# Propane question



## justleesa (Nov 23, 2012)

Aloha!

When planning our home we opted for a gas range so that we won't be dependent on electricity. Now we have a friend (one person) living in the house and in 2 1/2 months she used up 48 gallons of propane. She didn't cook every day and it seems that that ran out pretty fast. I'm afraid we might have a leak somewhere. 
So I guess my question is, how long does your propane last?

Aloha and thanks for your time!


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## WoadWarrior (Oct 10, 2012)

I grill an average of once per week... for about 20-45 minutes... depending on what I'm grilling. A standard propane take lasts me about 3-4 months. I'm also using a 5 burner grill... but don't always use all five. So... you just have to do some math... accounting for number of days per week, number of burners, and length of time she has them on.


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## nadja (May 1, 2012)

justleesa said:


> Aloha!
> 
> When planning our home we opted for a gas range so that we won't be dependent on electricity. Now we have a friend (one person) living in the house and in 2 1/2 months she used up 48 gallons of propane. She didn't cook every day and it seems that that ran out pretty fast. I'm afraid we might have a leak somewhere.
> So I guess my question is, how long does your propane last?
> ...


Is the heater on, ? How about the water heater ? Those things all consume propane. Also, does this person bake or broil a lot ? Also, you need a much bigger tank that that little one you are showing in the picture.

In the winter, with a propane stove, water heater and various propane heaters, my wife and I go through about 80 gallons a month, depending on how cold it gets. It gets to -25 here in the mountains


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## Lattice (Nov 19, 2012)

nadja said:


> Is the heater on, ? How about the water heater ? Those things all consume propane. Also, does this person bake or broil a lot ? Also, you need a much bigger tank that that little one you are showing in the picture.
> 
> In the winter, with a propane stove, water heater and various propane heaters, my wife and I go through about 80 gallons a month, depending on how cold it gets. It gets to -25 here in the mountains


We used to go through about that much in our old house. But in our new one, we are right at about thirty gallons a month, but winter hasn't hit yet. Though we do have a tankless waterheater, and several other things that save a good bit.

If you flat out can't afford to get rid of those outdated water heaters, make sure you drain it every couple months. Even if you don't have hard water, in a three month time frame you can look to accumulate several pounds of salts at the bottom of the tank. That can increase your energy usage by up to twenty five percent.


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## kyletx1911a1 (Jul 16, 2012)

Question do you get your gas from a propane company?
If so get them to come out and do a leak check company policy
Its free. If they cant find a leak have them do a flow and lock up check
One or the other test will tell you the problem.
Your problem is one of three things.
1 a leak in the line
2 a leak at the appliance
3 a problem at the regulator
If your line is underground it could be a leak because the ground
Has shifted. Hence the flow and lock up test(it takes 30 min mininum)
Hope this helps


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

We used 10% of a big propane tank last 2 weeks and it was warm, about 20 gallons, I'll need to verify with the bill after the box whine.


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## badey (Nov 9, 2012)

We cook several times a week with propane and it has very little impact on the volume of our tank. The tank may go down by 2 or 3 gallons over a couple of months.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

I have two hundred pound tanks together running just a kitchen stove.
We cook on it everyday, they last over a year.
Either you have a leak or another appliance running on it.


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## Leon (Jan 30, 2012)

that does sound a little fast to be using up all that propane. At my old hunting lodge we used to sit on that tank for months and not wear it down even halfway


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## justleesa (Nov 23, 2012)

Sorry for not responding, I have to check the settings, thought I had it so I would get an email.

Anyway, thanks for your insight and here is a bit more information.

The propane if for the gas range only. We have a wood burning stove and also have an oil furnace and have an electric water heater (baby steps).

We had a neighbor check and the highest number on the gauge is 80 and the needle is pointing to 75. So my guess it that it is still pretty full. Tested it and the stove does in fact work. Don't know what happened. Can it be that the incoming line can freeze up if you, lets say have all the burners on? You know like when you open a scuba tank and the tank gets all frosty. Or can it freeze in cold weather? Do we need to think about insulating the tank and the lines??


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## justleesa (Nov 23, 2012)

kyletx1911a1 said:


> Question do you get your gas from a propane company?
> If so get them to come out and do a leak check company policy
> Its free. If they cant find a leak have them do a flow and lock up check
> One or the other test will tell you the problem.
> ...


I was thinking that too....Even though we might have solved the problem (user error) I'm still going to have someone from the propane company come out and check. Thanks!


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## justleesa (Nov 23, 2012)

Lattice said:


> We used to go through about that much in our old house. But in our new one, we are right at about thirty gallons a month, but winter hasn't hit yet. Though we do have a tankless waterheater, and several other things that save a good bit.
> 
> If you flat out can't afford to get rid of those outdated water heaters, make sure you drain it every couple months. Even if you don't have hard water, in a three month time frame you can look to accumulate several pounds of salts at the bottom of the tank. That can increase your energy usage by up to twenty five percent.


Oh wow! that is something we will have to look into. Thanks for the info!


