When the stock market is volatile, the best piece of advice is to diversify. By spreading your investments across different areas, you can better ride out the bumps. Did you know you can apply the same advice to save money on the energy you use to power your home?
Reevaluating the kind of energy you use—and diversifying rather than going all-electric—is a smart way to manage energy costs. Electricity is necessary to run a lot of things—lights, phones, some appliances. But it’s not the smartest choice for all your appliances and systems. Propane is a versatile and efficient choice, and the benefits to your home, comfort—and, yes, your bottom line—might surprise you.
Most people hear “propane” and think grills. But there’s a wide range of efficient propane appliances you can use in your home. And propane appliances waste very little fuel in the combustion process, which means a smaller carbon footprint than oil or electricity and great value.
If you’re looking to improve efficiency—and add value to your home at the same time, propane appliances are an efficient and savvy choice. Here’s why:
Heating & Space Heating: Propane generates more Btus than an equivalent amount of electricity, so you need much less propane to produce the same amount of heat or energy. That means propane heats your home quickly, and efficiently, compared to electric heat, which takes much longer to reach a comfortable temperature and can struggle to maintain it—driving up your energy usage.
Water Heaters: Water heating is a big percentage of home energy bills—especially when you consider how much hot water a household uses: bathing, laundry, dishwashing. An energy-efficient propane water heater can help you reduce your energy costs, and perform better too. Tankless water heaters save energy by instantly heating water when you need it, rather than keeping a large tank hot all the time. As a result, you can enjoy virtually unlimited hot water—while seeing savings of up to 40%!
Cooking and Grilling: Nothing beats the precision and control you get cooking with gas. That’s why it’s the first choice of professional chefs in the kitchen—and on the patio. Recent stories about gas stoves and indoor air quality are a bit misleading: While natural gas stoves can potentially emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, propane contains no methane. And, cooking of any kind creates particulate matter and affects indoor air quality, no matter what fuel is used.
Outdoor Living: Adding safe and efficient propane patio heaters can let you enjoy your outdoor spaces earlier in the spring and later into the autumn. Fire pits and fire bowls become an attractive focal point and gathering space for entertaining friends and family. And propane-fueled pool and spa heaters will warm up the water much faster than an electric heater, and maintain the temperature better once the water is warm. As a result, propane pool heaters help you keep heating costs under control, while letting you enjoy your pool or spa more.
Indoor fireplaces: A propane fireplace brings all the ambiance and warmth of a wood-burning fireplace to any room, without the mess, smoke and ash. And unlike a traditional fireplace, you can install a propane-fueled fireplace just about anywhere: living room, dining room, bedroom, even the kitchen. Imagine the luxe, spa-like glamour of a fireplace in your master bath!
Generators: When storms knock out power, a propane-fueled backup generator will keep your lights on, your refrigerator running and everything else powered up until the utility companies can make repairs.
Sure, conserving energy by turning off lights, lowering the heat or raising the AC, and using less hot water is one way to control energy costs. But if you’re refurbishing your existing home, shopping for a new place, building your dream house, or just looking for ways to reduce your fuel bills, propane provides great value. Our team of experts have the experience and knowledge to answer all your questions and help make adding propane to your North Carolina or southern Virginia home easy. We’ll make sure you have the right size propane storage tank for your needs, and provide with great propane services like automatic delivery, tank monitoring, smart payment plans to help keep costs manageable and so much more.
Contact us for more information today.
