Propane can be used throughout your home to heat air and water, dry clothes, cook indoors and out, and for outside lighting and heating pools and spas.
Believe it or not, your water heater accounts for about 1/3 of all your home energy use. Heating water with propane is more efficient than heating it with electricity. Propane water heaters cost less to operate and are less harmful to the environment. Propane will heat more water faster and use less energy.
An average four-person household in Texas uses about 25,000 gallons of hot water per year. Using statewide average prices, a propane water heater will save about $70 a year, or approximately $770 over its life, based on an average 11-year life span.
Surveys show that most people prefer to cook with gas. Propane cooking also offers you all the benefits associated with other gas-fueled appliances: convenience, efficiency and cost savings.
Propane burners deliver heat immediately, heat pots and pans evenly, and let you easily see and adjust the heat output. Propane ranges also have sealed burners, making cleanup easy.
Automatic spark igniters have replaced pilot lights on almost all propane ranges. This increases their safety and further enhances their convenience and efficiency.
Stop spending money on electricity and you’ll be able to spend more on food! Homeowners will spend about $86 a year on a propane range versus $98 on an electric range. In your kitchen, propane is clearly the best choice.
When it comes to seeing your way around the backyard grill at night, propane is the clear alternative to electric outdoor lighting. Some newer models are equipped with light sensors that shut off during the day, eliminating waste and increasing your savings.
Propane is great for heating swimming pools, hot tubs and spas. It’s faster and more economical than electricity. A propane-heated spa can save about $56 per year compared to electricity. And you can turn on a propane spa heater about 30 minutes before use to bring the spa to a comfortable temperature quickly. Electrically heated spas must be kept on all the time because the water takes so long to warm up.
Electric heat pumps can’t compare to propane furnaces when it comes to warming up a home. Propane furnaces deliver air at 130 to 140 degrees. Heat pumps often deliver air that can feel cool to some people.
By producing warmer air, your propane furnace not only heats faster and feels comfortable, it is more reliable. A propane furnace needs to run less often. This can extend the life of a propane furnace five to ten years beyond that of an electric heat pump.
In addition to overall home heating, propane gas is a great choice for the fireplace as well. There’s nothing better than sitting in front of a roaring fire on a cold winter night—unless it’s not having to stack the wood or clean up the ashes. And a high-efficiency propane fireplace means all you have to do to start a fire is pick up a remote control, turn a knob or flip a switch. And for those places in your home that your furnace doesn’t quite reach, try a propane space heater. Properly installed propane space heaters not only cost less to operate, they’re safe, attractive and efficient. Some of the newer models have a thermostat to switch the heat on and off automatically.
Propane-fueled grills offer greater convenience than their charcoal counterparts, and they are friendly to the environment.
Lighter fluid contributes to the smog that hovers over many Texas cities. Self-lighting and bag-light charcoal also produce high levels of emissions. But a propane gas grill is a clean air alternative.
Did you realize that it takes about 20 minutes for the average charcoal grill to heat up? But it only takes about half that time to heat up a propane grill. You can fire up and grill burgers in about a third the time on a propane gas grill compared to charcoal. So you can go from heat up to eat up in less than half an hour with propane!
Want more good news? Good Housekeeping magazine calculates the average annual fuel cost is $37 for charcoal, compared to $19 for propane gas grills.
A study for the Texas Railroad Commission found that using a propane dryer would save Texas households an average of $40 each year.
Propane gas dryers offer all the conveniences and energy-saving options available on other dryers. Pilotless ignition is also standard, eliminating the need for energy-wasting pilot lights.
