How much have you spent on propane?

[Kattrina]

We have a 79 Marshfield home and just replaced the furnace that was in here with a Comfort furnace. The new one went in in May of 08. From Sept 30th to Feb 12th we have gone through $2100 in propane. January and February propane bills was over $1200. We live in Northern Wisconsin and have extensively insulated our home. Before the new furnace we had a pair of unvented wall propane heaters. Our yearly bill has about $1400 for heat, hot water and the stove.
Our installers have come out twice with no results. I called the Furnace company once and now waiting for a return call from our second call. Very discussed.
We are wondering about everyone else out there. What is your monthly bill?
What have you done to cut your heating bill?

[lefties]

1600.00 for 28x56 dw on block foundation oct-now

[Yanita]

Hi folks,

I think this forum was designed for all other questions related to repairs for brands of furnace/ac's not listed in other sub forums. LOL, I could be wrong, BUT, I am going to move this to the OFF TOPIC forum.

Follow me there.

Yanita

[Yanita]

Hi,

We turned our heat on intermittently in Sept. Seems cooler weather came early for NC last year.

In May of 2008 we had installed a Goodman self contained propane/electric gas pack. Gas for heat, electric for AC. This is not a standard issue MH unit that came with the home. We have a 1974 Mansfield 24x60 home.

After 3 years of extensive upgrades/reno's this year we finally got a reprieve in out heat bill. Last year was an improvement but this year even better even though our winter has been real cold.

Like I said heat came on intermittently in middle of Sept, first delivery came in in the middle of December, 171 gallons, second delivery in middle of Feb, 73 gallons...total $534.00

Heat is set at 70 from about 1PM until 9PM and then is set at 68 till 1PM the following day.

What have I done to reduce the heating bill? Well we re insulated the home including the underbelly. Installed a programmable thermostat. Dumped the typically MH doors and windows and upgraded to steel insulated doors and vinyl , double hung, doubled paned, low E windows. LOL, I swear 30 tubes of caulking. Insulated all exterior wall switches and outlets.

I play the window game, close drapes on the shady side and open them on the sunny side. Close all drapes when darkness settles in. There still seems to be the radiant coldness from the glass.

Hot water tank, what is your temp set at...mine is set at 115.

You can call your local utility company to come out and do a free home energy audit. This will tell you where you are losing your heat.

Have you checked your duct work? IS it completely in tact, no kinks holes etc.

Did you close your skirting vents before winter set in?

These are just some tips...

Yanita

CHANGE FURNACE FILTER EVERY 30 days!

Yanita

[Rod]

Hello!

There are a lot of things to consider. Yanita hit on a lot of good tips for reducing heat loss.

Your old vent free heaters were most likely 99% efficient models as I believe most are since there is no exhaust. What is the efficiency rating of the new furnace. If its 80% than 20% going out the exhaust.

Also how many BTU's is the new furnace & how many sq/ft is your home. If the furnace is over sized it will tend to short cycle & burn more fuel. If its under sized it will run to much.

Most residential furnaces are to much for the duct work in a MH and never run as efficient as they should.

What has your average temps been? Northern Wisconsin has to be cold. What are you paying for a gallon of propane?

These are some other factors to look at.

Rod

[Dean3]

Yepper,what everybody else said is right,plus,it is the gallons used that help to figure wether you are burning too much fuel. If You locked in the price late last summer when all fuel was high that will inflate the dollars spent but the gallons used might be within reason.

I screwed up and had My tank filled late summer 08,before long the price per gallon dropped like a rock when in a normal year it would have kept rising,I coulda saved hundreds.

In a normal year propane is cheaper during summer,,before crop drying and cold weather increase demand and inflate the price.folks that locked in at that time really got hit hard this winter. I only buy when I call for it,sooo glad I didn't contract.

The best way to save is to own the tank and top it off when it's cheap. Or like I do,rent the tank but use a cash/order delivery..If You had a 1000 gallon tank and filled it during a normal summer You might cut the bill considerably.

One more thing,do Your cold air returns equal Your hot air feeds? That's important too I think.

Dean

[Harry]

Hi

WOW! Sooooo glad I went 100% electric. My monthly is around $150.

Harry

[Yanita]

Hey Harry,

I don't think mine is that bad...considering we have had an exceptionally cold winter. My electric is running at 120.00 give or take a few bucks. Not bad for either and the heat has been running for 6 months!

WOO HOO, gonna be in the 70/80* range here this weekend! I am soooo ready!

Yanita

[Harry]

Yep

Energy bill dollar amounts is for sure an area specific issue. We only had a couple of freezes this year.

I want a programmable thermostat too.

We are set to 70 degrees 24/7.

Harry

[Dean3]

With a propane furnace it is basically set to burn a certain way,there may be adjustments for the flame but I just don't know that yet. For propane heaters the flame is at it's most efficient when the flame is blue,the orange/yellow color means a % is unburnt and polutes the indoor air while wasting fuel. You might get more heat with the yellow flame but only because there is more flame,it is not efficient. I think it is the same with natural gas too but better check that.

I heat with a combo of non-vented propane and electric,since My place is not totally sealed from drafts I feel safe using well monitored non-vented heat,there are no kids/pets here to worry about.

so far this winter in NE IA I've used 50% of a 500 gal propane tank and the colder months have run Me $167 and $188 for electric,but I was home alot and that adds to the elec bill,,now for the kicker--I only heat 600 sq ft of area,the end BRs have been mostly isolated cause of insulating the interior walls. As I progress sealing and insulating then I have to use less non-vented propane,or risk death. Even a perfectly burning non-vented heater can use up the oxygen in a well sealed place. Gotta be damn careful. it is nice to have more than 1 source of heat tho,I wish i had even more and when markets get wierd I could use the cheapest.

Dean

[DigitalDreams]

I don't heat with propane but live in a older DW and have friends who live in approx same size abode and heat with propane so know that propane tends to follow fuel oil and other heating products that aren't
municipally delivered and I spent $2100 dollars in 2007-2008 season heating put in two hot air solar panels last summer and even with the drop in fuel costs saving me money I saved a bundle.

Fuel last year cost me about 460-530 dollars a fill with cheaper prices
this year fills only cost about 365 but the amazing thing was with the solar panels running almost every day I only filled the tank twice at about a cost of 365 a fill.
Heres the math
Last year 4 fills average 510 x4 = 2040 plus or minus
This year 2 fills average 365 x2 = 730 plus or minus
Total savings over last year 1310 plus or minus
Cost of building panels 270 X 2 = 540
Total savings 770 and even if I deduct for drop in fuel oil costs
the panels paid for themselves in one year and kept some cash in my pocket instead of the oil company's.I live in southern minnesota which is about same temps as northern wisconsin gets because fronts hit us as the jet stream swings them at you.