Propane vs. Nat.gas

[beerman6]

For grins I called Consumers Energy to see what it would cost to get NG run to my house.I had a nice conversation with a lady that told me that she looked into it for her house and it was very expensive,so they bought an OWB :smile2:

She set it up to have an engineer come out and look and give me a quote.The engineer lady called me and asked me a few questions and told me there was a $200 connection fee and thats good for up to 300' uttahere2: I think I will fall into that range.

I can tell she was here because of the tracks in the snow,but I havent heard back from her yet.

Now the question,if it is only $200ish should I ditch the propane?
We only use the propane for cooking and sometimes to heat the house before my 1st fire and after I shut the OWB down.

I havent bought propane since Nov. 2008 and there is no tank rental YET.

Would the NG help when it comes time to sell this place?
What kinda monthly fees are gonna come with NG,that I dont have now?

 

[John R]

They have a flat rate they charge just for the meter to hang on your house and be connected to their gas line, rather you use gas or not.
If your not using much propane, I'd stick with that.

 

[olyman]

ive got a comparison chart,,dont know from where..was looking the other day--propane right now,,is 1/2 the cost of ng!! ng has went up a lot in the last number of years!! and like said,,you play a flat montly fee whether you use any or not--in this area--its 15 a month--and the more gas you use--you pay transport cost,pipeline repair cost, and another charge i dont remember--prorated---

 

[iceman7668]

I have Nat. gas and I like the ease of it, but I hate to pay the bill. I heat with wood obviously, so I only use gas for the dryer, hot water heater, and the stove. My bill in Jan. was $15:00. I still hate to pay that. If you do decide to go to natural gas, you will have to change gas orifices in you propane appliances because they are not compatible with nat. gas. No biggie, just something else to take into account.

 

[atlarge54]

In Indiana NIPSCO is attempting to raise the base fee to $19/mo. Thats $19/mo. BEFORE ANY GAS IS USED. There were public hearings last year, don't know about their outcome.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Pipeline Infrastucture Fee?

Normally I would say get hooked up to NG if you can get a reasonable hookup charge. There is no doubt that the fuel cost ($/MBTU) of NG will be less than propane.

BUT, nowadays they add on a significant cost to your monthly bill to support the pipeline, and that is often a fixed amount, irrespective of gas usage. So, you get clobbered every month for just having a gas meter on line, even when you use nothing.

Thus when you add up the hookup charge, the monthly infrastructute charge, and finally the actual NG usage charge, burning natural gas is not near the bargain that it used to be. Gas companies are shooting themselves in the foot. :msp_blink:

 

[Labman]

Some time when I hadn't looked, my fixed charge for the gas hook up went up to $50/mo. If you don't use much, you may want to stick to propane. Maybe I should look at it. I will be paying $300 for the six months the furnace doesn't run.

 

[danrclem]

There was a time when I would have said hook to the NG but not now. Along with all of the other reasons given, having a large supply of gas that could last for years is very comforting, to me at least. I have a supply that will last me for years and is paid for. I don't have to worry about a monthly bill or being shut off if for some reason I can't pay the bill.

I do have one suggestion though. Buy your own tank. If you have your own tank and it's full it'd be hard for somebody to take it away from you.

 

[Patrick62]

Stick with the LP

My dad claimed that he ended paying more for the natural gas after switching from propane. he also claimed that the propane burned hotter...
He might have been right.

I say buy your own tank, and keep it filled.

 

[firewood guy]

There was a time when I would have said hook to the NG but not now. Along with all of the other reasons given, having a large supply of gas that could last for years is very comforting, to me at least. I have a supply that will last me for years and is paid for. I don't have to worry about a monthly bill or being shut off if for some reason I can't pay the bill.

I do have one suggestion though. Buy your own tank. If you have your own tank and it's full it'd be hard for somebody to take it away from you.

I'm in so Ca, and I agree own your own tank if you are on propane. That way you can shop prices of different suppliers. Also remember to fill that tank to the max in summer when prices are low....If you only use nat gas or propane for water heater/ cooking , propane could possibly save money due to no monthly service fees. But in our area, right now, Nat gas is 1/2 the price of propane. One thing to consider is the old / failing infrastruture of the underground pipelines that will bring big increases in our utility bills if connected to a utility. Food for thought.......

