Can you believe it? One gallon of propane = $6.68. On top of that they add the the Hazmat surcharge of $9.69 and a fuel recovery fee of $5.87 per delivery.
Minimum wage in Massachusetts is $8.00/hour. Even if you earn twice that, you have to work 22 hours to fill a fifty gallon tank. If you earn minimum wage, your paycheck before taxes is $320/wk. Your propane bill will be $349.50.
I realize that propane is priced according to usage, and since I only use between 100-150 gallons a year, I’m paying top price. But why on earth would I commit to increasing my usage by switching to propane-fired hot water and heat, when they have me trembling in fear right now.
Switching to electricity isn’t really an option, because those prices are through the roof too.
Just gotta wonder where all this is heading. I also wonder how they are going to add a new fuel recovery fee to each delivery when they never got rid of the one from when gas was $4.00 gal. I have been paying that fuel recovery fee all along.
So, with propane at $6.68/gal, I guess it can only go up from there. If they can gouge and get away with it, I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t keep raising the price.
Cooking? Refrigeration? I’m curious because you mentioned heat and hot water would be an expansion of your current use.
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p>As a side note, MA.Gov’s “Propane Price Survey”indicates an average cost for the week of March 8th to be $3.33 per gallon with a high of $4.95 and a low of $2.29. The numbers are based on average winter use of 100-150 gallons.
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p>If you’re considering switching hot water heaters, switch to solar hot water. I have it at home and it’s amazing. Giant hot water tank filled with guilt free hot water! I do have a tiny gas heater as a back up.
the more you use the less you pay. So if I were to commit to the investment of changing to a gas hot water heater and furnace, I would use a lot more and get it at a lower price per gallon. I might do that if I trusted them, but I don’t.
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p>I asked about what would happen if I replace my dryer with an electric one and was told that the price would go up because I would only use around 50 gallons a year.
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p>It feels sort of like being stuck in a trap. Electricity is high also, so I’m not sure switching to it would be a wise move.
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p>I’ve been doing some research on residential solar power.
I was excited about the idea of the solar panel for heating, then when I looked up the information, it looks like you have to enter into a 20 year contract with a company to do it. Not too interested at all in marrying a corporation for 20 years. No thanks.
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p>I will look into the hot water solar option.
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p>In the meantime, the $6.68/gal for propane I am paying is far above the “averages” stated in the Massachusetts price survey. It would be nice to have statistics on how many are paying which price.
I checked with Arrow gas for their pricing and they said that after the initial new customer discount (6 months) they would be charging about the same price as Amerigas charges for the same usage.