Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
1,200 sq. ft. shop with propane fired high efficiency furnaces. Normally
we contract the winter supply in the fall but this year they wanted
$1.699/gallon so we gambled that it would not go up and possibly go down
and did not contract.

Well, we just got our first winter fill (approx. 300 gallons) and the
price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold
weather is not here yet so there is definitely a chance it will go up in
the near future. :-(

For some reason unknown to me propane is usually less expensive in this
immediate area than it is in other parts of the country. Anyone else got
any current prices from around the US?

Happy Holidays,

Don

IGot2P wrote the following:
Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
1,200 sq. ft. shop with propane fired high efficiency furnaces.
Normally we contract the winter supply in the fall but this year they
wanted $1.699/gallon so we gambled that it would not go up and
possibly go down and did not contract.

Well, we just got our first winter fill (approx. 300 gallons) and the
price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold
weather is not here yet so there is definitely a chance it will go up
in the near future. :-(

For some reason unknown to me propane is usually less expensive in
this immediate area than it is in other parts of the country. Anyone
else got any current prices from around the US?

Happy Holidays,

Don

Consider yourself lucky. My last propane bill (November) was $141.01 for
43.4 gallons. That's $3.249 a gallon.

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

willshak wrote:

IGot2P wrote the following:
Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
-snip-
Well, we just got our first winter fill (approx. 300 gallons) and the
price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold
weather is not here yet so there is definitely a chance it will go up
in the near future. :-(
-snip-


Consider yourself lucky. My last propane bill (November) was $141.01 for
43.4 gallons. That's $3.249 a gallon.

Will is in Hamptonburg, NY. I'm a couple hours north of him, near
Schenectady, NY.

My delivery last week was $4.19 - up $.66 from Nov- and up $1.15 from
last Dec.

Jim

On Dec 13, 9:38*pm, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
willshak wrote:
IGot2P wrote the following:
Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
-snip-
Well, we just got our first winter fill (approx. 300 gallons) and the
price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold
weather is not here yet so there is definitely a chance it will go up
in the near future. :-(

-snip-



Consider yourself lucky. My last propane bill (November) was $141.01 for
43.4 gallons. That's $3.249 a gallon.

Will is in Hamptonburg, NY. * I'm a couple hours north of him, near
Schenectady, NY.

My delivery last week was $4.19 - up $.66 from Nov- and up $1.15 from
last Dec.

Jim

If you have a propane tank and a large petrol vehicle(s), you could
consider getting the vehicle converted to run on propane. Very common
here in the UK. Engines run really sweet on propane. Start a lot
easier too.
Dunno if feasible in the US.

harry wrote:

If you have a propane tank and a large petrol vehicle(s), you could
consider getting the vehicle converted to run on propane. Very common
here in the UK. Engines run really sweet on propane. Start a lot
easier too.
Dunno if feasible in the US.

Feasible yes. Practical? Probably not for many people.
I live in a rural area. Some farmers I know did run their pickups
on propane. They also use propane for grain drying and to run
irrigation power units. A very few also had propane burning farm
tractors years ago. That didn't catch on due in part to the
inconvenience of propane compared to gasoline or diesel fuel.

Dean Hoffman wrote in
:

harry wrote:

If you have a propane tank and a large petrol vehicle(s), you could
consider getting the vehicle converted to run on propane. Very common
here in the UK. Engines run really sweet on propane. Start a lot
easier too.
Dunno if feasible in the US.

Feasible yes. Practical? Probably not for many people.
I live in a rural area. Some farmers I know did run their pickups
on propane. They also use propane for grain drying and to run
irrigation power units. A very few also had propane burning farm
tractors years ago. That didn't catch on due in part to the
inconvenience of propane compared to gasoline or diesel fuel.


how does an multi-port electronic fuel injected motor convert to propane?
Do they have gaseous injectors that can be controlled by a reprogrammed
ECU? so they retain the emissions control mandated in the US.

or does the conversion forgo all that electronics and go back to
uncontrolled carburetion?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

Dean Hoffman wrote:

Feasible yes. Practical? Probably not for many people.
I live in a rural area. Some farmers I know did run their pickups
on propane. They also use propane for grain drying and to run
irrigation power units. A very few also had propane burning farm
tractors years ago. That didn't catch on due in part to the
inconvenience of propane compared to gasoline or diesel fuel.

I was thinking about this recently and realized it's probably a lot hard to do
coversions on modern vehicles than it used to be in the days of float
carburators.

You used to be able to put a propane "collar" under the carb that would feed the
vapor into the intake and all you needed to do was remove power to the fuel pump
or close the fuel line.

On modern vehicles with computer controlled direct or throttle body injection, I
would think it becomes a huge task to chage fuels.

