Has winter been brutally cold or are you enjoying a relatively mild winter?
This is an important question when it comes to refilling your residential propane tank in the middle of the season.
If you use propane to heat your furnace and alternative heat sources, such as propane inserts, and it’s been an unusually warmer winter, chances are you haven’t burned much propane. But if temperatures are in the single or low double-digits and your furnace has been working hard, then of course your need for propane is much higher.
To avoid the catastrophe of running out of propane when you need it most, it’s easy to calculate how much propane you typically use and to arrange for proper home delivery services.
Let’s explore how to determine propane usage and how this formula can be of importance to help you maintain the needed levels in your storage tanks so you can keep Old Man Winter outside where he belongs.
Mid-Winter: Fill Your Propane Tank and Your Propane Needs
Perhaps the best way to save money and ensure that you have the proper amount of propane you need during the winter months is to pre-purchase your gas when prices are low (during the summer months).
In this case, your propane supplier will fill your tank according to your pre-paid plan until you have used up all pre-purchased gas. Then, of course, the market price will hit. Calculate how much propane you used for the past few seasons and average what you can expect to use for the upcoming winter.
When making your calculations, remember the 80% fill rule when it comes to propane tanks: propane expands due to temperature fluctuations, so storage tanks are filled only to 80% to allow for this expansion. So your 250-gallon tank holds 200 gallons of propane gas. That’s important to know when it comes to determining how much gas you’re starting with when you have a full tank.
While calculations vary depending on appliance use, square footage of home and other factors, here are some averages when it comes to monthly usage in gallons and type of appliance being used:
- Furnace: 80 gallons
- Propane fireplace: 16 gallons
- Hot Water Heater: 20 gallons
- Propane Stoves: 3 gallons
If it’s a very cold winter and you’re using your furnace twice as much as you did the previous year, then you’d double that figure to 160 gallons. And if a prolonged power outage had you using your propane fireplace for a heat source, then you need to factor that in as well when it comes to a mid-winter refuel.
The hardest part of determining future gas usage before winter sets in is that weather can, of course, be unpredictable. But it’s best to err on the side of caution: better over-calculating than running out of propane on a cold winter’s night and having to wait for an emergency refuel.
Count On Diversified Energy This Winter
If you live in North Carolina, in the Mount Joy, PA, area, in northern or southern Virginia, or northern South Carolina, make Diversified Energy your propane supplier.
Diversified serves more than 25,000 customers throughout these regions. The team provides home delivery services as well as installation and repairs of propane storage tanks, gas lines and products such as fireplace inserts, tankless water heaters, and propane stoves.
The company has eight service center locations in North Carolina and one in Mount Joy, PA. You can stop by one of these centers and meet a staff member who can assist you with any questions as well as show you product demonstrations in the showroom. Find out more details about automatic home delivery, storage tanks and more.
Get through the winter–and every season–with the professionals at Diversified Energy. They’ll never leave you in the cold!
