Propane and Heating Oil Prices

[Pertzbro]

Propane is mostly for rural and I know most folks on here are from the NE using heating oil.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_wfr_a_EPLLPA_PRS_dpgal_w.htm

I can't understand the huge fluctuations in prices. I also cant figure out why Iowa has the cheapest propane prices of anywhere in the nation. I contracted for like $0.99 per gallon for the season with automatic keep tank full policy.

Now I understand more why there are more wood burners in the NE (and you have more trees) than what i see around Iowa. We have cheap heat here compared to the NE.

For some reason it's not an option for natural gas (common in large cities on municipal utilities)

Either way I'm happy to see i can just hit the thermostat if I dont feel like burning and i wont go bankrupt.

 

[MAD777]

Thank you for posting! I plan to build a home in rural New Hampshire next year. Everyone has been pointing me toward propane, but I see oil is 30% cheaper there.

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[begreen]

Keep in mind that today's prices have no promise for tomorrow's costs. If you are building new then exceed code when it comes to insulation and pay extra attention to good sealing at every opportunity. Look north to Canadian standards for guidance. Orient and design to take advantage of winter passive solar radiation. A well designed house will save you regardless of heating fuel costs and it will be more comfortable in the summer too.

 

[peakbagger]

Thank you for posting! I plan to build a home in rural New Hampshire next year. Everyone has been pointing me toward propane, but I see oil is 30% cheaper there.

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I live in rural NH, plan on two sources of heating. Spend the extra money to build a tight house and have heating oil or propane as one system to keep the bank happy and then a cordwood type heating system. Unless you want to spend big bucks for bulk pellet boiler that can accept bulk deliveries from the rare dealers that offer bulk deliveries stick with cordwood. Both oil and propane are imports in the area, you really can get nailed in a cold snap as most of the distributors don't keep much on hand and they buy off the rack at the daily price. Unless you want to pay a premium for price protection, if you can have enough fuel on had to ride through a extended cold snap you may not get hit as bad. Long before I switched to wood as primary heat I installed two 275 gallon oil tanks. I could go a year between fills. I haven't filled them for three years and the last time I filled them I didn't even fill them to the top. Downside with oil is you need to maintain it more often.

Check out Green Building Advisors Pretty Good House concept http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/guest-blogs/pretty-good-house

One of sad issues in NH is that many of the smaller rural towns that attract folks due to low taxes are the ones that ignore the state energy code (and the IBC) or have the builder self certify that they comply with the regs. Few actually meet even meet the Energy Code which should be regarded as minimum. Unless you hire an independent inspector, every builder is going to tell you they are building to all the codes as they realize that odds are no one is going to check or the local part time inspector could care less. Worth looking into.

 

[Wickets]

Propane is the biggest scam ever, in NJ anyway. There is zero regulation, zero, ZERO transparency and almost zero competition. Propane customers are at the mercy of noone in particular. The biggest mistake is to choose propane over electricity. Best revenge: burn wood!!

http://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/tables/pdf/wf-table.pdf

 

[begreen]

Same thing in the Seattle area. Suburban Propane has a stranglehold on the market. Locally it still goes for over $3/gal. while 60 miles north it is just above a dollar a gallon through Cenex.

 

[Wickets]

Same thing in the Seattle area. Suburban Propane has a stranglehold on the market. Locally it still goes for over $3/gal. while 60 miles north it is just above a dollar a gallon through Cenex.

Just out of curiosity, in Seattle are prices published on websites etc, or is everything on the QT.....call for price, special discounts for new customers, etc etc?

 

[begreen]

http://www.altfuelprices.com/stations/LPG/Washington/Seattle/

 

[Wickets]

thanks for the link.

 

[MAD777]

I'm definitely planning on a wood stove, suplemented with oil or propane. The higher cost of oil maintenance may balance out the higher cost of propane.

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[mcdougy]

I assume Iowa is the cheapest for propane due to corn production/ drying. I'm guessing that it is the fuel used to dry the corn, creating a decrease in cost due to volume. Sorta like buying a cord of wood in northern Minnesota vs Newp York city

 

[iamlucky13]

Areas where there isn't much residential propane use don't have many residential distributors, and having few customers drives costs up, in additional to potential competitive issues. Look at how expensive it is in Florida.

I would bet Iowa propane is cheap in large part due to access to Bakken oil which is naturally high in lighter molecules like propane. Managing the volatiles from Bakken shale oil is an ongoing challenge. Selling propane dirt cheap locally is probably a relief to the Bakken producers.

 

[Pertzbro]

Iowa does use alot of propane for: corn drying, hog and turkey confinement heating.

For example this is just a few miles south of me:

https://goo.gl/maps/7Ls8dkhr1E72

That's an average turkey operation with 9 - 1,000gallon propane tanks. Also the new pipeline was just laid 2 miles north of me.

 

[laynes69]

We were under contract where we had no choice in prices with LP. Luckily we burn wood, but at times, LP rising to over 3.00 a gallon. Since then, we purchased our tank, and no more non usage fees, and I can shop and buy whenever I want. Last year we purchased LP under .99 a gallon, which was unheard of with Suburban Propane. I won't give up our gas range, dryer and furnace.