On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:40:05 -0600, IGot2P wrote:
For some reason unknown to me propane is usually less expensive in this
immediate area than it is in other parts of the country. Anyone else got
any current prices from around the US?

I think ours was $1.85/gal around this time *last* year up here in
northern MN. We'll be ordering more in about 2 weeks' time so I'm not
sure what it's at right now.

It's frustrating how much the prices do fluctuate though, even in the
same region - I hate playing the "gamble on when best to buy" game. About
half of our house heating is electric baseboard, and prices for that are
a lot more stable (and generally competitive with propane costs for the
season)

cheers

Jules

Jules Richardson wrote:

It's frustrating how much the prices do fluctuate though, even in the
same region - I hate playing the "gamble on when best to buy" game. About
half of our house heating is electric baseboard, and prices for that are
a lot more stable (and generally competitive with propane costs for the
season)

A few years ago, the breakeven between electricity and propane for heat in this
area was about $2/gal. Summer and fall fills were running between $1.75 and
$1.85, deep winter fills were peaking around $2.40/gal, delivered on an autro
fill contract.

In the last couple of years the local electricity prices have jumped up about
25%, so the breakeven is a lot higher now. There are web based calculators
around that compute the actual number.

I've debated replacing my 500 gal tank that needs 3-4 refills a year with a 1000
gal tank, but the savings for my relatively low use hasn't been enough to get me
to do it.

On Dec 13, 9:23*pm, Jules Richardson
wrote:
On Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:40:05 -0600, IGot2P wrote:
For some reason unknown to me propane is usually less expensive in this
immediate area than it is in other parts of the country. Anyone else got
any current prices from around the US?

I think ours was $1.85/gal around this time *last* year up here in
northern MN. We'll be ordering more in about 2 weeks' time so I'm not
sure what it's at right now.

It's frustrating how much the prices do fluctuate though, even in the
same region - I hate playing the "gamble on when best to buy" game. About
half of our house heating is electric baseboard, and prices for that are
a lot more stable (and generally competitive with propane costs for the
season)

cheers

Jules

In general all fuel prices will go up.
With any delivered fuel (ie tanker) the price will go up in periods of
peak demand.
This is because the supplier wants to encourage you to buy in the non-
busy season (so that his tankers are not stood about idle).
And they know in cold weather, they have you by the ********.
So, to hit a cost valley, buy in the warm season. And get several
quotes. And arrange things so as to give the biggest possible drop
off. (ie run the tank down as low as you dare).

On 2010-12-13, IGot2P wrote:

price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold

I jes paid $2 per. It was $1.5 something last year and almost $3 a
couple yrs ago. It's like gas, all over the map. I'm jes glad I
don't use kerosene. EIGHT DOLLARS A GALLON!!

nb

IGot2P wrote:

Anyone else got
any current prices from around the US?

You may find this Dept of Energy website interesting.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/hopu/hopu.asp

IGot2P wrote in
:

Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
1,200 sq. ft. shop with propane fired high efficiency furnaces. Normally
we contract the winter supply in the fall but this year they wanted
$1.699/gallon so we gambled that it would not go up and possibly go down
and did not contract.

In South central Iowa I contracted for $1.57, up 28¢ from last year. I've
contracted for 20 years and have never been beaten by lower prices late in
the season. YMMV.

Steve
southiowa



--
There is no such thing as a silly question;
just silly people asking questions.

On 12/14/2010 4:40 AM, Steve.IA wrote:
wrote in
:

Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
1,200 sq. ft. shop with propane fired high efficiency furnaces. Normally
we contract the winter supply in the fall but this year they wanted
$1.699/gallon so we gambled that it would not go up and possibly go down
and did not contract.

In South central Iowa I contracted for $1.57, up 28¢ from last year. I've
contracted for 20 years and have never been beaten by lower prices late in
the season. YMMV.

Steve
southiowa


Steve,

I am in Farmington, IA (20 miles from IL and 3 miles from MO), how far
west of me are you?

Don

IGot2P wrote in
:


Steve,

I am in Farmington, IA (20 miles from IL and 3 miles from MO), how far
west of me are you?

Don


Outside Osceola, Clarke County.

Steve




--
There is no such thing as a silly question;
just silly people asking questions.

On 12/14/2010 1:06 PM, Steve.IA wrote:
wrote in
:


Steve,

I am in Farmington, IA (20 miles from IL and 3 miles from MO), how far
west of me are you?

Don


Outside Osceola, Clarke County.

Steve


Okay, we used to always take the long way home from Des Moines and stop
at the Casino back before they changed owners and name.

Don

IGot2P wrote




Steve,

I am in Farmington, IA (20 miles from IL and 3 miles from MO), how far
west of me are you?

