mylz2go -- where in Mexico is your son getting married? You are going to have a wonderful time!! My son was married in Ixtapa seven years ago --it was a wonderful wedding.

Its true that the heat content of one gallon of different heating fuels varies, and the efficiency of the furnace/woodstove, etc. also has to be factored in.

Here is a link to a Dept. of Energy info page that explains some of this and has a nice spreadsheet you can download "heating fuel comparison calculator" - heatcalc.xls about 1/2 way down the page.

I played around with the numbers and $1.48 propane was equiv. to $1.67 CCF natural gas, if both furnaces were the same efficiency.

The nice thing about the spreadheet is you also can compare wood stoves, pellet stoves, and even coal!

http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/experts/expertanswers.html

Wow Mylz! You're doing great at $1.16 per unit natural gas. That is the equivalent of using $1.06 per gallon propane. I sure wish I had the capability to switch to natural gas here.

Mylz-just saw your note about the monthly $10 fee which really kicks the total price up. For the month that you posted the info, it brings the equivalent price up to $4.49 for propane. If you burn more gas, such as 50 therms then it would be equivalent to $1.36 propane even with the monthly cost figured in. If you burn around 500 therms natural gas per year then the $10/month fee would add around 24 cents per therm to the charged cost and keep it well down below propane at todays prices. Guess you better turn the thermostat up to "save money".!!

Puerto Vallarta, on the beach, at sunset. We can hardly wait!!

That "Facility Charge" of $10 really annoy's me, as it is charged whether you uses the gas or not. The reason we keep our gas bill so low is that we heat primarily with wood from the property. I'll have to look back thru my bills and see how many therms we've used in a 12 month period. Might make it worth going back to propane . . . .

Mylz - I suspect if you use only 250-300 therms (equivalent to about 275-325 gallons propane) per year, you'd have a tossup in price of propane versus natural gas. If you're using more than that, then natural gas is the better deal. Otherwise if you're using a lot of wood and limited amounts of gas or propane then propane would save you some money because of that monthly fee.

I too had Independent Gas. Wonderful people and service. (prices as posted earlier).
I felt like I deserted a wonderful company when I switched to Natural Gas. Hopefully in the long run it will be more cost effective.

Just as a warning, Global propane can not get propane.
I' ve been on their list for over 3 weeks . I called several times and they said they could not tell when I would get filled. Today they said they wouldn't get any more propane until the 27th and that only those that are on critical levals would get priority. Whats frustrating is, mine is a new house and we're trying to get heat started so we can finish the interior work. Then there is the danger of the pipes freezing. It sure would have been nice for them to give me a heads up that there might be chance that it would be more than a month before we were filled.

Out of curiosity tharris21, were you under a fixed price per gallon contract with Global? Prices have recently jumped and they may not be able to get more propane at a price that they can justify giving to you at the fixed price as opposed to there being a real shortage of propane. Sometimes that's a problem with fixed price contracts.
Can you get a fill from another supplier?

I got my Colorado natural gas bill today and it is BAD news for all of us who switched from propane to NG this year. The total billing rate went up 43.25% from last year and unfortunately we are stuck with that rate until NEXT December even if prices go down (which they already have 10% this week wholesale!).
For the first time in at least 30 years, the price of NG is higher than propane for many people - at least those who got yearly contracts for their propane. Here are the price comparisons:
Cost per therm of NG - $1.66. Last year it was $1.16. The $1.66 is equivalent to paying about $1.56 per gallon of propane. This takes into account the $10/mo fee for NG and the approx $5/mo "tank rental" fee for propane. If you get propane for less than $1.56/gal than you are paying less for your energy than using NG. For the lucky few who have Xcel Energy providing your NG than you are paying only $1.03 for December and $1.19 for January. Xcel changes their rates monthly whereas CNG changes it once yearly in December. I can understand CNG having to charge a bit more than Xcel but 50% more??? I can only hope that CNG gets bought out by Xcel someday...

That fixed price for the year is a bummer and an archaic way of doing business in these days of volatile prices. How about a bunch of calls and letters to the Colorado Utilities Commission! You'd be surprised what a bunch of squeaky wheels can do. :idea: