BajaNomad - Dramatic rise in the cost of propane?

Dramatic rise in the cost of propane?

schwlind - 7-17-2014 at 11:21 PM

Over the last few months our propane charges have gone from 7.10 pesos/liter to most recently 7.99 pesos per liter, and it continues to rise every month. In Feb our propane bill was around $200 US. The only appliances we are using are 2 propane refrigerators that are set at 2 when we are not there regularly. Am I the only one seeing this increase. Think I may be better off increasing our solar system and going electric or solar refrigeration. Any suggestions?

DENNIS - 7-18-2014 at 07:16 AM

Gasolene goes up at the same rate. Grin and bear it. There's nothing you can do but conserve.

Propane cost

PaulW - 7-18-2014 at 07:28 AM

So much for MX matching the US price. I just had a Propane fill here in CO and I paid 1.02$/gal which should translate to around to 3.4 P/L. The low prices here in the states is due to the glut of excess gas.

bajabuddha - 7-18-2014 at 08:56 AM

Low prices? Glut of excess gas? The only excess I've seen is from my Prilosec.

larryC - 7-18-2014 at 08:59 AM

I have watched the price of propane go up now for over 15 years. I switched to elec refers about 10-12 years ago and now am working on a solar hot water system. Solar elec panels are cheap right now so it is a good time to upgrade your solar but a good solar system capable of operating an elec refer is still going to cost $5000 plus the cost of batteries. At least it is a one time expense. I would guess it would depend on how much time you spend at our place in Colonet to determine whether it is worth the expense.
Larry

BajaLuna - 7-18-2014 at 09:18 AM

low prices in the States? definitely not here in WA! This past Spring we paid 2.80 per gal, and in the winter it was up over 3.00 a gal. here in WA

wessongroup - 7-18-2014 at 09:33 AM

Thanks Larry ...

watizname - 7-18-2014 at 09:35 AM

A rental yard nearby is advertising propane at $3.25/gal, and that's the cheapest in the Ojai valley. Another place wants almost $4 bucks/gal, with a 5 gal min. The "glut" never made it here. :coolup:

BajaLuna - 7-18-2014 at 09:49 AM

we were feeling lucky (but still feeling the pain) that we were paying 3.00+ per gal. in Winter when we heard that the East Coast was up to 5.00 per gal. but hearing CO. is paying 1.02 per gal, we're not feeling so lucky anymore! Need to invest in a new pellet stove, which is how we heat our house usually, but our stove caught on fire, UGH!

Ojai seems in alignment with WA, and there is a price break the more you buy here too. We have become propane market junkies, constantly watching when price is down to fill up. It's lower in the summer here than in winter. In the next month we will be bowing down to the corporate gods! LOL!

rhintransit - 7-18-2014 at 10:58 AM

this is really weird and I hesitate to report it, but...
I moved from 5 years of beach/palapa off the grid living to a fancy smancy house in gringolandia (Loreto Bay, Nopolo, BCS). on the beach I was constantly hauling propane tanks, or waiting for the propane truck to come by (anyone who has done that knows the joy of that), sniffing out and repairing gas leaks, etc. my frig, stove, on-demand water heater were propane. am remembering about 400-500 p/mo, more in the hot months, which was probably cheap compare to others' consumption.
here in town, I have a propane line to the house and don't know/care where the main tank is as long as the stove keeps lighting and the clothes dryer keeps drying.
my monthly bill runs between 70 and 100 pesos. that includes 30 pesos a month for service.
all this and I don't have to start the generator to do laundry. or get gas for the generator. or repair the generator. or haul it out onto the steps where I can start it.
life is good on the grid!

Ateo - 7-18-2014 at 11:33 AM

I blame Obama.

bajaguy - 7-18-2014 at 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ateo
I blame Obama.

And Obama still blames GW

BajaGringo - 7-18-2014 at 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by larryC
I have watched the price of propane go up now for over 15 years. I switched to elec refers about 10-12 years ago and now am working on a solar hot water system. Solar elec panels are cheap right now so it is a good time to upgrade your solar but a good solar system capable of operating an elec refer is still going to cost $5000 plus the cost of batteries. At least it is a one time expense. I would guess it would depend on how much time you spend at our place in Colonet to determine whether it is worth the expense.
Larry

Larry: Out on the beach at Colonet they should have similar weather as we do and we have two fridges running all the time. What I did was to separate the fridges from the main system, giving each mini system two 250watt panels charging six AGM batteries. That keeps each fridge running great year round and by removing the loads from the main system, that also runs well.

The total cost for the four 250watt panels, twelve batteries and chargers was less than $3500.

Am I missing something???

larryC - 7-18-2014 at 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaGringo

Quote:

Ron
I doubt you are missing anything, as I remember you pretty much have your stuff together. What you have done obviously works well for you. I was just doing a quickie quote and figuring 4 285 watt panels at $800, an outback 3524 panel complete with inverter, fm80 charge controller, flexmax battery monitor for $3800 and that leaves a little left over to build panel mounts, battery cables and mc4 wires from the panels to the charge controller. On top of that you would need batteries. Of course there are cheaper ways to go, but you can't go wrong with Outback stuff, its more money up front but pays for itself in the long run. IMHO.
Larry

BajaGringo - 7-18-2014 at 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by larryC...I was just doing a quickie quote and figuring 4 285 watt panels at $800, an outback 3524 panel complete with inverter, fm80 charge controller, flexmax battery monitor for $3800 and that leaves a little left over to build panel mounts, battery cables and mc4 wires from the panels to the charge controller. On top of that you would need batteries. Of course there are cheaper ways to go, but you can't go wrong with Outback stuff, its more money up front but pays for itself in the long run. IMHO.
Larry

Gotcha and with that you would be correct amigo. While I did go with the high-end gear for our two main systems setup, I didn't feel the need to duplicate that for the refrigerators, which would be the only load on their individual setups. Who knows what is truly the most ideal answer but with over four years running this way without a problem, I do think it is a viable option.

I haven't had to fire up the backup generator once for system low voltage. The normal system voltage (24v) is around 24.8 to 25.0 early in the AM before the chargers wake up. My batteries are usually in float before 10 each morning.

Saludos!

schwlind - 7-18-2014 at 06:24 PM

Thanks to everyone who replied... Still open to any and all comments/recommendations. While it is not a huge prob now, once my hubby retires and we'll be spending more time there.. I'll have some worries.