 

[dingeryote]

I'm waiting a couple more years untill Solar and wind units come down in price, and then I'm ditching the Tank. I hate Hippies and greenweenies, but I'm a cheap bastard.

Propane bieng a byproduct of the Oil industry, it ain't too hard to see the coming Chaos. Fewer wells drilled here, and a Mid Eastern Caliphate rising, means it's just gonna go up in the long run.

Natural Gas is gonna be a Rackett in a few years, as sooner than later, the only affordable heat will be Nat. Gas, and demand will create an even bigger monster.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[greengiant]

I can only input on the NG. I pay about $30/month on my bill for the NG 'delivery fee', and that is only for my 20-30 'therms' I use each month on hwh, dryer(hang 60% of wash up to dry too), and the occasional furnace when out of town. Then on top of that it was another $.53/therm. Oh, and don't forget to add taxes too!
One would think that living amidst the Marcelleous Gas it would be getting cheaper, but doubt that will ever happen.

 

[beerman6]

I do have the orifices to switch back to NG.Interesting to see the different rates you guys pay just to have the service.

I think we decided last night to just get our own 100lb tank.

Thanks for the replies.

 

[atvguns]

I do have the orifices to switch back to NG.Interesting to see the different rates you guys pay just to have the service.

I think we decided last night to just get our own 100lb tank.

Thanks for the replies.

100lb is that going to be enough to last you a whole year I have a 500 gallon for the hotwater heater cook range and dryer I only fill it in the summer when propane is the cheapest

 

[beerman6]

I have the smaller tank now,265 gallon?

I had it filled (80%) in Nov. of 08 and it's somewhere around 25% now.

 

[olyman]

In Indiana NIPSCO is attempting to raise the base fee to $19/mo. Thats $19/mo. BEFORE ANY GAS IS USED. There were public hearings last year, don't know about their outcome.

if they are like usual public utility hearings--they are a farce--and the gas co gets what they want---same with elec co's---and the recs--arent for the good of their members--

 

[olyman]

Normally I would say get hooked up to NG if you can get a reasonable hookup charge. There is no doubt that the fuel cost ($/MBTU) of NG will be less than propane.

BUT, nowadays they add on a significant cost to your monthly bill to support the pipeline, and that is often a fixed amount, irrespective of gas usage. So, you get clobbered every month for just having a gas meter on line, even when you use nothing.

Thus when you add up the hookup charge, the monthly infrastructute charge, and finally the actual NG usage charge, burning natural gas is not near the bargain that it used to be. Gas companies are shooting themselves in the foot. :msp_blink:

wood--the chart is just set to what you pay--and ng right now,,is double the cost for btu's for propane

 

[olyman]

There was a time when I would have said hook to the NG but not now. Along with all of the other reasons given, having a large supply of gas that could last for years is very comforting, to me at least. I have a supply that will last me for years and is paid for. I don't have to worry about a monthly bill or being shut off if for some reason I can't pay the bill.

I do have one suggestion though. Buy your own tank. If you have your own tank and it's full it'd be hard for somebody to take it away from you.

and you get your pick of who fills it!!!! at not inflated prices--

 

[John R]

With all the fees you have to pay for NG there are no savings.
There is no reason that we the customer should have to pay for the underground pipes that belong to a private company.

 

[electric saws]

new idea

In Europe, where car/truck fuel is much more expensive than here, we may have a clue about our future. There you can fill up with gas, diesel or NG.
In the US, forklifts, fleet vehicles & others are NG powered. OEM's are starting to catch on & I think Ford is the only real choice now (F150, 250, 350) but aftermarket conversions are also possible (Rousch). It's just a political problem that we don't have NG fill up as an option nationwide. http://find.mapmuse.com/map/cng/36.015,-120.55,8 http://www.fuelsystemssolutions.com/subsidiaries.asp

Here's an example of F150 Ebay Motors item 220734979871

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004...4979871?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3364d47f1f

So, if you were using NG to fuel a pickup I'd say choose NG. I'd expect a better home value for NG too but a local home appraisor could tell you for sure (not realtor).