Enjoy Better Living with Propane

People who want to save energy, protect the environment and make their homes more comfortable are discovering propane because it’s an efficient, versatile and clean-burning fuel. Here are just some of the many ways propane makes your life easier.

All the Hot Water You Want

A propane water heater will heat your water more efficiently than an electric water heater.

If your home and family require lots of hot water, you’ll be thrilled with the options that are available to you with propane water heating. Not only will you get all the hot water you need, you’ll get it for much less than if you heated your water with electricity. You can save even more with a high-efficiency tankless propane water heater.

FAST FACT: Tankless water heaters can be mounted on walls, and are ideal in homes where space is limited.

Make sure your stove has an automatic electric ignition system.

Cook like a pro. If you love to cook, you will love a gas stove. Gas ovens give you much better temperature control and heat distribution than electric stoves. In addition, gas cooking appliances— cooktops, ranges and ovens—are available in the latest styles, including commercial-grade stainless steel.

FAST FACT: The most efficient stoves have an automatic, electric ignition system, which saves propane because the pilot light is not burning continuously. (Tip: Keep range-top burners and reflectors clean; they’ll reflect heat better and save energy.)

In the event of an extended power outage, a propane generator can power your home for days.

When the lights go out, yours will stay on. With its own on-site fuel supply, a propane generator gives you plenty of fuel to weather power outages until utility trucks can get to your neighborhood. Having emergency power provides peace of mind, especially when a winter storm is forecast.

FAST FACT: A 250-gallon propane tank and a 7-kilowatt standby generator can provide enough electricity to power your home for five days.

Bask in ambiance. With a propane fireplace, there’s more heat without the work and fuss. Light your fire with the flip of a switch and then enjoy the incredible atmosphere you get with today’s log sets and realistic flames.

FAST FACT: Propane gas fireplaces can produce twice as much heat as wood-burning fireplaces at about a third of the cost. And there’s no soot, ash or smoke.

Cutting-edge Solutions

Propane is getting better every day! Some recent improvements in propane equipment include these:

  • Micro-combined heat and power (micro-CHP) technology makes it possible to combine a furnace with a generator, which heats the home and makes electricity. When operated 4,000 hours a year, this hybrid system can produce nearly 5,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which not only saves money but reduces greenhouse gases by about 6,000 pounds per year.
  • High-efficiency heat pumps can be powered by an engine fueled by propane, allowing you to efficiently heat and cool multiple zones in a home.

Propane by the Numbers

  • 11 billion Number of gallons of propane consumed each year in the U.S.
  • 50 million Number of people in the U.S. who use propane every day.
  • 5-10 Number of years a propane furnace can outlast an average electric heat pump.
  • 35,000 Number of pounds of greenhouse gases that could be eliminated in 10 years for every propane tankless water heater that replaces an electric water heater.

How Much Can We Save by Conserving

Most of the approximately 100 million homes in the U.S. waste a lot of energy because of factors like poor insulation and outdated heating equipment. If two million propane-heated homes made major energy efficiency improvements, the savings would be enormous.

1 billion gallons of propane are saved each year by improving energy efficiency in two million homes. $75 billion energy dollars are saved in those two million homes over 25 years.

Propane: a Better Choice than Electricity

When you stop to think about it, it’s really amazing how many household appliances that run on electricity can also run on propane—your furnace, stove, clothes dryer, water heater. Even better, the cost of running these propane appliances is much lower than with their electric counterparts. That’s because propane is a more efficient fuel.

Besides giving you more for your money, propane also has a much lower environmental impact than electricity.

Propane gives you more for your money. Propane and electricity are measured in different units (gallons, kilowatt hours). To compare prices, you must look at the cost for each to produce an equal amount of heat. A common method, used here, compares dollars (propane’s $24.66 vs. electricity’s $33.25) per million Btu’s (a standard measure of heat).

Efficiency: The Key to Home Heating

Many people are taking a closer look at the energy efficiency of their homes so they can conserve fuel and lower their heating costs. Because of great advances in technology, today’s high-efficiency heating systems use substantially less fuel than older models. That’s why a new system can reduce your annual heating bills by 30%.

With a new propane heating system, you’ll get:

  • more heat from less fuel
  • lower heating bills
  • fewer breakdowns
  • environmentally-friendly warmth