Don


Many years ago I had a dorm neighbor at Central College who was from
Farmington. Don't remember his name, but do where he was from!
6' red headed kid.
The list things I can't remember is growing daily. Now where did I put
that list?

Steve

--
There is no such thing as a silly question;
just silly people asking questions.

IGot2P wrote:

Anyone else got any current prices from around the US?

I just got 350 gallons today from the local ag co-op. If I pay within
10 days, it will cost $1.90/gallon. This is in southern Wisconsin.

On 12/13/2010 1:40 PM, IGot2P wrote:
Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
1,200 sq. ft. shop with propane fired high efficiency furnaces. Normally
we contract the winter supply in the fall but this year they wanted
$1.699/gallon so we gambled that it would not go up and possibly go down
and did not contract.

Well, we just got our first winter fill (approx. 300 gallons) and the
price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold
weather is not here yet so there is definitely a chance it will go up in
the near future. :-(

For some reason unknown to me propane is usually less expensive in this
immediate area than it is in other parts of the country. Anyone else got
any current prices from around the US?

Happy Holidays,

Don


$2.19 here in the rural south of KC

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email

On 12/14/2010 10:16 PM, Steve Barker wrote:
On 12/13/2010 1:40 PM, IGot2P wrote:
Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
1,200 sq. ft. shop with propane fired high efficiency furnaces. Normally
we contract the winter supply in the fall but this year they wanted
$1.699/gallon so we gambled that it would not go up and possibly go down
and did not contract.

Well, we just got our first winter fill (approx. 300 gallons) and the
price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold
weather is not here yet so there is definitely a chance it will go up in
the near future. :-(

For some reason unknown to me propane is usually less expensive in this
immediate area than it is in other parts of the country. Anyone else got
any current prices from around the US?

Happy Holidays,

Don


$2.19 here in the rural south of KC


OK, do I have this correct? It costs me $80 to fill a 100# tank (80%
full liquid). A 100# tank holds 23.6 WC (gallons water capacity) x 80%
= 18.88 gallons. 18.88 gallons into $80.00 = $4.24 per gallon? I'm in
east Tennessee.

On Fri, 17 Dec 2010 19:04:27 -0500, Tony Miklos wrote:

On 12/14/2010 10:16 PM, Steve Barker wrote:
On 12/13/2010 1:40 PM, IGot2P wrote:
Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
1,200 sq. ft. shop with propane fired high efficiency furnaces. Normally
we contract the winter supply in the fall but this year they wanted
$1.699/gallon so we gambled that it would not go up and possibly go down
and did not contract.

Well, we just got our first winter fill (approx. 300 gallons) and the
price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold
weather is not here yet so there is definitely a chance it will go up in
the near future. :-(

For some reason unknown to me propane is usually less expensive in this
immediate area than it is in other parts of the country. Anyone else got
any current prices from around the US?

Happy Holidays,

Don


$2.19 here in the rural south of KC


OK, do I have this correct? It costs me $80 to fill a 100# tank (80%
full liquid). A 100# tank holds 23.6 WC (gallons water capacity) x 80%
= 18.88 gallons. 18.88 gallons into $80.00 = $4.24 per gallon? I'm in
east Tennessee.

A quick search gives 4.1lbs per gallon. Pretty close, I'd say. I don't feel
so bad about $15 for a 20% BBQ tank anymore. ;-) They haven't filled my
100gal tank, yet. Should be any day now.

On 12/17/2010 6:04 PM, Tony Miklos wrote:
On 12/14/2010 10:16 PM, Steve Barker wrote:
On 12/13/2010 1:40 PM, IGot2P wrote:
Here in extreme SE Iowa we heat both our newish two story home and our
1,200 sq. ft. shop with propane fired high efficiency furnaces. Normally
we contract the winter supply in the fall but this year they wanted
$1.699/gallon so we gambled that it would not go up and possibly go down
and did not contract.

Well, we just got our first winter fill (approx. 300 gallons) and the
price was $1.699 thus so far nothing has changed. OTOH, the real cold
weather is not here yet so there is definitely a chance it will go up in
the near future. :-(

For some reason unknown to me propane is usually less expensive in this
immediate area than it is in other parts of the country. Anyone else got
any current prices from around the US?

Happy Holidays,

Don


$2.19 here in the rural south of KC


OK, do I have this correct? It costs me $80 to fill a 100# tank (80%
full liquid). A 100# tank holds 23.6 WC (gallons water capacity) x 80% =
18.88 gallons. 18.88 gallons into $80.00 = $4.24 per gallon? I'm in east
Tennessee.

Yep, you always take a beatin' when it's sold by the pound.

--
Steve Barker
remove the "not" from my address to email