Propane costs in central texas questions

[ken800]

I renovated an older house about 4 years ago that had propane cooking, heat, and water. The house was converted to ALL electric. I'm considering going back to propane but only for a tankless hot water heater. This would serve two purposes: The first would be unlimited hot water. We do a LOT of laundry as he have a special-needs kid that generates lots of clothing and bedding. The second would be having a source of propane in the winter should we have another extended outage. It has been 3 years with TWO major outages in my area. Once for 3 consecutive days and one for 2. I got 2 portable propane generators after the first one and they were quite handy on the second. I just don't like having to deal with a bunch of portable tanks. Having 300+ gallons on hand would be handy... So here are my basic questions:

What should I expect to pay to lease a propane tank (same company as propane delivery)?

Can you get one set up with a feeder line or adapter to run a portable genset (or even two) off of it or is that a no-no? What about portable propane heaters like the buddy heaters? I'm not going to spend a bunch on a huge generator and electrical work at the panel. I have a couple of 3200 inverters to keep a couple portable heaters and fridge going.

Thanks in advance!

[Old Goat1]

Don't lease a tank. Buy one then you can shop around for propane. Buy a used one that is still certified or has a few gallons in it. One that has full positive pressure.

[bboswell]

Propane costs in central texas questions

I agree with Goat, if you lease the tank then that company is the only one that can fill it and the propane cost will show that. Buy a tank and then you get to buy propane at a competitive rate.

I recently replaced a leased tank with an owned tank and my propane cost went down over 50%

[Old Goat1]

If youfind one have a wet valve installed. I fill my own bottles off the wet valve. No need to run to town for another bottle. Last wet valve cost me a $150 installed. Run the tank nearly empty and you will save the cost of pumping.

[waffles]

Find you a tank to buy, and then you can shop around for cheaper propane prices, I can also fill my smaller bottles off my big bottle.

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[dbaio1]

As said a few times buy your tank. I would strongly advise adding the option for gas/propane stove/oven while you are doing the install

[tps7742]

I live north of Lufkin and lease a 500 gallon for 70.00 dollars a year. But the guys above are correct on the advantages of having your own tank. There is one company out of nacogdoches that lowers their price per gallon in the summer but raises it much higher in the winter time. The one I use is consistent on their price. From my experiences now that I live rural and hearsay the price per gallon normally parallels regular gasoline prices very close. I am not in central Tx and can’t contribute to that end of it.

[RifleBowPistol]

Definitely buy a tank, not sure the best place around where you are, to get one. It's always best to buy propane, in the summer, or spring time. I used to live in a house, that used propane for the water heater and then there were three old gas heaters in the house, that I only used, if it was really cold. 100 gallons would last me a year. Once I got married, and had a daughter, the propane usage trippled. I figured out quickly, buy all the propane we needed in the summer, I had always bought my 100 gallons in the summer. The first time we ran out in the winter, and I had to pay winter prices, I was not happy.

You should be able to create an adaptor line to connect the tank to the generator, if they don't make them already.

[tps7742]

In my case I buy multiple times a year. That on demand hot water heater with circulating line we have burns the C3.

[PYBUCK]

When you set your tank at your house be sure to put it 10' from the house. Most propane companies will not fill it if it is next to the house. Some might, mine would not.

[PYBUCK]

Also get you some solid 2" cinder blocks to set it on so the bottom of the tank is not setting on the ground exposing it to corrosion.

[chaseh]

I'm in waco/Marlin. We Have Startex and I wouldn't use another company. Tank rental is 75/year. Tank purchase from them is 2500 for a certified fresh paint tank. I got a internal mounted tankless rinnai heater, but it does require some electricity. We will never have another home without propane everything.

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[Arrowsmith]

We lease our tank for $49.00 a year.

There are only two propane suppliers that service our area. The supplier we use (Hamilton Produce) has always had the best prices. We pay for our full year’s supply of propane in one upfront payment at a locked-in price. The current price is $2.07 a gallon. With the pre-buy program we get a .10 cent discount so we are paying $1.97 a gallon. We gambled on the price going up so we pre paid for $2000 @ $1.97. It has actually gone down a little. The current price here in Iowa is $1.93 a gallon.

We have a separate regulator for our portable generator. I rented a walk behind trencher and cut the trench. The propane company Teed into the main line and installed the low pressure regulator. I backfilled and compacted the trench. They would have done the trenching and backfill also, but I had some other trenching to do so I did that part myself and saved some $$$. It cost a little over $300 for the installation of the line and regulator.

I don't know why the propane is so expensive in Texas. The current price shows to be $2.91 a gallon.



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[ken800]

Thanks for all the feedback! I have induction cooking and I'm not sure I could ever give that up... I do like the idea of buying a tank. I'm not sure how many propane companies service my area so I will shop around for pricing before I commit.

I should add: Is there an APP like gas buddy to check propane prices? They are all over the place an very few post their price online.