$399.13 for 250 gallons of propane.

[youthere]

That's what I just paid. We have an outdoor woodburner we installed it to supplement our furnace (propane) but we found it works so well that our furnace rarely kicks on in the winter (only on the really REALLY bitter cold days). The last time we filled our propane tank was in August of 2003. Well, we had to get some today (tank was at 5%) so I called for a minimum fill (250 gall.) and it cost me $399.13!! ARRRGH! I don't know how anyone who relys on fuel oil or propane as their only source of heat is going to manage this year. It's heartbreaking. Our propane driver told me its going to get MUCH worse.
(I originally posted this as a response to another thread)

[MadHound]

1. I'm there with you

We did our pre-buy for the winter right after Katrina, and it ran 1.59/gal. We're heating with all propane this winter, but we'll have an external wood stove in place and stoked by next winter.

[SpiralHawk]

3. I got a wood stove last Saturday

at Lowe's for $370. Supposed to heat 1,000 square feet. I have it sittting right next to the - gulp - propane heater hooked to the big tank outside.

If worst comes to worst, I will shut down the propane, and fire up the wood stove. Lots of wood around here for the hauling and chopping -- and I will go right to it rather than fork over all my hard earned money to the Oil and Gas Republican Robber Barons.

[Arkansas Democrat]

2. We prepaid

for 260 gallons at last year's price of $1.59 a gallon and it cost us $442.34 for that and then the man who runs our route told us that they had figured it wrong and that we'd better get our tank filled up one more time before we started taking fuel from our pre-pay and it cost us $325.60 for 170 gallon!

That's the prices here in Arkansas as of September 13.

[dweller]

4. you paid $1.59/gal ...

i paid $1.89 for the same product about 3 weeks ago. Luckily i only have a 100gal tank.
How much did you pay last year?

dp

[youthere]

5. I didn't buy any propane last year,

but the year before I KNOW we paid less than $1/ gal.

[MadHound]

8. $1.19/gal last year.

Funny thing was, I called in for the prebuy this year the Tuesday after Katrina hit. The gas co. wasn't doing anymore pre-guys until they sorted out what Katrina would do to the prices. I asked the lady how much the pre-buy price was before Katrina hit. $1.34. Three days later they jacked the price by a quarter a gallon:grr: That is when my wife and I decided to make buying a woodstove a high priority, we're getting to the point where we just can't affor that kind of price anymore. Luckily we live on a small farm that has eight acres of woods with aprox three years worth of dead and downed trees on it.

[dweller]

9. my last purchase was late winter Jan/Feb 05

and it was $1.59/g. I was suprised it only went to $1.89 so far. Of course, it's going to go up, so will kill me (freeze me) sooner or later.

dp

[durablend]

6. Hate to be the lone dissent

But I'd take that price for 250 gallons of propane in a SECOND (since that'd take care of around 2/3 of our annual use).

It's more in the range of $2.50/gallon around here and that was just during a NORMAL year (don't know about this year). I don't recall ever paying "only" $1.59 a gallon and we've lived here for over 10 years.

[youthere]

7. Where is "Here"?

[durablend]

10. South central Pennsylvania

I just checked whatever bills I still have...NEVER has it been that cheap. I'd jump on that price if my propane company had offered it (that'd be along with the deed to a certain bridge they'd throw in)

[youthere]

12. Holy moses!

That is expensive! I know I shouldn't complain, considering that my heating bill for the last year (and probably the next one) will only be about $400 (because we likely won't have to get anymore for another year or so) but damn! How the hell are people going to afford to heat their homes this year? With the raise in heating, the increase in gasoline, and groceries...I just don't know how people are going to make it this year.

[QC]

22. Where in PA?

I used to live in New Bloomfield, where I spent a fairly unhappy year teaching "problem kids."

[Debi]

11. We use propane and go through about 250 about every 4 to 6 weeks

in the winter. It's going to be tough this year!

[youthere]

13. It's going to be tough with our cold windy Iowa winters too...

although we HAVE had it pretty mild the last couple of years.

[Throckmorton]

14. Try this on for size,

I only use propane to run my range, it was just filled, and to 28.5 gallons, the bill $149.69 or 5.25 a gallon.

[youthere]

15. .

:wow:

[Throckmorton]

19. I only need gas once a year,

but this bill use to be about $50, and has been rising like a rocket for the last 3 years.

[wuushew]

16. If possible invest in a natural gas furnace

you are getting raped on propane. Current future prices on natural gas are $14+ per million BTU.

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. You get it cheaper than the US average

http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/current/txt/wfrm.txt

US average: $1.905 per gallon. Iowa average: $1.529 (so you're getting it at a slightly higher price than your state average).

But 1 gallon of propane gets you 91000 Btu, and natural gas gets you just over a million Btu per thousand cubic feet, and residential costs are about $4 more than the wholesale cost for a thousand cubic feet; so if natural gas futures are $14 for 1 million Btu as reported above, that will be about $18 for 1 million Btu. At $1.59 for a gallon of propane, that's about $17.50 for a million Btu; so propane is still cheaper (just).

[Madrone]

18. Count your blessings.

278 gallons of the CHEAP oil (purchased before prices started going up) cost me $750. I'd rather pay for propane!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

20. Need some wood?

[youthere]

21. .

:spray: