[cmartin]

Recent propane shortage also plays into it. I called for refill prices and was told I was down on the list since it's not my primary fuel. Huh? Another thing to consider is who owns the tank. Rent the tank and you are locked into the supplier, they have you over a barrel.

I've tried to wean off oil in favor of wood. I would gladly fill the oil tank before I went for propane heat. When I looked into a more efficient oil burner I found it didnt make sense, similar to VG's point in tankless water. The spendy efficient burner was less reliable and it's real oil savings was minimal compared to a tuned up decent/good burner. Plus, if/when the new burner needs work the tech doesnt have parts on his truck like he does for my old/common burner.

Oil and propane prices are very similar right now and as you pointed out, oil has more btus so propane cost is significantly higher again.

[Cliff Claven]

buried oil tanks are a disaster waiting to happen.

if you want clean and efficient, go solar. put in a good-sized solar generation field, use tax write off to pay for a good part of it, and then sell power into the grid for the next 20 years. with electric vehicles replacing internal combustion dinosaurs over the next quarter century, our nation needs at least twice its current generation capacity to handle what is coming--you could help!

[roundel]

Originally Posted by Cliff Claven

if you want clean and efficient, go solar.

Cliffy, I want to go cheap. I live in the woods on about an acre. Solar or ground loop are not feasible for our situation.

Here is a nice quote I found:

Comparing propane vs. heating oil.

You can calculate a BTU's per dollar of each to get an apples to apples comparison. BTU's X efficiency of the system / cost per gallon = BTU's per dollar.

Using the BTUs from the EIA (Energy Information Administration):138,690 BTUs per gallon for heating oil and 91,333 BTUs per gallon for propane.

Efficiencies: Assume 85% for heating oil and 94% for propane

Cost per gallon: Assume September, 2011 averages in Maine. Heating oil $3.65 and propane $2.99

Heating Oil BTUs per dollar: 138,690 BTUs X .85 efficiency / $3.65 = 32,298 BTUs per dollar

Propane BTUs per dollar: 91,333 X .94 efficiency / $2.99 = 28,713 BTUs per dollar.

Even though the price of propane is much less than heating oil, the difference BTUs lead to a lower BTUs per dollar and means it costs more to heat your home with propane. Of course, this will vary depending upon where you are and what price you pay for heating oil and propane. However, there are other factors to consider such as annual maintenance costs. Propane burns cleaner so there is less maintenance costs. And with propane there are no concerns over heating oil leaks and clean up.

[Potomac-Greg]

We went geothermal heat pump and have been very happy with it. It took two years before we could get MD to recognize the tax preferences. There's a side benefit to geothermal that doesn't get mentioned enough. There's no external compressor for the A/C so much less noise and no need to hide a noisy compressor.

They do cite a 20 year life for the ground loops, which is a little disappointing.

Oil heat is a tough sell these days. It's messy, dirty and potentially an environmental and legal headache.

[trytryagain]

Propane is not always trouble free. This occurred a few hundred yards away from our place in WV.

http://www.dnronline.com/article/new...n_mathias_w_va

[roundel]

Originally Posted by Potomac-Greg

Oil heat is a tough sell these days. It's messy, dirty and potentially an environmental and legal headache.

With an above ground tank, what is the legal risk? Messy? I have had it for 14 years and even when I had to re-prime the pump, I spilled less than a cup into a plastic container and poured that back into the tank.

Ground loop appears to cost about 5x the initial cost of a new oil or propane system. At my usage of <$2,000 a year, that would take a very long time to recoup excluding present value of future funds. They seem to make more sense with larger houses.

[roundel]

So here we have a chart comparing oil (blue) vs propane (tan). At the worst time for comparing oil in 2014, propane cost 77% the price of oil. $4.048/gallon oil vs $3.146/gallon propane. I compared the BTUs of each type of furnace and factored in the frequently quoted efficiencies of each - 87% oil vs 94% propane. Even with the added efficiency of propane, the BTU output per dollar for propane was only 72% of oil.

Unless my logic is flawed, which is possible, it appears that at no point was burning propane producing more BTUs per dollar.

[BlackTalon]

Go oil with a solar back-up (i.e., if you lose heat, hang out in front of whichever windows have sunlight streaming in).

[roundel]

I may just eat my hat. The Mrs is claiming she found propane at $1.35/ gallon. I'd have to find oil at $1.87 to compare per BTU. My previous supplier is at $3.19 per gallon for oil. Its like the wild West out there folks.

[Vicegrip]

Originally Posted by BlackTalon

Go oil with a solar back-up (i.e., if you lose heat, hang out in front of whichever windows have sunlight streaming in).

Kidding aside. Solar hot water is easy and cheap with a good ROI