Jeannie in NJ Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 we currently have baseboard electric, never again will we have that. Most of the houses we are looking at have natural gas. However, the further out in the country we look at, there is not natural gas hookups so the houses have either propane or oil. I have heard that both are much more expensive than natural gas. Is this correct? Of course, the advantage is that the further out we would go, we could get a lot more land for a lot less money (the further away from the shore, at least where we are looking, the less expensive the houses are.). so pros and cons of propane or oil? we will also probably be getting a wood stove to help with heating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 They are both more expensive, the only bonus is with oil if your in a real pinch you can use off road diesel. My parents have had both plus a wood stove. I would see who is able to deliver each and what thier policies are as far as emergency delivery, leaks, tank rentals and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acadie Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Prices vary by region of the country. But even in areas where oil once was the fuel of choice, many people are switching their homes over to natural gas because prices have dropped so dramatically. I think on the east coast you'll still see a good number of homes with oil heat. Where I live, very few homes were built with oil heat because natural gas from Canada was always easier to get and cheaper than oil. No idea about propane! Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Propane (where we are) fluctuates with gasoline prices. It can be sky high one winter season and then go down to a more reasonable level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 We installed a wood-pellet furnace that hooks into our existing forced-hot-air system. We kept our oil as a back-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 We have propane. Right now natural gas is cheaper, and if it didn't cost me to switch I probably would do it. For awhile, propane was cheaper, then it was close to the same, but now, with all of the fraking, natural gas is a lot cheaper. Propane is more efficient (have no idea why) but even with that, natural gas is cheaper for now. Oil is the most expensive option out of the 3, and it's way more than propane, for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsJewelsRae Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 We have no natural gas hook ups this far out in the country, we have an oil/wood burning furnace. The oil is so so expensive we've been using the wood burning side of the furnace exclusively- this means we have NO HEAT if we do not get up in the chilly morning and restart a fire, or get home late at night after being gone all day and the house is like 56 and its too cold to sleep. It is a pain, and it's also smokey which I hate. To fill the oil tank costs about $800 and we're lucky if it lasts a month- I wish I were kidding. It's very inefficient, plus the oil truck doesn't make deliveries of less than $500 so if you're low on cash you're screwed- and cold! ;) It is one of our top reasons for needing to move, but that's still 2-3 years down the road. Our friends wonder why we don't want to go camping for vacation! They live in the big city- we live on a farm. Raccoons on our property are not just cute critters, they're predators that need to be shot or they eat our chickens, our ancient farmhouse is like a sieve so it's drafty, dusty, has lots of spiders, trouble with mice every fall, we don't go for walks after dark due to coyote fears in the bush out back, and to top it all off we have to build a fire not to roast marshmellows and wieners but to keep from freezing to death here in Canada just like the "olden days"! ;) So if we go on vacation I want to go someplace where I don't have to build a fire to get warm, battle more bugs, worry about bears, and sleep on the ground- we have comfy beds in our farmhouse and no bears, but camping is not a novelty to us, it's just a little too much like home to be considered "getting away from it all". When I go on vacation I want amenities, and above all- heat at the push of a button! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kim.4dogs Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 We had natural gas at our last house, and we have propane now. Natural gas was MUCH cheaper. We can't heat our house very well on just propane because it's just too expensive. We have a wood stove that is great, but it's a lot of work. I would love to have natural gas again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Another option for you might be an electric heat pump. We had one at our last house and you get heat and air conditioning all in one and the highest our bill ever went was about $170 and that was on a very cold Midwest winter month. And, the $170 included ALL electric. The only downside was that when it was REALLY cold (we're talking well below 0), the heat pump is less efficient and had to run on auxiliary which is more expensive. ETA: This was a 7 bedroom house, so it was big!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Also since you are in NJ where air pollution regulations are probably in effect, I would look into the laws about wood burning. In many locales with air pollution concerns, there are days when wood burning is not allowed. In some areas, it is certain months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myra Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 We have a propane furnace but we use a wood stove instead throughout the winter for heat. Unfortunately, the hot water is still running off of propane. Does anyone have any ideas on the cheapest way to heat the hot water.....right now it's about $150 a month of propane fuel. Gotta be a cheaper way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannie in NJ Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 wow, guess we will just stick with looking at houses with natural gas. One reason we want to move is to get rid of the $800 a month all electric bills in the winter. Everyone around here that has natural gas says that their combined electric and gas bills are about $200 a month at the most and it was just in our local paper that gas bills will be going down starting in Oct. We will just have to go not so far out and stay where there are gas hookups but we could still get a nice house with 3/4 wooded acre which is better than our 1/8 of an acre we have now. THe area we are looking at, all the houses are well and septic system so that will be something new for us also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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