leave for Florida next week
and the current price is a whopping $2.69/gal.! So much for not
contracting. :-(

This is in SE Iowa where propane is normally reasonably priced. Anyone
else have any recent prices?

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014...nter-woes?lite


Very interesting article. I was surprised that only 14 million families
across the U.S. use propane to fuel their furnaces, figured it was more
than that. Of course living in the boonies you tend to forget that most
larger areas have natural gas.

Seems high to me. Assume 100M "families" (350M people/3 per). That
would be 14% heat with LP. I'm surprised there are that many without
other options.

From 2000 (couldn't find 2010) the census:

"units" Nat LP Elec Oil Coal Wood Other None
gas gas
US 105K 51.2% 6.5% 30.3% 9.0% 0.1% 1.7% 0.4% 0.7%

I'm sure wood has increased since '00, as has gas to a lesser extent
(permanent heating plants last longer).

Interesting historical info:
https://www.census.gov/hhes/www/hous...ric/fuels.html

We am definitely going to conserve propane as we turn the thermostats
down to around 50 degrees F when we are out of state.

Careful about your plumbing. Make sure the cabinets under sinks on
exterior walls are open, etc.

Thanks for the link.

I just happened to have tripped across it earlier today.