Make equal monthly payments with our budget plan. Click here to learn more.
Predicting how much propane you’ll use this summer is tricky. There are so many variables that come into play. That’s especially true if you have several propane appliances like water heaters, ranges, and clothes dryers. Throw in the likelihood of staying home more this summer, and you may be surprised at how much your propane bill could go up.
That increase may even cause you to think you may have a propane leak. If you suspect a propane leak, have your system tested immediately. And if you don’t have propane leak detectors installed, we strongly recommend that you do. If you smell the distinct rotten-egg odor of propane, get everyone (including the pets) out of the house immediately and follow all propane safety instructions.
But a leak is not the likely cause of that increase in your propane usage (and your propane bill) is probably not being caused by a leak after all. In fact, it’s likely you underestimated just how much propane you and your family have been using.
If you don’t realize how much propane you’re using, you risk running low on propane and could have a run-out. That’s an expensive hassle, between emergency delivery and the costs of having a mandated pressure test and having your propane appliance pilots re-lit.
Our Automatic Delivery option lets you avoid that worry. We’ll keep an eye on your propane usage, and factor that along with the current weather conditions to accurately predict when you’ll need more propane and schedule a delivery to your home before you run low. Not only that, Automatic Delivery is a FREE service!
Your propane appliances are like all not running at 100% 24 hours a day. To make this more in line with average propane users, we’ve set up an example which estimates propane usage for running them at 25% and 50% capacity for 2 to 6 hours per day.
The estimate for potential propane use can vary a great deal, between 1.2 and 7.2 gallons a day. If you’re home more this summer, more hot showers, more laundry, more running of the dishwasher, and more cooking on your propane range can raise your propane usage way more than you’d think. Here’s an example of that:
For a gas water heater, clothes dryer, and range run at 25% capacity for 2 hours a day:
220,000 BTU/hours (the total for all the appliances) ÷ 91,547 BTU/gallon of propane = 2.4 gallons per hour
2.4 gallons x .25 (25% capacity) = .6 gallons per hour
.6 gallons x 2 hours = 1.2 gallons
This number can then be used to calculate greater use of propane appliances:
If you have a propane pool heater (at 425,000 BTU/hour) that operates for one hour a day at 75% capacity, which adds about 3.5 gallons to your daily usage:
425,000 BTU/hour ÷ 91,547 = 4.64 gallons/hour
4.65 x .75 = 3.48 gallons
Pool heaters use a lot of gas. Use a swimming pool cover to retain as much of the pool’s heat as possible.
A propane whole house backup generator makes estimates a little harder. That’s because you don’t know when or if you’ll be using it in a power outage, or for how long. Keep track of any time your propane whole house generator is in use so you’ll be ready for any spikes in your propane delivery bills.
Know the size of your propane tank when doing your estimates. That will help you have a better idea of just how much propane you have left.
With our Automatic Delivery, you have peace of mind knowing your home will always have the propane it needs. Contact us to enroll FOR FREE, today!