Depending on the town you live in and the actual location of your home, natural gas may be a heating option that is available to you. If you’ve never used natural gas before and are only familiar with propane it makes sense to question what the differences are between the two. Afterall, it makes a difference when purchasing your equipment, because they are set up differently depending on the fuel.
Propane and Natural Gas are similar, but they still have their differences
Natural gas may be the default fuel used for heating homes and powering appliances in your area, but propane has gained a lot of popularity in the past decade. In some cases, natural gas isn’t an option because the natural gas pipeline does not run in some area. In these instances, many people are choosing propane over oil because of its similarities to natural gas.
As similar as propane and natural gas can be, there are also significant differences. If both are available in your area, we would encourage you to look at the pros and cons of both to determine which fuel is the best choice for your home.
Here are 4 areas to consider:
Efficiency
Propane contains more than twice the energy of natural gas as measured in BTU’s. This means that on a per unit basis, you will get two times as much heat from propane as you will natural gas, which results in using less fuel.
Environmentally
Propane is clean burning and non-toxic or damaging to the environment, which makes it a “green fuel”. Natural gas is a carbon product and a greenhouse gas which is very damaging to the environment. Want to reduce your carbon footprint? Choose Propane.
Versatility
Like natural gas, propane can be used for all appliances. These include cook tops, clothes dryers, fire places, barbecues, and even for heating your backyard swimming pool. However, the argument for propane here circles back to the BTU’s and efficiency. Since Propane has twice as high of a BTU rating, it provides higher heat. This makes propane better for cooking, barbecuing, and running all your appliances more efficiently.
Flexibility
Having control over your energy supply is becoming more and more common. With natural gas you are stuff with just one provider – depending on your neighborhood, you are forced to use whichever utility company supplies the natural gas through the pipeline to your house. With propane a storage tank is placed on your property and allows you to not only choose your provider, but also monitor your usage with greater accuracy.
At Baribault Fuel, we believe in giving our clients options. While propane is the most similar to Natural Gas, we also offer Heating Oil as an additional choice. We pride ourselves on being a one stop shop, providing our customers with heating fuels, equipment installation, and our 24/7 emergency service. Give us a call today and learn why Baribault Fuel has been your neighbor for almost a century.
