Lp heating cost

Dennis S.

Could someone please tell me about how much it would cost per square foot with great insulation and windows to heat a 3000 sq. foot home using lp??? This is a new home with radiant heat and dhw coil and about 50 feet of base board. Just want to get a rough idea to see if i am in the ball park of what people are telling me it should be. The temp is set to about 69 to 70 degrees, and i pay about 1.15 per gallon for lp.

Constantin

It all depends, no?

Where is the house, Dennis? What are the expected design conditions? For example, our renovated house (R20 walls, R35 roof, foam insulated) will consume something on the order of 16 BTUs per sq. foot when it's -15°F outside. LP has 91,000 BTU/Gallon. The rest is math. Cheers!

Dennis S.

Lp cost

The house is in wisconsin, and it has spray form in the walls, and they are 2x6. I read you message and we pay about 3000.00 a year for heat now.

Dennis S.

Lp cost

The house is in wisconsin, and it has spray form in the walls, and they are 2x6. I got your message and we pay about 3000.00 a year for heat now. we have about an r-42 ceiling. the walls also have batts in them, and the sill boxes are foamed.

Weezbo

Hmmm....

Constantine is sharp with the idea there, it does seem to me your cost is over the top for 3000 sq ft that includes the garage? i think it might not be lp useage it might be a leak out doors on the regulator/fill ...enough that you could smell it... soapy water would locate it...have a spray container and towel make it sorta soapy and if you see small buubles ok thats a bad leak if you see a big bubble it means its a slower leak...

Weezbo

Constantine did you manage to get the e-mail i sent you ?

hr

Are you positive about that

LP cost? Seems $1.40 and up is the current going rate.

Of course the $$ amount per gallon is what drives you yearly heating cost. Over the last 5 years we have gone from $.59 to the current $1.40 per gallon. So our heating bill has more than doubled.

I have a sneaking suspecion the LP may be getting diluted BTU/ gallon wise. I know they have adjusted the natural gas in Colorado and Utah, although prices continue to rise.

Who knows what "Big Oil" is up to these days.

I'd agree that sounds like a lot for your size home. Maybe the neighbor has tapped into your line

hot rod

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Dennis S.

Lp heat

Well guys, thanks for the info. but we think we have figured out why the bill is so high. We had a heat loss study done and the loss is about 105,000 @ -15 degrees outside temp. The boilers where never setup from out of the box, the piping system has no primary-secondary, the zone pumps are trying to supply heat to the zone and circulate the water through the boiler, so basicly we are going to throw out the piping from the manifolds down and start over. The total amount of fuel that we use was just over 4311 gallons for 14 mounths, this was a shock to use once we looked up the fuel bills!!!! So the leaks that you had talked about where coming from a 3 inch vent pipe called the boiler stack. If we learned one thing from this hole deal, its get someone who knows what the h!!! they are doing before they start. Doing the cutting and fitting is one thing, but I believe a good heating load calq. and a thru understanding of what is required for the system to work will make or break the job.

Dennis S.

Lp heat

Well guys, thanks for the info. but we think we have figured out why the bill is so high. We had a heat loss study done and the loss is about 105,000 @ -15 degrees outside temp. The boilers where never setup from out of the box, the piping system has no primary-secondary, the zone pumps are trying to supply heat to the zone and circulate the water through the boiler, so basicly we are going to throw out the piping from the manifolds down and start over. The total amount of fuel that we use was just over 4311 gallons for 14 mounths, this was a shock to use once we looked up the fuel bills!!!! So the leaks that you had talked about where coming from a 3 inch vent pipe called the boiler stack. If we learned one thing from this hole deal, its get someone who knows what the h!!! they are doing before they start. Doing the cutting and fitting is one thing, but I believe a good heating load calq. and a thru understanding of what is required for the system to work will make or break the job. Weezbo I didnt get any email from you that I can find, but thanks for trying!!!

DaveGateway

Dumb question

It seems that you spent a great deal on insulating the house and then only got an 80% efficent gas boiler with a wasteful tankless coil that must keep that hunk of cast iron hot all year long at over 140°. There's your BTU's going up the flue! Get an indirect tank or a wall mounted tankless water heater.

Paul Pollets

Better equipment

I agree with Joe. You'd be advised to install an appliance that had outdoor reset controls, an indirect DHW tank on priority zoning, and better yet, a condensing boiler. Propane is the most expensive fuel. Systems using propane should consider the better equipment and controls to hold down costs of running the system.

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Constantin

Something doesn't add up

Dennis' house should have tight walls, a fat roof, no infiltration, etc. In many respects, our home is comparable in construction, yet our heating system is 33% smaller on a BTU/ft² than his is, despite having the same design day conditions.

Considering how much money is going up the flue, so to speak, I think a modern, functional heating system will pay for itself in short order. Since Dennis is using gas, I'd opt a for a modulating, condensing boiler like the HTP Munchkin, the NTI Trinity, the Viessmann Vitodens, the Weil-Mc Ultra, etc. BTW, is Buderus finally shipping their condensing wall-hung?

In the meantime, I'd do a couple of things: First, I'd hire a contractor to figure out where all that gas is going. Does your gas system perhaps have a leak? Next, I'd hire a company to do a blower door test and confirm that the house is tight. Lastly, I'd hire a contractor to either tune or replace the boiler.