Kinda OT, Kinda not. Best back up heat?

[Butch(OH)]

Well, Ma Gasco is at it again, they have raised my minumum bill to $20 a month from $12, the $20 stays no matter how much I use too. Something about paying them for nothing fries my arse. Its not like we dont use any gas, we still paid them almost a grand last year to heat water and a little furance usgae. Nothing would please me more than telling them to come and get their meter.
Here is the details.

We heat with an OWB from Sept to around May 1 and also heat all of our domestic water. Our water heater is gas as is our furnace. We cook with electric so our only gas bills are for heating domestic water in the summer. Our furance is about 10 years old, Hi ef and is in good shape. Since the furance does not need repplacing I am thinking about buying a smaller propane tank like a 250 gallon and converting the furance to that fuel and replacing the 20 year old water heater with an electric unit. Does that sound like a good plan or should I consider a propane water heater too? Gonna cost me some but man it burns me to pay ma-gasco that $20 each month

 

[dms]

The hot water heater really depends on the number of people in your house hold. Gas\propane heaters recover WAY faster than an electric.

I would never go back to an electric hot water heater

 

[avalancher]

I considered swapping out our electric water heater to a propane model until I ran the numbers.It would end up costing more to run propane than electric,so we kept the old one.I installed a water heater timer and began restrictions on my teen daughter this month after discovering that she was taking daily 40 minute showers.Now she gets fifteen minutes,timed with an egg timer and then I cut the water off!I set the timer to kill the power to the water heater during the day when we arent home and during the night.After we get the next bill I will find out if my efforts saved us anything.

It took me awhile to figure out why our electric bill was 200 bucks a month when the only major appliance we have that is electric was the water heater.Cooking is done on propane, we heat with wood.There was little doubt that a daily 40 minute shower wasnt helping matters any.
Daughter aint happy,but dang!200 bucks a month going right down the drain.And we dont even use our electric dryer!

 

[reccutter]

I know how you feel that would chap me good too. +1 on switching to propane for the principal matter. Shouldn't be but a propane regulator to change in furnace,but I'm no expert on that. If your water heater is 20 yrs old, I'd go with a propane too. At $1000 looks like you might be able to have it filled once a year and plan on that whenever gas is at it's cheapest,as it does flucuate. It is possible to bury the tank in ground if it is rated, so it won't be an eyesore. These gas guys where prolly fuming about the $12, imagine when you ask them to get their meter of your property.

 

[Butch(OH)]

I considered swapping out our electric water heater to a propane model until I ran the numbers.It would end up costing more to run propane than electric,so we kept the old one.I installed a water heater timer and began restrictions on my teen daughter this month after discovering that she was taking daily 40 minute showers.Now she gets fifteen minutes,timed with an egg timer and then I cut the water off!I set the timer to kill the power to the water heater during the day when we arent home and during the night.After we get the next bill I will find out if my efforts saved us anything.

It took me awhile to figure out why our electric bill was 200 bucks a month when the only major appliance we have that is electric was the water heater.Cooking is done on propane, we heat with wood.There was little doubt that a daily 40 minute shower wasnt helping matters any.
Daughter aint happy,but dang!200 bucks a month going right down the drain.And we dont even use our electric dryer!

Been there done that ole buddy. Only I did it the low tech way, I'd yell at her once, then go downstairs and shut off the hot water. Couple times of rinsing off with ice cold water pretty well cured her of the 45 minute shower deals.

Daughter is 26 and long gone. Now I have to deal with my cheapskate ole woman hollering about the $20 for nothing gas bill. I am worried about switching to 'lectric with all the yak about rates going up due to O'bummer and the greenies wants and wishes. Maybe just switch e'm both over to LP? be easier for now. justa jet change ( I think?)

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Well, Ma Gasco is at it again, they have raised my minumum bill to $20 a month from $12, the $20 stays no matter how much I use too. Something about paying them for nothing fries my arse. Its not like we dont use any gas, we still paid them almost a grand last year to heat water and a little furance usgae. Nothing would please me more than telling them to come and get their meter.
Here is the details.

We heat with an OWB from Sept to around May 1 and also heat all of our domestic water. Our water heater is gas as is our furnace. We cook with electric so our only gas bills are for heating domestic water in the summer. Our furance is about 10 years old, Hi ef and is in good shape. Since the furance does not need repplacing I am thinking about buying a smaller propane tank like a 250 gallon and converting the furance to that fuel and replacing the 20 year old water heater with an electric unit. Does that sound like a good plan or should I consider a propane water heater too? Gonna cost me some but man it burns me to pay ma-gasco that $20 each month

I don't know about Edison Electric, but Westar Energy will subsidize the purchase of an electric hot water tank that is 40 gallons or larger. They know they will get their $300 back and then some in the first year of usage. It might not be so bad if you are only using it 3 months out of 12. My electric bill went up $40 or more after switching. My gas bill dropped by $12 at the same time.

I cook on propane, heat the house with wood only and the water heater is still electric. To me there is a larger initial investment buying the tank w/regulator and switching to propane but the 10 year return would seem worth it. That is , as long as you can get your propane at a competitive price.


Converting the water heater to propane is a pilot adjustment and a burner jet if it didn't come set-up for it.
The furnace ? I'm not certain about and will leave that to the guys that know.

 

[mizzou]

We use propane for cooking, dryer, furnace, and fireplace logs ustairs. I'll run the furnace occaisionally (Kansas City weather). I own my own tank and buy gas on contract every summer from whoever has the lowest price and get 1 fill at summer prices off contract. Paid $1.39/gal this year. We never use this much and coop has always had the lowest price, even paint the tank every few years, they just carry over the balence every year. I think I paid about $150 this year plus summer fill. Key to me is owning the tank so I,m not held hostage by 1 gas company.

