Mid Winter Shut Down

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I’m out of town for 3 days for work starting this morning. I filled the boiler with hardwood before I left so it should provide heat till dinner time and then the propane will kick on.

By Friday morning the coals should mostly be gone and the chimney cooled so I can completely empty the ashes and run the new drill powered chimney brush down the chimney. Then we’ll be good till spring for the chimney and till February on the ashes.
 
I’m out of town for 3 days for work starting this morning. I filled the boiler with hardwood before I left so it should provide heat till dinner time and then the propane will kick on.

By Friday morning the coals should mostly be gone and the chimney cooled so I can completely empty the ashes and run the new drill powered chimney brush down the chimney. Then we’ll be good till spring for the chimney and till February on the ashes.
!!OH NO... CANT have that as you said a NASTY WORD... "ppprroPAIN"! !OH NO!!
 
Lol! I’m locked in at 1.19 a gallon, surely there are worse fates than running the LP boiler for 72 hours!
This is how becoming Lazy starts.

I bought some propane late last summer for .88 with the cash discount first I had bought in 10 years. Our drier is propane. We used the furnace and then the hot water heater for three months when I had the Garn down repairing a leak. Buddy that helps me cut wood said you better get that Garn fixed you are already getting lazy you retired early from your town job and are just farming now. You stop cutting wood and start burning propane all the time and folks will be wondering about you. Fixed the Garn and been running since the first of Aug. We processed about 10 cord of wood after grain harvest and field work was done. Don't want folks thinking I am lazy.
 
Lol! I’m locked in at 1.19 a gallon, surely there are worse fates than running the LP boiler for 72 hours!
What? I only use propane for hot water and the occasional gas fire in the fireplace . And at last fill it was $3.29 a gallon. Only use about 30 gallons in 4 months but damn 1.19
 
What? I only use propane for hot water and the occasional gas fire in the fireplace . And at last fill it was $3.29 a gallon. Only use about 30 gallons in 4 months but damn 1.19
I only use propane for cooking and a Jotul unit in the basement and I don't use a lot of gas. I also pay a good premium over what larger users pay. Less you use the more you pay per gallon:dumb2:
 
What? I only use propane for hot water and the occasional gas fire in the fireplace . And at last fill it was $3.29 a gallon. Only use about 30 gallons in 4 months but damn 1.19
I was thinking that same thing!! I’m at 2.69 a gallon and was like, DAMN!! He lives far from any seaport, how in the hell is it only a buck 19!!
 
Lol! I’m locked in at 1.19 a gallon, surely there are worse fates than running the LP boiler for 72 hours!
That is a good price. Wish I had that.

I only use propane for cooking and a Jotul unit in the basement and I don't use a lot of gas. I also pay a good premium over what larger users pay. Less you use the more you pay per gallon:dumb2:

We used to get a high price and a fine before when we rented two tanks. Bought a tank and now it's market price or lower, this year was $1.90

I did a good clean of the OWB last Sunday. No problems easy clean but good to do twice a burning season. Water in the shop vac can and went for it after I shoveled the ashes and coal out of the fire box. Over 12 hours after the shut down I sifted the coal out from the ashes and it lit up no problem.

Mass price:

Prices aggregated from Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources telephone surveys of propane dealers who service Massachusetts households; not inclusive of any discounts offered for cash payments and based on the average winter fill-up 100-150 gallons/fill-up or more.

Note: dealers may charge more per gallon for fill-ups under 100 gallons. Prices are in $ per gallon.



Weekly Average Retail Propane Price Survey


Weekly Winter Heating Fuel Surveys

Propane Average Average High Average Low
This Week (01/14/20)
$2.88/gallon $4.57/gallon $2.15/gallon
 
Can't remember if/when I mentioned this before:

My "house" was my originally my parent's cabin. They bought in 74' and remodeled/built the current place in 82'. My parents owned their own tank and used Anchor Gas which I believe was a franchise system. Anchor was bought out by Ferrellgas which has a pretty bad reputation for screwing anyone it deals with including customers and employees. Anyhow, they offered Anchor customers a great contract price on propane one year. Buried in about the third page of the contract in small print was the terms that you agreed to sell your tank to Ferrellgas if you agreed to the contract price for that year. So the customers saved money but unknowingly lost their tank. We changed to Lakes Gas in the 90's and after about two years, Ferrell showed up one day to pick up "their" tank because we hadn't been filling with them. Luckily my mom was home and called me so we were able to call them off until we got Lakes to come out and install one of their tanks so we weren't without gas in the interim.

If a person wanted to negotiate and has the flexibility to deal with tank swaps you literally could let the 4 major providers up here duke it out each year. When you get a new tank installed with 1 year contract you get 30 cents off on your first fill. Unfortunately for me, my tank at home is a 1000 gallon tank that is tucked in fairly thick woods down a hill so it is a complete pain to try and move. If I had a 500 gallon tank that had easier access I would consider going from place to place. At the same point, Lakes has treated me well and since my 3 tanks are bundled into the price with the guy I rent my office from, the savings are less than what a single homeowner could reap.
 
Can't remember if/when I mentioned this before:

My "house" was my originally my parent's cabin. They bought in 74' and remodeled/built the current place in 82'. My parents owned their own tank and used Anchor Gas which I believe was a franchise system. Anchor was bought out by Ferrellgas which has a pretty bad reputation for screwing anyone it deals with including customers and employees. Anyhow, they offered Anchor customers a great contract price on propane one year. Buried in about the third page of the contract in small print was the terms that you agreed to sell your tank to Ferrellgas if you agreed to the contract price for that year. So the customers saved money but unknowingly lost their tank. We changed to Lakes Gas in the 90's and after about two years, Ferrell showed up one day to pick up "their" tank because we hadn't been filling with them. Luckily my mom was home and called me so we were able to call them off until we got Lakes to come out and install one of their tanks so we weren't without gas in the interim.

If a person wanted to negotiate and has the flexibility to deal with tank swaps you literally could let the 4 major providers up here duke it out each year. When you get a new tank installed with 1 year contract you get 30 cents off on your first fill. Unfortunately for me, my tank at home is a 1000 gallon tank that is tucked in fairly thick woods down a hill so it is a complete pain to try and move. If I had a 500 gallon tank that had easier access I would consider going from place to place. At the same point, Lakes has treated me well and since my 3 tanks are bundled into the price with the guy I rent my office from, the savings are less than what a single homeowner could reap.
don't know how mn is,,but don't try to move a propane tank in iowa,,on the road,,with gas in it,,the dot will hang y0u....AND, ferrelgas is rotten to the core,,always have been,,,
 
Out our way any new gas provider has a tank inspection fee before they can fill. But now that we own one the price is not bad. Not to mention the driver knows our bad driveway so that helps. Our 1st year when we rented 2 tanks the old company tried an automatic delivery in winter and got stuck before they got to the house. The tow truck to get that out got stuck and called in back up to get it all fixed. I wasn't home but the neighbor down the road said it was one big mess. Ferrelgas sounds like people to avoid for sure.
 

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