propane versus oil...
Our hot water comes from our oil furnace. We don't use the furnace for heat (we've been using a pellet stove as it is cheaper to buy pellets than it is to buy even 1/3 tank of oil--which doesn't last the month if we use it for both heat and hot water).
I was wondering if any of you use a propane hot water heater, and if so what price/gallon you pay.
When we buy oil, we pay about $2.35/gallon, but the providers around here will not deliver unless we buy 125 gallons or more, and like I said, it doesn't last the month. We cannot afford to buy both pellets and oil every month.
I thought that if we invested in a hot water heater that ran on propane, we might be able to afford the propane and the pellets because we wouldn't have to purchase 125 gallons of propane every month. It would also be a bonus if it turned out that the propane saved us money in the long run.
Years ago I lived in a place that used a propane hot water heater and w/ two people living in the house and w/ my own washer/dryer, I would get through about 6 weeks on an outside tank of propane. (I have to admit I don't know what size tank it was, but it certainly wasn't 125 gallons.)
I'm guessing that the price of propane could vary a bit depending on where you live, so let me say that we live in the northeast--in New England.
Thanks for whatever info you can provide.
= new reply since forum marked as read
...but I have no info/experience with oil as a fuel.
So, I'm in NY (upstate), I have a 120 gallon propane tank that is on a 6-month filling cycle (i.e. topped off every 6-months) in a nominally 1,500-sqft home with 2 people. We use propane for dryer, hot water and stove/oven.
We use less than a 1/2 gallon per day:
0.370 gal/day since 2008 to be precise.
You will notice a spike in the latest usage rate, that is likely due to our 15 year old on-demand hot water heater giving up the ghost (so to speak) and me having to replace it with a traditional 40-gal heater (a new on-demand had to be ordered with a minimum 1-week delay). Not happy about this, and I will likely change it out with an on-demand this summer, which will pay for itself in the end.
Price has been creeping up over the years:
Price has averaged about $3.38/gal delivered with a low of $2.56/gal in 2009 and a high of $4.21 last January (2018).
So, since 2008 I have spent about $1.24/day for my propane.
Hope this helps.
