As some of the coldest temperatures of the early 2017 year sweep across the country, the call for the use of propane gas products may increase. In a time when the nation is concerned about foreign countries hacking into our nation’s computers, the threat of cold weather can be even more concerning. Home, property, and business owners who make the decision to switch to propane gas products make the decision to take control of the heating sources that they need, as well as the fuel they need for other tools and machines.
Propane Gas Products Can be Used to Heat a Home
Although a majority of people in large cities pay for utilities provided by the city, an increasing number of individuals who live in rural areas turn to propane fuel for this purpose. Heating your home with propane means that you are, in many ways, off the grid and free from government and private company produced and priced utilities. With a contract through local propane services, residential gas product users can see many benefits:
- Propane allows for tankless water heaters. Given the Energy Star rating, some of the top tankless water heaters reach an efficiency level that fall between 83% and 94%.
- Home heating systems that use propane not only cut home energy costs, they also produce fewer damaging green house gases.
- Nearly a third of home energy expenses goes toward water heating. Using propane for this purpose cuts energy costs as well as also limiting more green house gases.
- Propane produces what is called radiant heat, and by many accounts this kind of heat is far more efficient than electric. In most home propane systems, propane water boilers heat water that is then pumped through a tubing system under the floor. Because radiant heat is closer to the floor it is a more efficient delivery system than the more traditional furnace and duct system.
- Propane clothes dryers are 50% more efficient than electric dryers.
- Propane fireplaces provide even heat that emits fewer emissions.
Agricultural Businesses Often Rely on Propane Fueled Machines and Tools
In addition to residential propane services, another major use of propane takes place in the agricultural industry. In fact, as many as 660,000 farmers use propane for irrigation pumps, grain dryers, standby generators, and a variety of other kinds of farm equipment. Propane is actually an essential fuel for crop drying, flame cultivation, fruit ripening, space heating, water heating, and food refrigeration. Large propane tanks, in fact, are one of the most common sites on farms, other than livestock and large pieces of equipment.
Propane is such an essential fuel on most farms across the country that one of the tasks that any successful farmer learns to understand is knowing the amount of propane that will be needed every month. Keeping close records of both usage, temperatures, and harvest amounts, for instance, can help farmers use information from previous years to more accurately predict the needs for future months and years.
Many Other Industries Use Propane as a Major source of Fuel and Energy
The latest research indicates that an estimated 350,000 industrial sites across American rely on propane for a variety of purposes. The petrochemical industries, for example, use propane manufacture plastics. Here is a list of other propane uses in U.S. industries:
- annealing
- brazing
- cutting
- heat treating
- soldering
- space heating
- vulcanizing
Propane gas products are contained in approved cylinders or tanks, and is a fuel that exists as both a liquid and a vapor. As a vapor propane is released from the container as a fuel gas that is clean burning. Propane is 270 times more compact as a liquid than as a gas, which makes it economical to store and transport as a liquid, and then use as a vapor.
In addition to being both clean, affordable, and efficient, propane is also an advantageous fuel to this country because the majority of the propane supply is produced domestically. In fact, 90% of the of America?s propane supply is produced in this country, and 70% of the remaining supply is imported from the neighboring countries of Canada and Mexico. Equal amounts of propane come from natural gas processing and the refining of crude oil. As a result, propane is readily available and a secure energy source.
