"F.O.A.D." wrote in message
m...


That $2.54 price at the bottom of the short list in the URL was a
"special price" all new customers get when they switch from their old
propane provider to the company we're now using...25 cents off per
gallon on the first tank full-up. Our new provider is locally owned
and
seems a hell of a lot more customer-service oriented than the provider
we had for more than nine years. That company was owned by an out of
state corporation.

-------------------------------------

That's the only problem with propane. You really can't shop for
competitive pricing ... at least not in my state .... because only the
supplier who installed the tanks can fill them. If you want to
change suppliers, you have to get new tanks. Not a huge deal but the
supplier also typically requires a contract that you will buy only
from them for some number of years.

We don't really use enough propane to be overly concerned with the ups
and downs of the price. We heat with oil. That's a different story.
We have one "regular" 275 gallon oil tank and two additional 330
gallon tanks that our oil company installed in our basement when we
first bought this house. When they come to fill them up Mrs.E gets
a little nervous. I've tried to explain to her that we are going to
use it anyway, so don't worry about it.

It's a big house but the heating cost is surprisingly not all that
bad. It's all 2x6 construction on the outside walls and is very
well insulated. We also have something like 9 individual heating
zones, so the areas of the house that aren't used can be kept at lower
temps.