 

[Robin Hood]

I heat water, house and cook on wood from october to march. Hot water from april is by a home made solar batch heater, i.e. 40 gallon oil drum painted matt black sitting in an ark with 2 old double glazed windows acting as a roof. Whole thing cost me about £25.00. It paid for itself in the first year. It's fed by rainwater too, so it also saves me pumping water out of the well.

 

[flotek]

you cant say propane without saying Pro- pain.....personally i would never use propane or natural gas for anything ,too much expense and they control the price (always jack it up around wintertime when you need it most )and all those extra added fees.i get tired of companies getting rich off my hardearned money

 

[loadthestove]

My local gas company done same thing to me.The final straw came when they sent me a $90 gas bill in august.I only used the gas for heat,they couldnt explain to me why the bill was so high.It finally came to pay or we will cut you off,,I told them to cut it off and remove meter and riser from my yard.

I swiched to propane and purchased a 100 gallon tank.I usually fill it once a year and take about 60-75 gallons.By owning my tank I can buy from anyone I want to.my house has two units ,,one upstairs(electric) and one downstairs(gas pack).If I couild get family( five of us) to help ,,my electric bill would be lower but I quess if I can keep it around $100 a month I really cant complain

kids think money grows on trees and electric grows on poles.

 

[Bcat22]

i have all propane appliances, and to tell you the truth, i am thinking of switching the water heater to electric!

i have a 350 gal propane tank. i filled it fall 08, they fill it to 80%. after an entire winter of running OWB, thus only cooking with gas, the gauge said 78%
after shutting down the OWB in late spring, running water heater and stove for 5 months, then firing up the OWB again, i looked at the LP tank and found it to be at 15%!!!!!!

just one summer worth of hot water on LP cost me $600 to fill tank.

this spring, i'm re-plumbing the OWB so i can burn all summer and only heat DHW, thus solving that problem. but even then, the pilot light is still burning gas isn't it???

if you want a 50 gal propane water tank, let me know, cause i might sell it to ya for the price of a decent 50 gal electric one.
mine is three years old and top of the line. i'm in central ohio

 

[isaaccarlson]

I will NEVER use gas....MAYBE electric...

I am planning on heating my water and house with the kitchen queen.....no bills for me man!!!! I don't like making companies rich. Let them make their money on the people who don't care and have $$$. The only electric will be for the lights and tv (to watch dvds....I don't want tv service). We have even thought about having a battery bank and charging it with a bike-powered generator so we have to bike for a certain amount of time each day....that way we don't watch a movie unless we have earned it.

 

[flotek]

i have an electric hot water tank ,not the typical unit ..its through my cooperative electric company and has a special contro lmodule box on it that shutsoff the juice during their predetermined peak hours t osave energy and costs ,not only is it practicaly free to run..but the tank itself is a special insulated humungous 90 gallon energy efficient unit.i -NEVER- run out of hot water /7 people can take a hot shower after another and it will still not run cold.it hardly adds anything to the electric bill

 

[Steve NW WI]

Butch, if you've still got the manual for that furnace it should tell you what's needed to change to propane. I'm thinking orifice in the metering system and a regulator at the tank controlling pressure.

On the hot water front, I'd replace the 20 year old one with whatever you decide to use. They corrode up and lose a lot of efficiency over time. Mine's about 10 years old, and I'm looking into a tankless model, no sense in keeping water hot the 23 hours a day I don't need it. Biggest problem I've found with them so far is that a lot of people recommend a water softener with them, they're pretty sensitive to hard water from what I've read.

My propane tank needs filling right now, I had 250 gallons in there near the end of last winter, now down to 35 or so. Propane is hot water, cook stove, and backup heat for me. I think new H/W heater will halve what I'm using now.

Your own tank will probably pay for itself within a few years, there can be pretty big swings between suppliers here, as well as a lower price for your own tank.

RE buried LP tanks, they're unheard of in this area, and I'd think they'd be a big liability. Camouflage it with well placed wood stacks or bushes if it bothers ya.

 

[BigE]

Shouldn't be but a propane regulator to change in furnace,but I'm no expert on that.

I switched out a gas dryer to a propane dryer, and you have to change out the jets. Propane has more energy than natural gas, so you have to run smaller jets. Got it all switched out, and the wife decided she didn't want to bother with propane tanks, so I had to sell it at a loss. That was a dang good dryer, too.

 

[stihlcountry]

I would ck with some propane Co. Some may want you to use their tank only. And if you don,t buy a certain amount of propane from them they will charge you service fee anyways. :greenchainsaw:

 

[R W Ohio]

Butch,

Here in NE Ohio with Dominion East Ohio Gas,for Oct. of 2009 the basic monthly charge was $12.80. That was the charge even if you used no gas at all.For November it went up to $15.70 and it was the same for December.In January 2010 it went up again to $16.42.Wonder what it will be for February.We only use gas for drying clothes during the heating season so the basic charge is eight times the price of the gas being used.

 

[rmount]

We use propane for: furnace, cook stove/oven, tankless water heater & BBQ. Our heating season is late September to mid May. We mainly use the furnace for the shoulder months, heating with wood from mid-November to mid-April, only using the furnace during that period for 15 minutes or so on really cold mornings to take the chill out of the far corners of the distant rooms. Last year, Oct '08 to Sept '09, we used 550L (approx 150 gal) of propane paying $0.55/litre (about $2.25/gal). I think the biggest saving is with the tankless water heater, keeping 50 or more gallons of water hot 24 hours a day for the 30 minutes or so that you actually use it is such a waste. The tankless systems cost more to install but the payback period is less that 7 years.