Amerigas Tank Rental Fee?????????
 

Hello to all,

I have read threads here for a while, and finally decided to join in.:)

My wife and I have a home in Suissevale, and love it here! What I would like to ask is, did anyone else recieve a $100 bill from Amerigas for "tank rental" this year. We haven't contacted them yet, but we're wondering if this typical for everyone.

Thankyou for any responces,
Peter

rental fee
 

I got a bill for the rental fee too. Been getting 1 for a couple of years now. I think it was only $40. I have two of the smaller upright, 4 foot high tanks. I suspect they started charging this fee becuase I wasn't ordering enough propane and they needed more of my money. Have been thinking of switching but never got disgusted enough to follow through yet.

Also just paid about $100 for about 24 gallons of propane. Again, I suspect my low usage helps them justify this outrageous price.

Welcome pcmc! I think it is fairly typical that a rental fee is charged for the tank. I don't like it, but if local regs. permit it, you can always buy a tank and then go out for bids as to who has the lowest price.

I can't remember the specifics, but I went with Rhymes Propane because there was either no fee or cheaper rates. Wish I could remember, it was only 2 months ago.

HCG

Just A Thought...
 

Some winters, they have to rent M-1 tanks to break trail for their home delivery trucks to get to their what used to be above ground storage tanks! :)

Kind'a like the airlines these days that charge a bag fee, whether you have, or just look-alike upon boarding... :)

However, look at the big picture!... And I hope that everyone saved their first penny.

I too went with Rymes specifically because they didn't charge a tank fee. I just got a delivery and it wasn't inexpensive for the gas. I don't use a lot either(one delivery a year) about 45 gallons for close to $4.00 a gallon. They get me on price. I have considered buying my own tank and bringing it to get filled, but it's still a $$ game.

Not sure if Palmer Gas delivers up there but last week I got 47 gallons at $2.57 a gallon. I haven't been charged a tank rental fee.

Amerigas
 

We have a 250 lb tank that is filled once a year. Amerigas started charging us $100 a year for tank rental a couple of years ago. Thet say we don't use it enough. How much gas are you suppose to buy in a year?

Propane is expensive compared to LNG I used in Breckenridge. The LNG dealers don't charge for rental.

Propane Tank
 

I finally got tired of not using enough gas and being overcharged for gas and no service. I bought my own 100lb tank and fill it twice a year at the local campground. You will also need your own regulator which is about $15 to $20.

Hi everyone, THANKYOU for all of your input!

For future options:
Where would I go to buy a large tank?( I don't know what sizes are avaliable)
How big is a 100lb. tank in comparison to gallons?
What do I do with the 500gal. tank here now, will Am. Gas come get it (and charge me for that to)? Maybe I should stop service and charge them storage fees.:)

Sorry for the delay in my responce, and thanks again,
Peter

You can buy 100 lb tanks at Lowes in Gilford. I saw few there just last week.

Dan

Eastern requires 200 gallons per year to avoid a fee

They have a 100 lb tank at Tractor Supply in Ossipee. Propane weighs about 4.2 lbs. per gallon.

You can buy 100# propane tanks at the Depot or Lowes. The cost is right around $110 each. Most campgrounds or hardware stores will fill them up for you.

What does a campground or hardware charge to fill a larger tank per gallon? Anyone know? Say as compared to my $3.74?

propane tank
 

My son In law fill his 100 Lb. tank In Concord for $55:00

:D

Thats about $2.00 per gallon. Buying a tank would have a quick payback then, but not sure I could get those prices up here.

Any local prices from someone else?

I live in Suissevale as well. Year round. I have two of the big above aground tanks. No fee for either tank. but I heat and cook with propane. So maybe I use enough. make sure you are getting the Suissevale price as well....;):D

I took 100 gallons 2 weeks ago from Eastern at $1.815. Unfortunately next year the price is going up. I use about 1100 gals per year.

Propane
 

I have a 300 lb.? tank at home all I know Is energy north charges me $ 3.38 a gal. Its for my fire place and i only fill It twice a year they tell me the tank holds 26 Gal.

:D

When amerigas started charging rental and were very rude, I jumped to another. My tanks were put in place about 1980, and old then, so I'm glad to have them off my property....

Locally. Wallace Propane was bought out by Columia Gas and Columbia Gas was bought out by Amerigas. Lot's of debt in that company.

For those with just one or a couple 100 lb. tank/tanks - the cost to make a delivery is high for all propane companies.

Yes, you can purchase a 20 lb. 30 lb. 40 lb and even a 100 lb. tank. Tough to lift a 100 lb. tank though.

None of the propane companies actually own the tanks. They are all leased.

You can buy your own big tanks also. Tis a tad expensive. But you can purchase them. And your cost of propane is somewhat less and you can shop around for propane. The payback though is quite long.

There is no one "good" company. A lot depends on who owns the company and who manages the area.

Some charge by an escalting scale. More propane - less unit cost.

Some have better repair service and more knowledgeable repair people.

One company (name not mentioned) was going around and doing "Energy Audits" - and advising homeowners that they needed a new furnace. And it didn't matter how new or how old the furnace was.

If I were building a new home I would never use propane as heat. Yes, it is a little cleaner then oil but every time you change companies - you have to get another tank - and then the propane guy/gal goes trancing around your home looking for "issues" and writing down all serial numbers of all propane appiances.

So much simpler with oil heat. They do an annual cleaning and deliver oil. And one can switch companies at any time.

That's some good advice about using oil as opposed to propane, and then just get the oil boiler or oil furnace cleaned up of the old oil soot residue every one or two years. When the oil service company does a yearly or two-yearly tune-up and cleanout, they spend a lot of time using long skinny scrub brushes and a vacumm to get all the old soot out from around the heat exchanger area in between the inside and outside of the boiler or furnace. Plus, they replace the oil nozzle, which you can purchase for about six dollars at Lowe's-Gilford or just window shop various boiler-furnace heat parts like nozzles, hot water circulator pumps, and thermostats, plus a few other heating parts.

Most local hardware stores do not carry heating parts, and businesses like F W Webb will only sell to a plumber or heat-installer and refuse to be helpfull to someone they do not know, so it can be very helpfull to be able to window shop heating parts at the Lowe's-Gilford.

follow up
 

Amerigas took lots time to remove the tanks, long after disconnected. However, they did live up to ussuing me a refund check for the propane in the filled tanks.
I will never suggest them to another. The people at Eastern are very efficient.
YES, they need to inspect propane connections periodically.

Switch
 

I switch from Amerigas to Eastern. Eastern will not allow you to bury their tanks. A recent change in their policy.

Eastern.

Just this past week I viewed the truck delivering a buried tank from them.

100 lb tanks down to $93 at lowes in Gilford
 

I just bought a heater and a 100 lb tank at Lowes. Same tank at HD is $110.00 There are only a few left.
Remember that by law the tank must be secured and transported in the upright position, it cannot be laid down in the back of you truck or car.
I was told this is suppose to apply to all propane tanks from 20 lbs up.

:confused:

Yet another FLL post with bad info.I buy from Webb all the time and am neither a plumber or HVAC installer and they didn't know me at one time.Just a building owner.Anybody can buy from Webb.

More like bad intent. His posting history shows this kind of thing over & over again.

Maybe not bad intent
 

A lot of Plumbing supply houses won't sell non licensed consumer "do it yourselfers" Oil burner or Gas Burner parts. It has to do with liability of selling parts and perhaps offering advice to repair products that could Blow Up and cause personal injury if done incorrectly. There is a reason Heating Tech's need a license.

yes.....bad intent
 

Yes......bad intent. FFL said "Webb" does not sell products to the general public, not some random plumbing supply company.....he picked out Webb like SIKSUKR pointed out. If you have read FLL's posts over the years you will see this kind of thing over & over again. It is what it is. He gets no benefit of the doubt from me. I just find this type of thing so unfair......a business like Webb could lose customers in this bad economy cause FFL is making stuff up.

Sorry....no....no bad intent here....just my ignorance about what's the latest over at F W Webb's big supply house on Hounsell Ave on the Laconia-Gilford border. Last time I went to the Laconia - Webb's was at the old location on the Winnipesaukee River, and they pretty much refused to sell to me about ten years ago, so I went to the nearby Goulet's Plumbing Supply.

The Gilford-Lowe's is an excellent plumbing supply, and it's obviously pretty much all self-service as opposed to working with a counter person at a supply house. ...gotta luv that Lowe's.....plus the freebie coffee....and yellow tag specials. Lowe's even has lawn irrigation system parts by Ortho and Rainbird, plus a threader machine for cutting & threading black & galvy iron pipe.

How can you tell if a plumber is any good at what he does? :D He never takes a leak! :D

In the old days, wholesalers only sold to contractors or those with a contractor account.

Time are tough. And all sell to anyone. But you may pay a price. Some do provide same price to all while most do not.

For little low cost parts it is no big deal.

Years ago, I priced a propane furnace at one of the larger wholesalers. My price was $1,200. A licensed plumber friend got a a price for the exact same furnance from the same wholesaler for $410.

And all have to understand the concept. The wholesalers do have to keep the contractors coming back. And the contractors have to make a living.