# LP is $2.23/gal this winter vs. $1.33/gal last winter



## WiscWoody (Jan 15, 2014)

I called my LP is supplier just to check the price this year as a gauge to tell me if I should be burning more wood or not. It looks like I will try and keep the wood stove burning at all times this winter. I then can wait until prices have cooled some in the summer and fill my 500 gallon tank. But this means waking up at night to tend the stove and last year our winter dragged on until mid May.


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## velvetfoot (Jan 15, 2014)

Hellllooooo, it's $3.71/gal here!

http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/BusinessA...gy-Prices/Propane/Average-Propane-Prices.aspx


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## WiscWoody (Jan 15, 2014)

velvetfoot said:


> Hellllooooo, it's $3.71/gal here!
> 
> http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/BusinessA...gy-Prices/Propane/Average-Propane-Prices.aspx


Holy crap! So to fill a 500 gall tank that is low you could be looking at $1200+ thats gotta hurt! I only fill in the summer thank goodness! Last year I paid $1.19/gallon mid summer.


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## owingsia (Jan 16, 2014)

We are upwards of $4 here. Between 3-4 and as high as $4.35 this year.


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## WiscWoody (Jan 16, 2014)

owingsia said:


> We are upwards of $4 here. Between 3-4 and as high as $4.35 this year.


That's pretty nuts! I've never seen it go over $2.00 a gallon here but I used to use their prepay back before I had a wood stove so it might have gone that high but I never paid it.

I wander if wood prices will have any upwards pressure with the rise in other heating fuels?


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 16, 2014)

Seems odd that its going up with NG prices dirt cheap. Dont they make this stuff from the same wells?


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## WiscWoody (Jan 16, 2014)

I think that there are several ways to make LP petroleum is the main ingredient. And I also think that winter reserves largely dictates the price we all pay and it seems that there is a regional impact also.

Here in the Midwest the LP suppliers were saying early in the fall that the corn harvest had a higher moister content than normal and that there was another harvest very close in time to corn that needed to be dried also. And then the cold weather came into play drawing down reserves even more. So from what I gather if you heat primarily with LP and have deep pockets you'll stay nice and warm. If you can't afford a $1500 tank refill then you'll be bundling up!


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## bjr23 (Jan 22, 2014)

Gouging is Gouging.  We're looking at over a 100 percent increase for propane here in the PNW in less than 5 months. This is ridiculous. We have NG transmission line crossing thru our small home sites properties and cannot even get service and are stuck with propane. I'm about fed up with the whole diversify the energy source build-up. When I see all those expensive wind mills just adding to the electric grid being overloaded and no maintenance being done it just makes me sick.  bjr23


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## phantomblack (Jan 22, 2014)

Call your supplier again. Here in southern wisconsin one week ago LP was 2.49, I called this morning and it is 4.04 now.


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## WiscWoody (Jan 22, 2014)

phantomblack said:


> Call your supplier again. Here in southern wisconsin one week ago LP was 2.49, I called this morning and it is 4.04 now.


I believe it! They said the Midwest will have to jack up the price to attract more propane shipments to the area and that LP supplies are at record lows. I'm really liking my not-so-expensive ($599) Drolet Eastwood 1800 this winter and the free wood I put in it!


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## phantomblack (Jan 22, 2014)

hermancm said:


> I believe it! They said the Midwest will have to jack price up to attract more propane shipments to the area and that LP supplies are at record lows. I'm really liking my not-so-expensive ($599) Drolet Easwood 1800 this winter and the free wood I put in it!



Agreed, I was one that always gambled on contracting my LP in my life before wood. Now for the last 4 years I sit back and laugh while the OWB keeps my family nice and cozy.


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 22, 2014)

bjr23 said:


> Gouging is Gouging.  We're looking at over a 100 percent increase for propane here in the PNW in less than 5 months. This is ridiculous. We have NG transmission line crossing thru our small home sites properties and cannot even get service and are stuck with propane. I'm about fed up with the whole diversify the energy source build-up. When I see all those expensive wind mills just adding to the electric grid being overloaded and no maintenance being done it just makes me sick.  bjr23


All good reasons to get off the grid. Wood heat is the first step.


