Propane vs. natural gas heat (Cookeville: appliances, how much, house) - Tennessee (TN) - City-Data Forum

frbenson · 01-03-2007, 04:03 PM

I'm getting close to buying a small retirement home in the greater Cookeville area. All of the properties I'm considering are in rural areas and have either natural gas or propane gas heating systems. (Two also have woodburning fireplaces.) Some friends are strongly advising me not to buy a home relying on propane gas for heat - none, however, have owned a home that was heated with propane. Any feedback from readers with first-hand knowldege of the propane vs. natural gas issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Frank

maggiekate · 01-03-2007, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frbenson

I'm getting close to buying a small retirement home in the greater Cookeville area. All of the properties I'm considering are in rural areas and have either natural gas or propane gas heating systems. (Two also have woodburning fireplaces.) Some friends are strongly advising me not to buy a home relying on propane gas for heat - none, however, have owned a home that was heated with propane. Any feedback from readers with first-hand knowldege of the propane vs. natural gas issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Frank

hi I had natural gas in MA and in Florida have propane gas. I think that the propane gas runs a bit cheaper.In Florida we have heat pumps. I frankly can not tell the difference.

wellkids · 01-03-2007, 06:17 PM

I have never personally had propane gas but I sold a home last year that the seller custom built and chose to heat with propane gas. He said it was cheaper than natural gas and very easy to maintain. He had a propane company that kept his tank checked regularly and made sure the tank had adequate propane levels for the upcoming month. He never ran short on propane. I know their home was always warm in the winter months when I would visit.

MoMark · 01-03-2007, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frbenson

I'm getting close to buying a small retirement home in the greater Cookeville area. All of the properties I'm considering are in rural areas and have either natural gas or propane gas heating systems. (Two also have woodburning fireplaces.) Some friends are strongly advising me not to buy a home relying on propane gas for heat - none, however, have owned a home that was heated with propane. Any feedback from readers with first-hand knowldege of the propane vs. natural gas issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Frank

I live in southwest Missouri and I live out in the country and my heating is provided by propane. I love it!
My home is 2301 sq. ft., relatively new having been built in 1993 and the back of the house is mostly windows from the breakfast room, through the living room then into the Master bedroom and I have curtains/sheers only in the dining room which faces the sidewalk in front leading from the driveway to the front porch for privacy. And the house faces north, so all those windows get southern sun exposure in the winter which helps heat the house during the day. But at night, it cools off pretty fast as there are no insulating curtains. I prefer unencumbered windows as I live in the middle of acreage and privacy is not an issue.
I get filled twice a year and have been asked not to allow it to fall below 20%full by the supplier. The first fillup this winter happened in the first week of December during a big cold wave and it cost me about $550 to fill up. The next one will be in about Mid to late March and cost about $350 as I won't use all that propane. It heats my water and provides the fuel for my heating. The propane company has a schedule to come by and checks the supply themselves and if it needs filling, will automatically do it and bill me if I'm not home. They are very good.
It's very efficient and much cheaper than natural gas.
A friend of mine has natural gas and a lot of the heat was getting sucked up the flues of his three fireplace chimneys. His bill last Feb. was over $700. Of course, had it been propane, he'd have used more of it as well, but the price of propane stays pretty constant while natural gas soared.
The rest of my house is all electric, including all the appliances in the kitchen and my laundry facilities. My highest power bill ran $94 last August, though my average is around $48 a month.
I had never had propane before buying my home either and I'd always thought of it like camping fuel...
However, now I'm very happy to have it and it's cheaper to heat my house with it overall. Plus, I know what my quantity is at any one time because I can walk up to the tank, pull open the cover, and see for myself how much propane is in the tank on the meter. I have control over my expenses.
Personally, I think your friends don't know what they're talking about. I love it and now that I've used it through last winter, through the summer, and into this winter, I'm very happy with it. I think you'd be too.

hiknapster · 01-03-2007, 06:46 PM

Well, we have the TVA in Tennessee. Our electric bill runs anywhere from $50 to $150 a month. That includes power, heat and air!

God Bless the TVA!

joee · 01-03-2007, 08:35 PM

Interesting, i was allways under the impression that natural gas was the cheapest route to go vs. propane but mayby not.

with tn being mostly tva & dirt cheap electric i wonder how many have totally electic homes vs. gas.

that would be a good thread to start doing a poll but i haven't the foggiest idea how to set up a poll.

rescue1 · 01-03-2007, 08:36 PM

Had propane 5 years ago, switched to natural. Now natural is 5 times higher. Propane is 2 times. Electric is cheeped just not as good. Welcome to Cookeville.

frbenson · 01-04-2007, 01:28 PM

Thanks everyone for the responses. It appears that propane heat isn't so bad after all. Hiknapster raised a good point, however, when he noted that air conditioning expenses would be in addition to the cost of the gas....don't know why I didn't think of that myself. Still, I may have to bite the bullet and settle on a home with propane, as none of the homes I'm considering have electric central heat and air...possibly because they're older homes, in rural areas, with a bit of acreage, and all under 90K. Rescue1 noted that electric is cheaper but not as good, and I wonder if he might be right...at least there would be heat during power outages - as well as hot water and a stove to cook on. (If the home I end up buying doesn't have a gas water heater and gas stove, I would convert.)

Thanks again to all who responded. Any additional comments would be appreciated.

Frank

joee · 01-04-2007, 03:21 PM

well you still have to keep in mind as with some rural areas you loose power often, so even with gas your not going to have heat nor be able to use your gas oven, top burners yes but no oven.

so then your going to need a seperate power source such as generator to supply the power to your furnace if it's gas for the electrical part of it, an electric furnace would require a fairly big generator hooked inline with it's own seperate breaker box in addition to your main breaker box.

hiknapster · 01-04-2007, 05:02 PM

Well, those are good points; when the electricity goes out, we are out of luck, for awhile, anyway. Right now, it really doesn't matter, since we are just renters, and the cheap bill is great. These will be considerations when we purchase.

Quote:

Originally Posted by frbenson

Hiknapster raised a good point, however, when he noted that air conditioning expenses would be in addition to the cost of the gas....don't know why I didn't think of that myself.

Frank

Thanks, Frank, but...

I'm female!

Heidi