 

[TradEddie]

I've seen weird propane fluctuations,but I've never paid anything like the prices listed on the EIA website. I looked into switching suppliers, but there was absolutely no guarantee that switching would save me anything beyond the first refill. If I've got plenty of gas in the tank in mid-winter, I call the supplier to make sure they don't decide to refill at peak price!

TE

 

[OhioBurner©]

We were under contract where we had no choice in prices with LP. Luckily we burn wood, but at times, LP rising to over 3.00 a gallon. Since then, we purchased our tank, and no more non usage fees, and I can shop and buy whenever I want. Last year we purchased LP under .99 a gallon, which was unheard of with Suburban Propane. I won't give up our gas range, dryer and furnace.

It was hard enough for me to believe .99c in Iowa but also right next door in Ohio? I think the cheapest I've paid is around $1.90 and this year it was 2.19 iirc. At 99 cents I'd for sure shut down the pellet stove, I pay a lot more than that to heat with pellets I'm sure. I'm on Morrow/Knox co border and get propane out of Wise Choice in Mt Vernon. The last few years I've got just a minimum fill of 200 gallons to help in the shoulder seasons and for backup.

 

[laynes69]

We deal with Cole Distributing out of richland county. They were about the cheapest we found.

 

[begreen]

My guess is that the midwest has low propane prices due to the proximity of refinery terminals.

 

[OhioBurner©]

My guess is that the midwest has low propane prices due to the proximity of refinery terminals.

Yes but why is laynes69 half the price of mine only two counties away? That is just not fair! lol

 

[Where2]

Areas where there isn't much residential propane use don't have many residential distributors, and having few customers drives costs up, in additional to potential competitive issues. Look at how expensive it is in Florida.

Fortunately, we don't generally heat with propane (my A/C is actually still running). At most, we usually dry clothes, heat water, and cook with propane. For 50+ years, my parents had a propane tank buried in the side yard, supplied by the local "gas company". In 2012 or 2013, the "gas company" was making use of some of that ARRA money replacing the 50+ year old gas lines throughout the town which never quite reached my parents house (nor mine around the corner). When my mom called to ask if they could bring natural gas to my parents house while they were direct boring new lines around the neighborhood anyway, it magically happened and their propane tank went away. Two and three houses from my parents, the neighbors still have propane tanks buried in the yard getting refilled at those astronomical Florida rates. When I heard my parents were getting natural gas, I looked at the minimum monthly meter fees and taxes, along with the expense of swapping out some appliances and decided to stay all electric. I'm already paying one base meter fee, so adding another didn't make long term financial sense.

 

[begreen]

Yes but why is laynes69 half the price of mine only two counties away? That is just not fair! lol

Same here, but more like 1/3d the price just two counties to the north

 

[iamlucky13]

Same here, but more like 1/3d the price just two counties to the north

I was puzzling over this, because it didn't seem to make sense for propane to be cheap anywhere in Washington. As best I can figure, maybe it's because of the nearby Anacortes refinery and some kind of resulting special distribution deal.

I can't imagine it's solely a competitive matter closer to Seattle, because a dollar a gallon excess margin is huge incentive for new competitors.

 

[laynes69]

We were locked in for a number of years to a ripoff company. Unfortunately, if you didn't have the money to purchase a tank, you paid what they were charging. The other part of the story for us, we use under 500 gallons a year ( actually it takes over 3 years to use 400 gallons) so other companies wouldn't take us. I remember the last fill from the ripoff conpany, it was over $3.00 a gallon and I negotiated to get it to 2.99. If we could've switched at that time, it was 1.69 with another company. It's all a game, if they can take advantage of you, they will. I believe when there was a shortage, ripoff was approaching 6.00 a gallon while others were half. Since we own our tank now, no more fees and no more games, and prices are much lower. I hated propane before we split from a contract.

 

[begreen]

I was puzzling over this, because it didn't seem to make sense for propane to be cheap anywhere in Washington. As best I can figure, maybe it's because of the nearby Anacortes refinery and some kind of resulting special distribution deal.

I can't imagine it's solely a competitive matter closer to Seattle, because a dollar a gallon excess margin is huge incentive for new competitors.

I think it might be the proximity to Canada? North of Everett is Cenex territory. I think that is based on a large agricultural coop. They seem to negotiate good pricing. I'm wondering if their propane is made from Canadian natural gas which is cheap across the border. Though I note that Highbeam who lives in a rural area east of Tacoma reports lower propane prices too. Not sure the supplier. So it could just be the general Seattle area that gets burned. Hard to tell because most data is old.

The big issue locally is a captive market. Seattle gets charged more for gasoline too. It's not uncommon to find gas 25-30 cents cheaper in Tacoma, even though it's 30 miles further away from the Anacortes refinery.

 

[bdud]

I am in MA and just paid $4.11 a gallon plus I rent my tank for $100 a year. I don't believe those prices. I called all the companies who deliver in my area and they are about the same.