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

justleesa said:


> Sorry for not responding, I have to check the settings, thought I had it so I would get an email.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for your insight and here is a bit more information.
> 
> ...


the line will not freeze. 
what can happen with them in very cold weather is, the transformation from liquid to gas may not meet the demand if running all four burners.
there is no water in the fuel to freeze and at the temps for the lp to freeze in will not matter to any of us, we will have been frozen to death long before. 
the frost you see on the outside of the tank is the moisture content in the air solidifies on the tank surface from endothermic reaction of the gases expanding in the tank.
Insulating the tank will do nothing to change the dynamics.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Our house had an electric stove when we bought it, but 60 years of living in Florida has shown us that electric stoves can be a big pile of uselessness during several weeks without electricity after a hurricane.
So the first thing we did was have it taken out and replaced with a gas stove. We had a large propane tank, but several instances of my wife's "anti-pervert radar" going off when the gas man came caused me to now run it off 20 pound tanks. I have two plumbed to one regulator and run one at a time. I have a total of 6 tanks on hand and whenever one is empty I get it refilled ASAP at the hardware store in town.
Unless the wife is doing a lot of baking, a 20 pound tank wil last about a month.


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## justleesa (Nov 23, 2012)

SOCOM42 said:


> snip... the transformation from liquid to gas may not meet the demand if running all four burners.


That sounds logical


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## Lattice (Nov 19, 2012)

justleesa said:


> Oh wow! that is something we will have to look into. Thanks for the info!


NP. The tankless heaters are amazing. The only way you can run out of hot water is if you run out of the fuel you use to heat the water. Literally if you wanted, you could take a five hour long hot shower.

They do cost a good bit more. But by my calculations, it will have paid for itself in a little less than two years.

Some people just really don't get that having excess material in the tank can increase the power required to heat the water.

A friend refused to clean his tank after I explained it to him. He just didn't get it. So to give him a visual I cracked some eggs into a pan, set a brick on top of the burner, then told him to cook me eggs. He now drains his tank every three months.


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

We used to thaw out the 20# tanks when shrinkwrapping boats with the torch itself.

I use a 20# propane tank for my blueflame in the pole barn every week and a half to two weeks in the winter, no insulation on the tank outside or on the lines. The same for our"PIG" 800 lb'er for the home.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

In my RV A 22 ft 5th wheel, which uses propane for cooking, hot water, the fridge and heating, a 40 lbs tank will last a good 10 days at least in a hard extended cold snap of mid to low 20 degrees temps. I dont run the pilot light on the hot water (6 gallon tank) and the Heater will light itself electrically off 110 or 12v, I dont use the oven which is a killer on fuel so a small pilot light size flame is the only thing that goes 24/7 on the fridge. Yes I cook almost daily and I cook from scratch. That might give you a gauge of your rate of consumption vs mine.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Lattice said:


> NP. The tankless heaters are amazing. The only way you can run out of hot water is if you run out of the fuel you use to heat the water. Literally if you wanted, you could take a five hour long hot shower.
> 
> They do cost a good bit more. But by my calculations, it will have paid for itself in a little less than two years.
> 
> ...


*Tankless water heaters are the freaking BOMB!* I used them over in Japan and I have no idea why America has been so slow to adopt this form of hot water heating. It makes no sense what so ever to not use this concept!!!


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## Lattice (Nov 19, 2012)

Because they fail to realize that it will actually save them money. All they see is the thousand dollar price tag then see the normal water heater next to it that only cost a couple hundred. Our new house is about the same size as the one we lived in while we were building this place. Our propane use was cut in half. One of my brothers finally switched over to a tankless heater, and everything in his place runs on electric. Before he switched over his monthly bill ran between three and four hundred. The highest it's been since he switched was two fifty. So in under two years it will have bought itself. It makes no sense not to. 

Cant afford to buy it outright? While I don't buy anything on credit, I can understand why some need to. "But I can't afford another monthly payment." 

Why the hell not? A hundred a month for a tankless heater or keep your power bill at four hundred a month.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Spot on Girl, spot on!

Its a choice of you can pay for it now or you can continue down the road and pay me dearly later. I am all about putting more dollars in my pocket than I am putting it in someone elses! Choice is yours, dont be late!


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## justleesa (Nov 23, 2012)

When I was living in Germany my dad put in a tankless and I know it made a big difference in the e-bill, but I had the feeling the water wasn't as hot and it didn't stay hot as long as the water that he had in the water boiler (heated with a wood stove). Was that just me? Or have you noticed that too? I must add that this was 10 years ago and technology might be better today.


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## Lattice (Nov 19, 2012)

Had to have been just you. Or he bought one of those cheap four hundred dollar tankless heaters. Having hotter water longer is one of the big reasons for having a tankless heater.


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## justleesa (Nov 23, 2012)

Nope, wasn't cheap. I did get A LOT of hot water, I just feel it didn't stay hot as long i.e. in the sink when washing dishes.


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## Lattice (Nov 19, 2012)

That doesnt make any sense. The whole principal of a tankless heater is that you can't run out of hot water. It heats only when using the hot water, and it heats it instantly so it doesnt run out. Something was very wrong.


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## justleesa (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm sorry, I guess I expressed myself wrong, I didn't mean that i run out of hot water, I always had hot water. I just felt that it cooled down quicker, i.e. a sink full of water when washing dishes, got cold faster than when I use water that we had from the hot water boiler in the basement (we had two systems in the house Tankless in the attic apartment and hot water boiler heated by the wood furnace for the 1st and 2nd floor units). Does that make more sense?


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## Lattice (Nov 19, 2012)

The heater likely needed to be adjusted then. Just like on the old water heater you can adjust the temp to which it is heated.

Water, heated to the same temp by different methods will not cool at different rates when exposed to the same circumstances after removing it from the heat source.


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