Understand your propane usage and costs

With energy costs being volatile lately, it’s understandable to want to control your propane usage.

However, your propane use can vary greatly due to several factors, including how you use propane, how many propane appliances you have, and the time of year.

If you look over your propane statements from the last year (which is easy to do when you have a NOCO online account) you’ll see how the variations play out for your home.
 
Whatever your propane usage is, NOCO’s Automatic Delivery gives you peace of mind that you’ll always have propane. Our pricing and payment options help you manage your propane costs in a way that works for your needs and your budget.

How to calculate your propane usage

As you are unlikely to be running all the propane appliances in your home at 100 percent capacity 24/7, the table below estimates propane usage for running them at 25 to 50 percent capacity for two to six hours a day. 

These calculations show you that your propane usage can vary greatly, between 1.2 and 7.2 gallons per day. Just a few extra loads of laundry or hot showers increase your propane usage much more than you’d think. Here’s an example:

• 220,000 BTU/hours (the total for all the appliances) ÷ 91,547 BTU/gallon of propane = 2.4 gallons per hour 
• 2.4 gallons x .25 (25 percent capacity) = .6 gallons per hour 
• .6 gallons x 2 hours = 1.2 gallons 

This number can then be used to calculate greater use of propane appliances: 

• 25 percent capacity for 6 hours = 3.6 gallons per day 
• 50 percent capacity for 2 hours = 2.4 gallons per day 
• 50 percent capacity for 6 hours 7.2 gallons per day

A propane pool heater (at 425,000 BTU/hour) that operates for one hour a day at 75 percent capacity would add about 3.5 gallons to your daily usage:

• 425,000 BTU/hour ÷ 91,547 = 4.64 gallons/hour 
• 4.65 x .75 = 3.48 gallons 

Because propane pool heaters use a lot of propane, we recommend using a pool cover when the pool isn’t in use to help retain as much of the heat in the pool as possible. 

A propane generator is another appliance that can affect your propane usage estimations because you can’t predict if or when you’ll be using it. 

Always know you’ll have the propane you need when you need it. Contact us today to sign up for Automatic Delivery!