While natural gas is the leading home heating source in many parts of the country, most people don’t realize that many of the benefits of natural gas translate to propane as well.
Whether it’s a super-efficient furnace, unlimited hot water, temperature-precise cooking stoves or reliable backup home generators to enhance convenience and safety, you can count on all of these benefits in your propane-powered home in the same way people do in homes supplied with natural gas.
However, propane offers several advantages over natural gas that tip the scale in its favor. Here are six of them:
Propane delivery more accessible. If there are no gas pipelines installed near your home, you can’t use natural gas. Propane businesses serve customers in every one of the 435 U.S. congressional districts. (Source: National Propane Gas Association.)
Propane delivery is safer. Propane can easily be compressed for safe transport, where it is handled by highly trained professionals using equipment and procedures that are heavily regulated by authorities at federal, state, and local levels. Compare that to the delivery system of natural gas. If an underground natural gas pipeline gets damaged, customers may lose their supply until repairs get done. If a serious problem occurs with a gas pipeline, the situation can turn tragic, as we saw recently in Massachusetts.
Propane gas line installation is more flexible. In most cases, a propane line can be fed into a home at many different entry points, as long as there’s a tank nearby (while there are some requirements for distance from the home for a propane tank, they are not overly restrictive). This may not be true with a natural gas line.
Propane produces fewer greenhouse gases when burned. Environmental issues have been raised about methane leaks coming from old underground natural gas pipelines. (Methane is a greenhouse gas and the main component of natural gas.) In its original form, propane is not a greenhouse gas and it’s considered a “green” fuel because of its low carbon content.
As a fuel, propane is also safer.Propane has a much narrower range of flammability (minimum and maximum burn temperatures) than natural gas; propane will not ignite when combined with air unless the ignition source reaches at least 920 degrees F.
So there you have it – six great reasons propane comes out at the top of gas class. If you do choose to power with propane, there’s only one place to get it in our service area: P.Gagnon & Son.
Contact us today to learn more and see if propane is right for your home!
