Which is cheaper for energy costs -- Propane or Electricity???

15 years ago

For canning, does anyone know if it is cheaper, more expensive, or comparable to can on a propane burner as oppossed to using an electric stove?

I do several hundred quarts of stuff every year, mostly tomatoes, pickles, and some jams/jellies in pints and half pints.

I have always canned indoors on my electric stove. We don't have natural gas on my street, so that's not an option.

But, canning makes the house hot and sticky -- it's so depressing to have to run 4 burners on full-blast all day in August while cranking up the AC because it's 93 degrees outside. Canning season definitely runs my electric bills up, from an average of $70 most of the year to about $150 in canning season -- between canning, AC and dehumidifiers in the basement. And, I live in a very small house.

I was contemplating buying a 2 burner outdoor propane stove to attach to one of the propane cylinders (the larger size used for gas grills). I could do most of my boiling outside of the house, and not have all of that heat and steam indoors.

I've heard people comment that it's actually cheaper to can this way with propane than on an electric stove. Does anyone know if this is so?

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Comments (10)

grandad_2003
15 years ago
Denninmi, I'm not sure of the answer to your question but I guess it would depend on the prices for electricty and propane and also on the efficiency of the propane burner. Nonetheless, from what you've stated in your post, if it were me I'd go for the outside propane burner approach. I'm not thinking that the difference in price (assuming higher) would be enough to offset the benefits that you mentioned. In our neck of the woods WalMart stores carry the burners - not sure in your area. Also, the outdoor sporting good stores also carry these; as do the hardware chain stores... seems like I've seen these for as low as $30.

I have both electricity and natrual gas in our home. One of my 3 burners is setup for natrual gas. I use this for smaller duty. The larger jobs need the higher BTU output provided by propane.
jenniesue
15 years ago
my husband is convinced it's cheaper to do it outside, but we haven't actually done the math.
If you can, I would recommend getting one of the 2 or 3 burner outdoor burners. Mine just has one burner, so I have to to prep and cook inside and the bring the pot outside to fill the jars and load the canner outside. It's not that big of a deal, but it would be easier to just do everything outdoors.
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digdirt2
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This is the one I just bought (Ken here recommended it). Given the cost of propane now I'm not sure which is cheaper but at least with the propane all the heat won't be trapped in the house and I won't have all those misc. taxes and fees that the power company adds to the power bill. They sometimes total 1/2 the bill!

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Propane burner
zeuspaul
15 years ago
If we use 35000 BTUs per hour taken from the propane burner link in digdirt's post above we get .38 gal propane per hour based on 91300 BTUs per gallon. At $3 per gal of propane (my most recent delivered price of propane) it works out to be $1.15 per hour if the burner is going full blast.

35000 BTUs is 10.25 kilowatt-hrs. At 15 cents per kilowatt-hr it works out to be $1.53 per hour for electric.

Electric may transfer heat more efficiently which would bring the comparison closer. Also your propane and electric costs would also affect the calcs.

Zeuspaul
denninmi
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks, all, for the replies. It sounds like propane is at least competitive in price, and it would eliminate at lot of the steam from the house.
ksrogers
15 years ago
My next door neighbor heats with propane and has a huge underground tank that gets filed maybe 4 times a year. I just bought a 20 pound fill at BJ's and it was still just $11. Our street has no piped in gas lines. A 20 pound fill will last maybe 4-5 cannings of an hour or more each. With a pressure canner your not always running with full burners on either. My stove is electric and if I pressure can I have to make use of that instead.
zeuspaul
15 years ago
$11 for twenty pounds is about $2.34 per gallon @ 4.24 pounds per gallon for propane. It's cheaper if you get it yourself. Delivered prices include transportation costs to your home.

Using Ken's propane cost it would be 89 cents at full blast. The comparison is energy propane vs energy electric. If you are not at full blast propane you would compare to an equivalent reduction for electric. The $ per hour would be reduced but it would be relative. Electric costs will also vary. 15 cents is about what I pay when above the baseline allowance. California has high electric costs so yours will most likely be less.

Zeuspaul
macheske
15 years ago
Do you have a propane tank for your house? We have propane and electric for our house. It costs me about 1/4 of the price for the propane for the house vs. getting a cylinder filled. I added a line to my BBQ so that I don't have to get cylinders filled and get it cheaper. Also, could you put an electric stove in the garage? It might make sense.
melva02
15 years ago
Do you have air conditioning? If so, canning outside is probably cheaper than inside, regardless of fuel. Heating and cooling are usually the single largest component of home energy use. Removing the extra heat and moisture will cost you big time.

Melissa
zeuspaul
15 years ago
In my area the most expensive propane option is a propane swap, taking your empty bottle to HD and swapping it for a full one. The cost is about double getting one filled at a filling station.

Zeuspaul

Which is cheaper for energy costs -- Propane or Electricity???

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grandad_2003

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Which is cheaper for energy costs -- Propane or Electricity???

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