converting to LPG??

[mm]

I have an oil furnace that needs replacing within the next year, and there is no gas supply to this whole n'hood.

Can I and is it worth the money to use bottled gas, LPG, or whatever it is called, to run a new gas furnace?

And could I run a gas stove off the same supply?

Rouhly how often would I have to refill the gas tank? The heating season for me in Baltimore is no more than November 1 to March 30, and I keep the house at 68, 65 at night. And I don't cook much at all, but when I broil it's never very good.

Frankly, I'm satisfied with oil heat, but the electric stove really annoys me.

Thank you.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, No one knows where you live,how big your house is or how old it is. How any one possibly answer your question without proper info? Oil heat is always smelly to me.

[Lp1331 1p1331]

Sure you can convert to propane- aka LPG. Furnace, stove, clothes dryer, water heater are all available in propane. A gallon of oil contains about half again the BTU's of a gallon of propane, so usage for heating can be very roughly estimated. For every 100 gallons of oil you used, you will use about 150 of propane. A new propane furnace will almost certainly be a lot more efficeint than the old oil one so that must be figured into the equation also. I have absolutely no idea what either fuel costs in your area-- but it is a crap shoot because what either costs now and what they will cost this time next year are two entirely different things-- oil could be $1.25/ gal or it could be $6.00 /gal. BTW, with propane tanks, they fill it to 80% of the rated capacity, and tanks typically come in 250 and 500 gallon for residential use, so they will actually hold 200 or 400 gallons. Estimate your usage from previous oil useage, and then you can figure out about how long wither size tank will last. Larry

[mm]

Thanks. Just knowing it's called propane will help me with googling.

Neither do I, pretty much. I just pay what they charge me. I shopped a little 3 years ago before I switched to this oil company, which came recommended, but I haven't kept shopping.

Yeah.

So will the propane guy come to my house and refill my tank, even if it is 70 or 100 feet from the street (no driveway)?

If he'll do that, it wouldn't matter that much how often it needs refilling. Then it's only a matter of cost, and like you say, who knows!

Thanks a lot.

Yeah, Tony my mother liked gas heat because it was clean.

[George]

Sure

How would anyone know this? You need your current consumption and the cost of fuels and heating values to arrive at any conclusion. One thing to consider is since propane is an oil byproduct it is pretty much tied to the price of crude.

You can switch to propane for it. It just costs more for low usage.

[Oren]

I'm sure they will. Check with a local propane delivery company about limitations / distance.

Some rural areas here have tanks 100' or so from the street.

[mm]

I thought there might be a rule of thumb, but if not, I'll try to figure it out, or I'll just take my chances if it seems a propane furnace and stove will make me happier.

It cost more for low usage? Because they'll put in a smaller tank and have to deliver smaller amounts of propane per trip? Or some other reason?

I think that's why I never considered propane for just the stove, but since I have to get a new furance anyhow, I'll need a pretty big tank.

Unless the only reason to get a propane furnace is that little smell of oil once in a while.

[mm]

I should do that of course, but I get impatient on a Saturday afternoon, when they're probably not open until Monday.

Good. And this means I should keep reading aobut this today and tomorrow.

Thanks for replying even though I could have called them Monday.

[Oren]

Don't rush. You have the "next year" to think about it :)

[hallerb]

might check on going to propane water heater too.

dont frget the federal tax credit for high efficency appliances, saves

30% of the cost:)

[dadiOH]

Everything will use the LPG in the tank they put in. Have you figured how you would get gas to your stove?

[Oren]

I need to speak with the tax man... Is this 30% for each appliance / qualified item or for a total for the year?!

One new garage door is already eligible for the tax break. My only big ticket item would be new efficient HVAC over the next year and maybe a dual speed pool pump.

[mm]

That's pretty much what got me started in the first place.

It's 30% total of a maximum of %5000, spent over two years, last Jan 1 to Dec. 31 2010. So it's a total possible credit, not just a deduction, of 1500.

There are some things for which this maximum doesn't apply but they are big things, like windmills.

So you don't have to spend 5000 on your furnace or any one thing, but you do have to meet increased efficiency requirements.

Other things you can buy is AC, insulation for your attic, better windows, water heater I think, and a new roof (though I didn't see anything listed about how that would be more efficient than your old one, so don't just buy a new roof and hope.)

Things not included were iirc the stove and the bed. (Well, the stove is all I can recall, but the sentence was already in the plural)

I don't think the pool pump is included, but maybe you can find different.

[mm]

Sure, so it's not more expensive for low usage when I have a propane furnace too, right?

That'll be easy I think. The gas will come in for the furnace anyhow and a branch will go across the unfinished basement ceiling** and up through the floor behind the stove.

**Is it still a "ceiling" if it's unfinished, just floor joists with the floor upstairs above that?

[Oren]

My power company advocates newer pool pump motors. Something about energy efficient dual speed - super duper doohickeys. That's a job for later as my present pump is only a few years old.

In the desert here, HVAC is most costly ( Summer ) and mine is 12 years old.

[Lp1331 1p1331]

Not sure exactly what you mean about the "low usage" questions. Most propane companies will only deliver 100 gallon minimum. The tanks have a guage, so you just keep an eye on it and call for a delivery when it gets down to whatever level you choose to let it-- no difference from gassing up your car really, except they have to come to you instead of the other way around, and since they do, they have to sell you enough at a time to make it worthwhile to do so. I heard about contracts with oil companies where you can "lock in" at a certain price for a season(?) or a year or whatever. I have never heard of such a thing with propane, but they may well exist, especially in other areas than mine. As with just about anything, the price usually goes up when demands also does, so most people --those with some foresight--will try to fill up at the very end of summer just before any increases, and they can start the heating season with a full tank. I have heard of companies that will deliver less than 100 gallons to people who cannot afford 100 at one time-- but the crazy thing about that is they charge a lot more per gallon, so the customers are probably paying for about 80 gal and getting 50. Makes as much sense as rentiing furniture, and getting payday loans. BTW, the delivery trucks have a meter and they put your receipt in the meter and it stamps it with the exact gallons dispensed. I believe the oil trucks do the exact same thing. Larry

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Also one can rent big stationary tank if wished, and LPG has summer and winter blend like gasoline. In my house and cabin everything is on NG, furnace, BBQ, hot water tank, etc. Right now the price is ~4.00 CAD/GigaJoule. Elecricity is locked in at 7cents CAD/KWh for next 5 years. If price goes down I can cancel the deal with 3 month notice. I can lock in NG price if it tries to go up too much.

[mm]

I don't know either. :) George used the term.

BTW,

The oil companies here do, but it's a carbon and I find it hard to read. I don't think they are cheating me.

[hallerb]

I heard the suppliers can put a cell phone like device on remote devices.

When they get low or malfunction they phone home for help.

Lots of vending machines already do this

[mm]

Where I used to work, the phone bill was too high. There were a lot of long distance calls being made. But there were probably 100's of extensions. So they bought software that kept track of every call or maybe just every long distance call and what extensnion it came from.

It turned out that the soda pop machine would call when it was running low on cups or sodie pop, and the number was in the next area code, maybe 20 miles away, and the machine would call over and over again, all day long and all night long.

The computer at the other end probably ignored repeat calls.