Your monthly Electric Bill

warminmn wrote:Why is propane so expensive in the NE USA? Its hard for me to imagine it being $3 gallon here. It is about $1.20/gallon right now here in Minnesota. Most winters its $1.40-$1.60/gallon. I only remember it being $2 one winter. I havent filled my tank in 8 years but do keep track of the cost.

My electric is more less the same cost as what I read here. I use about 300-350 KW a month and my bills are around $70, but I use more when its really cold to keep my well thawed with an electric heater. I have a monthly fee around $30 plus a KW charge that I think is 9 cents in the spring/fall/ winter and 10 1/2 cents in the summer.

That's VERY inexpensive propane compared to most of the USA not just the northeast.

It sure is! Must be a primary heating source in your area and subsidized somehow?

I've been seeing several electric utility companies touting the benefits of electric heat-storage heaters. These heaters use electricity at night to warm ceramic bricks which then radiate the heat during the day. Has anyone here had any experience with these devices?

What was old is new again. Electric thermal storage was popular in the 1970's. Read about another forum member's experience with it: Why is Axeman Andersen considered the Best?

Most of Propane is extracted from natural gas (with some propane also coming from oil refining), so with natural gas prices plumiting I would expect propane to follow nearly in lock step.

I just recently got propane for $1.74 /gal. in MD. Our church gets a discounted price, it was $1.50-something. The tanks are owned in both instances, not leased from the propane company and it makes about $1 per gallon difference in price because of that.

Other than natural gas in towns, propane is the main heating source in my area. it is farm country, cropland, that does demand a lot of propane for drying crops on most years but not this year as it was dry enough. (200 bushel per acre X thousands of acres to dry is a lot of propane) Tanks are either owned or rented here but the price isnt much more for rented, depends on who you rent from. I dont know of any subsidies on it but there could be.

Hopefully all of our energy costs including electric will go down with all the oil drilling in North Dakota and elsewhere. If it lowers natural gas it could lower electric, excluding greed of course

EarthWindandFire wrote:I've been seeing several electric utility companies touting the benefits of electric heat-storage heaters. These heaters use electricity at night to warm ceramic bricks which then radiate the heat during the day. Has anyone here had any experience with these devices?

I remember my father pushing these (and he did sucessfully) on his friends and family - he was no hypocrite, he installed them in our home when I was young. The problem is they don't work all that well and don't save much. As electric prices have gone higher, the competativeness with other fuels (exception propane) really isn't there. They could be offering some phenominally low rates (which they did back in the day) but they can, have, and probably will adjust or phase them out after they hook you.

Back in the '70's nuke was going to make electric so cheap you would not need a meter...
All electric home in NE Jersey and a all electric rate...
replaced a oil gulpin gun in an old coal furnace...
Electric it is the future...
Till the rates went up and nuke was not so clean...

CapeCoaler wrote:Back in the '70's nuke was going to make electric so cheap you would not need a meter...
All electric home in NE Jersey and a all electric rate...
replaced a oil gulpin gun in an old coal furnace...
Electric it is the future...
Till the rates went up and nuke was not so clean...

what's old is new. give it about 8 years and we'll be talking about NG. It's cheap now, so ... it will be cheap forever !

Berlin wrote:

CapeCoaler wrote:Back in the '70's nuke was going to make electric so cheap you would not need a meter...
All electric home in NE Jersey and a all electric rate...
replaced a oil gulpin gun in an old coal furnace...
Electric it is the future...
Till the rates went up and nuke was not so clean...

what's old is new. give it about 8 years and we'll be talking about NG. It's cheap now, so ... it will be cheap forever !

Yea, future coal stove customers.

I grew up in seattle area, all electric house, not even a chimney.
Averaged one dollor a day year around, dad loved it, early seventies, not so much now.

I just got my electric bill for last month. It was almost double it's usual $80-$90 rate. The other half was home all month (She travels to Uk for work) and we had several family members staying with us during the month. Bill was $155. All of that was washer/dryer and extra showers.

I just paid $16 per tank for 3, gas grill 20 pounders filled. That's over $5/gallon .... I would NEVER heat with propane.

SteveZee wrote:I just got my electric bill for last month. It was almost double it's usual $80-$90 rate. The other half was home all month (She travels to Uk for work) and we had several family members staying with us during the month. Bill was $155. All of that was washer/dryer and extra showers.

Electric hot water tank?