Posted on 01/27/2014 2:55:40 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
It gets a lot colder than 10 degrees here and I use propane with no problem.
The main reason propane prices are going up is because of exports of natural gas to Europe and Asia.
Interesting - all these articles the last few months about how we are now producing more Natural Gas than ever in this country, and yet there is a propane shortage. HMMMM.
There's a real credible opinion on the free market.
Be that as it may, how is does a real shortage of natural gas materialize in the U.S., these days? There really can't be such a shortage.
So the problem is more likely to be one of distribution, and temporary. Better minds can help clear this up for the class, I hope, with regard to Tennessee, especially. Initially, it seems similar to the lack of protection against pipes bursting due to protracted sub-zero weather throughout the sunbelt. It's cost is greater than repairs and replacement, which occur only when such weather arrives to stay for a longer period of time, every five to fifteen years. A windfall for sheetrock tape and bedders and plumbers, not to mention meth labs.
I have to do more research on fittings and how to get my propane out of the rented tank.
What high prices accomplish is ensuring that new supplies are created to make future prices as low as possible.
The high prices of Propane are intended to cause people to switch to the never ending supply of natural gas.
The temporary pain of ‘14 will be a lost memory to the sweet inexpensiveness of ‘15
(can you believe that it is actually ‘14)
Ordered 100 gallons back in November and it was around $2.40 gallon. The cold and ice in December caused me to use way more than usual so I just recently ordered another 100 gallons and it was delivered at $3.72.
I have always in the current house I’m in gotten through a winter with around 200 gallons but this winter my burn rate is up about 50%. And, in the last several years we’ve had some of the coldest, harshest winters of the last quarter century but this one is costing the most.
It’s hard to think of any monopolies that exist without the assistance of government. Think IBM. The history of Free Markets is driving prices down, and protecting consumers.
The history of Government is driving prices up. Think Keystone pipeline, limiting fracking, Ethanol.
Price gouging is a Socialist rationalization for price controls.
Huh? Propane is not natural gas. For most wells, the more natural gas that's produced, the MORE propane you get. When natural gas supplies are so large that it can be exported, the supply of propane goes up, not down.
You’re Hank Hill, aren’t you.
The only reason people use propane is because there is not a natural gas line running in front of their house. Propane is more expensive. If you live in town, you use natural gas. If you live outside of town and there is no natural gas line, you have to use propane, or electricity which is more expensive than propane.
Propane song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc1URQgQWNo
Propane will not freeze at temperatures possible for local ambinent conditions.
It will stop boil off (producing gas) below -44°F. It will slow down as temperatures approach that point. As the propane in the tank is used, it boils off more gas. The boil lowers the temperature so the propane in the tank will be colder than the outside temperatures.
http://www.propane101.com/aboutpropane.htm
Yes, as long as people are free to respond. Regulation, zoning, licensing, patents, and copyrights are all designed to interfere with the natural market.
The Hill, you say?
Propane is a byproduct, not a product.
Propane is cracked into propylene used for polypropylene(plastic). Ethane into polyethylene(plastic). Butane into Butadiene(synthetic rubber).
Propane is produced by cracking naptha which comes from oil. Propane is also produced by separating it from natural gas.
BTW, if you are paying $95/year tank rental, you are getting screwed.
To save money, you can use your kitchen range to partially heat your house. That is direct fired and 100% efficient. But that makes your windows fog up and raises the CO2 in your air. And you have to be careful that no carbon monoxide is being produced because that will kill you. Make sure the flame is blue with only a small amount of yellow at the tip of the flame.
I don’t think that will work this year. I have heard where contracts are not being honored. Propane here went from $2.25 to $4.00 in 3 days. Our supplier only delivering 100 gallons to those under 20 percent in their tank. He was getting one load in this weekend. I read about pipelines being shut down and drying the corn crop as the culprits.
I thought we had a glut of natural gas, which is from where propane is derived. Why would we have a propane shortage?
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