Trying to budget your propane usage for the summer can be a bit tricky – especially when you have several propane appliances that are more behind the scenes, like a propane water heater or propane clothes dryer.
Because of that, you may be surprised by how much propane you use in the summer, and that could lead you to suspect that you may even have a propane gas leak.
If you do suspect a leak, contact us immediately. We also recommend that you install propane detectors throughout your Delmarva home. If you do smell propane, leave the house immediately and follow all of the propane safety instructions.
Most likely, you won’t have a propane leak at all – you simply underestimated your propane usage! If you want to avoid doing that again, our friends at Propane101.com have a solution: a handy guide for calculating your summer propane usage, which takes into account common propane appliances at typical usage levels.
Since you’re probably not running all of your propane appliances at 100 percent capacity all day long, the table below estimates propane usage for running them at 25 to 50 percent capacity for 2 to 6 hours a day.
You’ll see by these calculations that your potential propane usage can vary a great deal, between 1.2 and 7.2 gallons per day. Just a few extra loads of laundry and some hot showers can increase your propane usage a lot more than you think it would! 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:
Throw in a propane pool heater (at 425,000 BTU/hour) that operates for one hour a day at 75 percent capacity, which adds 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
Propane pool heaters use a lot of propane – which is why we recommend using a swimming pool cover overnight to retain as much of the pool’s heat as possible.
A propane generator can also affect your propane usage estimations, since you don’t know when or if you’ll be using it, as you can’t predict power outages the season may bring!
The bottom line is that you can keep your home comfortable and enjoyable this summer by having plenty of propane on hand. Count on Poore’s Propane & Oil for dependable propane delivery in Kent and Sussex Counties in Delaware, and Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Caroline and Talbot Counties in Maryland! Contact us today to become a Poore’s Propane & Oil customer!
