Use Of Propane

naturenut

I have a friend that recently built a new house and used propane. He moved in on the 28TH of November and has since refilled his 400L tank twice. He is asking me if I know if that sounds reasonable and I seem to think it does not. What do you think? $700 worth of propane in about 30 days? Its a 1850 sq.ft. bungalow with high effiency zero clearance fireplace, and appliances, I think he has a cooktop, plus maybe his hot water tank. In Ontario Canada.

oldgoat

From what a friend of mine has said I would think it is way out of line. Have they tested for any leaks in the lines or do they keep the place heated to 80 deagrees or something like that? I would think that the place is well insulated and sealed.

Trueheat

If he's getting his domestic hot water from it and running his fireplace it sounds about right.
Propane is expensive to heat with.
I'm assuming he still has some gas left in his 2nd tank

naturenut

I do not believe he has a second tank. I think they had to go without until they got it filled. I do not use propane and wasn't sure how expensive it is I would have thought it was competitive with others. I guess its to late now. Do you have any suggestions if we wanted an alternative? I think it is probably too late. Thnaks for your thoughts.

Bestheating

Bear with me, as I live in Michigan. I tried to figure my heat loss calculations for that size house and convert it to Litres bought with Canadian dollars. If it's any concillation, I had a customer who used 3000.00 American to heat his 2400 square feet last year. He wants to sell his house and live in a motorhome now. Says it would cost less and there is no lawn to mow.
With the calculations I did, it looks like you might be closer to average than you might think. Your friend would not be the first to need blood pressure medication when the got their LP bill. I'm betting your fuel prices have skyrocketed like ours and you will need more of a case history before making a decision.
Remember that most fireplaces are not as a 90% furnace at heating. They actually draw heat out of the home through the flue and the fireplace will run as much as if you did not use the fireplace. If your friend has an 80% furnace and is burning LP, he should consider burning wood or rolled up money as an alternative.
Program the thermostat, check for energy leaks, insulation and such. Even on new houses, it is common to see the bond plate not insulated for some reason. Good luck!
Larry

Trueheat

Is the fireplace his main source of heat?

naturenut

No. He has a forced air system as well. He says he has been keeping the thermostat set for 70. Other than his wife using the oven over the holidays and occasionally using the fireplace he said he thought he was conserving. He said it was $0.739 a litre, when they filled it up the other day.

Trueheat

He used a little over 250 us / gal.
Sounds about right.
Out of curiosity,, what is the price of #1 and #2 heating oil up there?

TimNJ

Heat, HW, cooking, and dryer. That isn't bad for a month quantity wise. I am in NJ and as soon as Katrina hit I called my propane company and had them fill the tank (500gal). It was a little over $2.10us gal back then. I still have 1/2 tank and will stall off as long as possible to refill. I only use it for HW and 1/2 my heating (second floor HWBB). I use a TARM wood boiler for my first floor radiant.

dacusvillegirl

I do not recommend for any one to use Propane to heat and run every appliance in a house. Propane is normally used for a fireplace or as back up heat in place of heat strips. I recommend he get on Natural Gas or purchase a Heat Pump.