Fuel Prices

Illinoisfarmer

Every time there's a discussion about "oil vs. natural gas vs. propane vs. electric", I am amazed by the strong opinions and wisdom - but even more amazed by the difference in fuel costs between areas of the country. I think it would be interesting to see the costs for fuel in different areas. (If this discussion isn't allowed, I'll gladly delete it)

In any case, @Jamie Hall - among others - mentioned in a recent post that cost per BTU is what we have to look at. Last winter, someone posted a link to a spreadsheet that calculated the cost for heating using different methods. I love seeing these discussions based on actual numbers - not just "Oil is always cheaper" or "heat pumps are always better".

For the record, I have geothermal in my house, Natural gas in my shop, propane for grain drying and in a house we rent out, and baseboard electric in a 1970s farm house. All are reasonably comfortable - keeping in mind that I'm old and cranky and comfort is relative.

So I'd like to see where others are as far as fuel costs...

Central Illinois - Most Recent Bills
Natural Gas - Nicor: Gas $1.35/therm (supply and delivery); Customer Charge $23.31
LP Gas - FS: Contracted 1500 Gallons for winter 2022-23 residential tank $1.93/gallon; No prepay
Electricity - Coop: $.1402/kwh; Customer Charge $30.00
I don't buy heating oil, but I did summer fill on all my off road farm tanks in July for $4.34/gallon of #2

Again, I don't intend to start a discussion about any source being better or worse, but I find it interesting how our costs vary depending on the area of the country we live in.

pecmsg

https://coalpail.com/fuel-comparison-calculator-home-heating

Hot_water_fan

Central Maryland: 
Electricity: $.125/kwh input about $13.32/MMBtu output. 

Gas: $1.79/therm input, $17.10/month fixed cost. $22.38/MMBtu output. About $1.10/therm is for the gas itself. 

Next range will be electric, we’re paying >$200/year to have the option to cook with gas. 

Oil and propane much higher than both gas and electric here. 

Jamie Hall

Northwest Copnnecticut --don't have LP figure available (we don't use much of it). Just pre-bought 2,000 gallons of #2 (Cedric is thirsty) at $4.599 per gallon. Electric, all told, is about $.24 per KWhour. Road diesel (with the taxes) is around $4.99.

PC7060

Hot_water_fan said:

Next range will be electric, we’re paying >$200/year to have the option to cook with gas. 

I recommend a induction cooktop.  We recently switch from gas to induction and wife loves it after the initial learning phase was over. 

Hot_water_fan

I recommend a induction cooktop.  We recently switch from gas to induction and wife loves it after the initial learning phase was over. 

I actually have a plug-in induction single burner that handles the majority of the cooking! I agree, it’s superior and very easy to use. Once the water heater goes, the gas range’s time is up. 

fentonc

Westchester County, NY (northern NYC suburbs) with Con Edison. From my most recent utility bill:
-Natural Gas: $23.65 service charge, $2.50/therm marginal costs (supply+delivery+taxes)
-Electricity: $17.07 service charge, $0.253/kwh ($0.15/kwh for my car charger after midnight).

I see a mix of propane, natural gas, heating oil, wood and electric heat pump in my neighborhood (I'm surprised how varied it is!), but I don't know what my neighbors are paying for those.

GroundUp

It's all over the map here in Central MN.

At my house, power is $.143 and propane was $2.09 on prebuy.
At my parents' house 2 miles away, power is $.108 and their propane was $1.92.
At one of my rentals 12 miles away, power is also $.143 but NG is $.82/therm.
At another rental 14 miles in the opposite direction, power is $.108 and NG is $1.14/therm.
At the cabin 25 miles away, power is $.179 and propane was $1.89.

I haven't seen an oil burner in close to 20 years around here so I can't say anything about that.

Illinoisfarmer

Thanks Everyone! I get a little 'geeked out' about this stuff.

It seems like the cost of propane is a function of the infrastructure and storage that's in place. We use copious amounts for drying corn here - so the rest of the year it's fairly reasonable for heating. In 2009, we had an especially wet fall and LP was in short supply - and home heating prices reflected that.

I texted my fuel man and asked about home heating oil. He said "Don't you have anything better to do on a Sunday?" He also said he doesn't have any oil accounts this year, but he would get me a price.

I'm astounded at the diversity of electric rates.

Thanks again!

Hot_water_fan

@Illinoisfarmer is gas available at your house? Looks like you’re using the most expensive of the bunch. 

Illinoisfarmer

Hot_water_fan said:

@Illinoisfarmer is gas available at your house? Looks like you’re using the most expensive of the bunch. 

Actually, my house is geothermal, and we have solar panels on a shed with net metering, so it's very reasonable. The house we have with electric baseboard was built in the 1970s, when the Gold Medalion all electric home thing was all the rage. It's on a farm I'm connected with, and the original owners (they built the house) lived there until recently. And yes, it's the most expensive of the bunch. I guess the only neat part is, as the couple that lived there was in their 80's, they did like the option of an individual thermostat in each room. (I visited once the winter before last, and the TV room was set at 81 degrees - and they were very happy) I'd expect this house to have an LP furnace installed at some point in the future - there's already ductwork for central air.

hot_rod

You can look at regional prices, average, predicted, all sorts of data at the EIA website

Hot_water_fan

Actually, my house is geothermal, and we have solar panels on a shed with net metering, so it's very reasonable. The house we have with electric baseboard was built in the 1970s, when the Gold Medalion all electric home thing was all the rage. It's on a farm I'm connected with, and the original owners (they built the house) lived there until recently. And yes, it's the most expensive of the bunch. I guess the only neat part is, as the couple that lived there was in their 80's, they did like the option of an individual thermostat in each room. (I visited once the winter before last, and the TV room was set at 81 degrees - and they were very happy) I'd expect this house to have an LP furnace installed at some point in the future - there's already ductwork for central air.

I’m in a similar situation - the existing ductwork made a heat pump an easy decision. For 2022 at least, it looks like it’ll be ~40% cheaper. Time will tell, but not worth adding a furnace since I want AC much more than I need to save potentially save a couple bucks on heating. 

vtfarmer

West-central Virginia (Dominion):
Electric in the summer has gone up to $0.14/kWh plus a $6.58/mo customer charge, winter last winter was about $0.105/kWh plus the same customer charge. In the winter the rate goes down for usage > 800 kWh, I think this winter's rate also went up but I'm not sure by how much.

Dyed farm diesel is $4.89/gal, I'd imagine heating oil is about the same.

I don't use LP.

Natural gas for a commercial account at my office (Columbia) is $25/mo customer charge plus $2.7/CCF all in supply and distribution.