In our last post, Mailbag: Answering Some Propane FAQs, we did exactly what the title of the post suggests we would — answer some questions we hear once in a while about propane. And while our mailbox isn’t overflowing with inquisitions related to propane applications or its efficiency, we thought we could do our civic duty, as it were, to help folks educate themselves on the wonderful world of propane. Sure, we are slightly biased in the sense that our family-owned propane company has seen propane be the source of its livelihood since 1937, but that doesn’t mean we are the only people on the planet who have a curiosity about one of the world’s safest, cleanest, and efficient types of fuel.
That being said, we are taking the chance to be a bit more thorough than we were in our previous post, so keep reading if you have some propane-related questions you’d like to get answered, or if you are searching for a propane supplier worth their salt. Either way, this post is for you!
Spotlight: Commercial Propane For Your Business
Before we get into the meat and potatoes of today’s FAQ post, allow us a brief aside about what we can do for businesses of many different kinds with our commercial propane services here at DiSanto Propane of Upstate New York. We are a commercial propane supplier that offers a wide range of propane solutions for many different industries, among them being recycling yards, road crews, farms, petrochemical industries and more.
Why should a business think about switching to propane? There are many reasons, but among them are the facts that propane is environmentally-friendly when compared with fuel alternatives in addition to being remarkably efficient, safe, and cost-effective.
With regards to the first point, propane burns cleaner than oil and meets the EPAs standard for clean air, which kind of makes sense when you realize it’s the most commonly used alternative fuel source in the nation. Using propane for your business means you lower greenhouse gas emissions by reducing your carbon footprint. Reducing the amount of pollution (pollutants like carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide) is nothing to turn your nose up at.
With regards to efficiency, propane helps businesses of many different kinds save money when they use propane appliances. And if you elect to use propane for your fleet fueling, you can look forward to the fact that more often than not propane-powered engines will last longer and need less ongoing maintenance their gasoline-powered engines typically require.
Safety
Propane is released into the atmosphere as a vapor, since it is pressurized. Hence, it can’t be ingested by mistake the way gasoline might be. What’s more, the propane industry in general is disciplined and intentional about making sure we have the proper safety regulations in place. DiSanto Propane goes the extra mile to ensure that our customers are confident about how safe they feel with regards to propane use in their home or commercial organization. We offer GAS system checks to home and business owners, which involve inspections and tutorials for our customers. Make sure you ask us about this service if you are interested!
Domestic Fuel
The final reason to consider commercial propane services at DiSanto is that propane is a domestic fuel source, with over 90 percent of propane being produced in the USA. So you won’t need to worry about fuel shortages or price spikes out of nowhere when it comes to propane. Plus, you help support American businesses (like our own) which account for around 150,000 US workers in propane sales, trade, and wholesale industries. We appreciate the consideration!
If you are a builder, contractor, fleet manager, or even a farmer, we’ve got you covered with dedicated resources about what we can do for you at DiSanto. Find more detailed information about our commercial propane services on our dedicated resource.
FAQs About Propane
As promised, we will now be continuing our propane FAQ series.
What Do I Need To Know About Using A Propane Water Heater?
Excellent question, we are thrilled you asked. But to be fair, we are pretty happy anytime we get to answer questions about propane. But we do have a few tips based on our many years of experience in the world of propane. Here are a few that have to do with using a propane hot water heater:
- The first thing you should do is make sure you turn down your water heater from the industry-standard of 140 degrees F to 130. You’ll save right around 10 percent on your energy bill, all else being equal, and you won’t notice a thing in terms of the maximum temperature. 130 degrees should be plenty hot for everyone in your whole family!
- Make sure you drain your water heater every six months to get all those nasty lime deposits and sediment out of your tank. Yes, it’s not the most pleasant chore you’ve ever done, and six months is fairly frequent, but hot water heaters are expensive. Performing this simple measure can expand the lifespan of your water heater in a considerable way.
- Here’s your mind-numbing fact of the day: a leaky faucet that drips enough to fill a coffee mug within ten minutes will waste 3,200 gallons of water every year. So…repair that leaky faucet to save money on your energy bill.
How can I Save Money On My Energy Bill?
We touched on this in our previous post, but there are plenty of measures you can take, so let’s revisit this one. Below you’ll find a few random ideas you can try out to see if you can’t get that energy bill down by a decent margin.
- It’s a good idea to make sure the caulking around windows, doors, and other openings like vents and fans are still in good working condition. If they have experienced some wear-and-tear over the years, they might be costing you a chunk of change on your monthly energy bill.
- Think about setting up a regular delivery schedule with your propane retailer, whether it’s DiSanto Propane of Upstate New York or otherwise. Doing so will make sure your tank is full before the heart of winter rather than putting it off until it’s empty. Plus, establishing stable monthly pricing (like we offer at DiSanto) helps you budget more evenly.
- You’ll need to get your residential heating system tuned-up, or at least inspected, every so often to make sure you are getting an efficient return. If you are interested in getting a home heating system inspection, we would be more than happy to provide that for you at DiSanto. Regardless, there are measures you can employ that should help you out, like changing your furnace filter every month to make sure your heating system is functioning optimally.
- Consider switching to a propane water heater. Yeah, we talked about it a bit above, but did you know how much it can save you when compared with an electric water heater? Given a bit of time, you can cut your yearly heating bill total by one third. Plus, you can recover hot water almost twice as quickly as electric water heaters. And if you turn that temperature down to 130 degrees F from 140, that can slice ten percent off your energy bill in one fell swoop, and it barely takes any time at all to do so!
- If you aren’t using a room very often, think about closing those vents and doors that are touching it. Likewise, it’s never a bad idea to make sure you are getting full coverage on your basement and attic insulation. You can easily lose a significant amount of heat if you don’t, which obviously wastes costly energy.
- Thermostat timers are remarkably effective, which makes sense when you realize what they do — give you the ability to customize your heating settings so you can stay comfortable but not waste energy heating an empty home! We often see annual heating bills get cut by as much as ten percent by simply turning the thermostat 15 percent back for eight or so hours each day.
Is There A Propane Retailer In Upstate New York I Should Switch To?
What an amazing question; whoever put this in our mailbag gets a thousand gold stars. The answer to this question is a resounding yes. Switching to DiSanto Propane will set you up for success, whether you are interested in our home propane services, commercial propane services, or both! Nobody will work as hard as we do to make sure you are satisfied and confident about all the services you receive.
With over 80 years of experience in the industry, we are a family-owned propane company that understands how to treat our customers. Propane isn’t on the top of most folks’ minds until they are in need of something vital, but it’s all we think about here at DiSanto. We give you stable monthly pricing, 24/7 emergency customer service, and high-quality propane solutions. Become a DiSanto Propane customer today!