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## crossout (Jan 23, 2014)

omg prices are bad!! i am glad propane is included in my rent!! they told me before they pay 200 a month to propane guys i hope they really pre bought  a lot of it cause i know i am burning almost 12 gals a day in this old farm house at least the furnace is at 97% afue


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## WiscWoody (Jan 24, 2014)

crossout said:


> omg prices are bad!! i am glad propane is included in my rent!! they told me before they pay 200 a month to propane guys i hope they really pre bought  a lot of it cause i know i am burning almost 12 gals a day in this old farm house at least the furnace is at 97% afue


If they didn't prepay and you are using that much LP it would cost $1440 a month at the prices they are getting now. Even if it was less than 12 gallons a day, a cold month can easily cost a cool grand. Ouch! When your lease expires you might see a increase in your rent but if it was me I wouldn't pass all of it on to the tenant. Sometimes you have to roll with the punches...


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## aimee750 (Jan 27, 2014)

$5.35/gal here today, I am waiting another week to fill, hoping the price goes down since they have now started trucking it in from Texas.


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## WiscWoody (Jan 27, 2014)

They're talking on sheltering some up here soon from lack of LPG. And more of the same arctic temperatures with today's high at -9F and tonight's low to be -30F.


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 27, 2014)

All these mild winters recently have lulled us into thinking an old fashioned "real" winter was no longer possible. Utilities probably have some excess storage capacity but not to the extent of this kind of weather. Ill bet after this year you will see some folks better prepared for next time. Not pretty letting your whole house freeze up.


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## Bioburner (Jan 27, 2014)

News said probably no relief of prices till a good warm spell or spring. Some recorded prices of close to $6, I repeat $6. I did a search for decent pellet stoves on Craigslist and most were gone and so were the better suppliers of pellets. Glad I can burn corn at $140 per ton.


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## WiscWoody (Jan 27, 2014)

The comments on this article are a real laugh! one saying that it cost more to heat with propane than any other fuel including non heat pump electric even when it was at its low prices. I wander why 14 million homes use it for their primary heating fuel then? another comment says the shortage is due to the Keystone pipeline not being approved by the President... hmm... and there is over 300 such messages. I read a few and that was enough for me!

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/201...-worsens-propane-shortage-across-midwest?lite


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## aimee750 (Jan 28, 2014)

Glad I waited, tomorrow the truck is coming here with LP @$3.67/gal.  Can only get 150 gals at a time right now they said, which is fine by me at that price anyway!


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## WiscWoody (Jan 28, 2014)

aimee750 said:


> Glad I waited, tomorrow the truck is coming here with LP @$3.67/gal.  Can only get 150 gals at a time right now they said, which is fine by me at that price anyway!


That is good news and hopefully the relaxing of trucking regulations and conservation is helping the situation. And hi to all in Mason City, my birthplace. My parents were from Manly and Kensett and I can remember cruising up and down Federal Ave as a kid before I could drive with a pal. Back when teens cruised their rods on the loops of towns on the Friday nights.


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## farmboy05 (Jan 31, 2014)

$5/gal here in Iowa. Going to install a wood stove here soon for the first time. Wanted to do it for a while, not just because of recent price increase, but the recent price increase has helped to reinforce my decision to put in a wood stove. Luckily, I contracted my LP in summer. Filled my 500 gal tank a couple days ago for $1.38/gal with gallons left on my contract


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## peakbagger (Jan 31, 2014)

Watch the futures charts. Looks to me ont eh 25 year chart that there is a long term trend increase but definitely 2 year intermediate swings.

http://www.barchart.com/chart.php?s...0&g=1&p=MN&d=X&qb=1&style=technical&template=

Prices go up, the producers rush to cash in on the high prices, they flood the market, prices go down, producers pull out of the market and then it repeats itself.

 Every so often Goldman Sachs (or some other financial too big to fail) figures out a way to game the market to keep supplies tight, then make a pile of cash and then disappear when they get caught. 

Granted heating oil has its issues but I can store 550 gallons which covers a years use and like many on Hearth I have a year plus worth of wood. No matter what fuel someone uses unless they have a long term contract, they inevitably are going to get caught on the high side of the swings and wont complain when the trough hits.


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