Gas appliances are all the rage these days, and with good reason. Gas offers incredibly powerful home heating — especially compared with electricity — and powers a range of top-tier home appliances and amenities, including tankless water heaters, fireplace inserts, firepits and gas ranges.
For homeowners choosing between gas and propane, the difference between the two might be confusing. You could be forgiven for thinking that they are basically the same — but they aren’t.
Propane isn’t the same as natural gas. It’s a coproduct of natural gas extraction, but it is denser than air and can be transported and stored as a liquid. Propane also has several practical advantages over natural gas.
You can rest assured that propane will always be there when you need it. Unlike natural gas, it doesn’t rely on utility infrastructure to reach your home. You store it on-site in a tank you either lease or own. This has enormous advantages for both safety and dependability.
While both propane and natural gas are combustible fuels, propane is less likely to explode, because it’s not connected by widespread gas lines that might be under-maintained or damaged. When natural gas pipes fail, many customers lose their fuel. But with propane, you control your own fuel supply.
To use natural gas in your home, you need to be able to access a utility. Even if one operates reliably in your region, installing a new connection for your home can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Propane comes to you. Once you’re set up with on-site storage, we can deliver your propane easily and safely whenever you need it! You also have a dedicated local partner who can respond quickly if there’s a problem with your system. You won’t get that from a huge natural gas utility.
And propane packs more of a punch for your home than natural gas. One cubic foot of propane generates 2,520 Btu’s of heat — more than double the heating power of natural gas!
While both natural gas and propane emit very little carbon dioxide when burned, natural gas is composed of methane. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, when methane is released in its raw form, it acts as a greenhouse gas that’s 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Propane is not a greenhouse gas. It’s listed as an approved alternative fuel in both the 1990 Clean Air Act amendment and the 1992 Energy Policy Act.
Ready to make the switch to propane? Contact Tasha Fuels & Propane today.