Propane or Natural Gas: Which Is Better for Your Home?

Choosing between natural gas and propane as a home energy source can be difficult: both options offer high efficiency performance and good value. But propane offers several advantages over natural gas that make it a better choice for your Connecticut home.

Here are five reasons to choose propane rather than natural gas to power your home heating and home comfort equipment:

1. Propane delivery is safer – Because propane can be compressed safely, it can easily be moved by truck. By contrast, natural gas is difficult to compress, which is why it must be delivered via pipeline. If there are no natural gas pipelines installed near your home, you can’t use it; if there are pipelines near your home, you run the risk of pipeline failure – a dangerous situation that can easily turn disastrous.

   Propane handling is heavily regulated by authorities at federal, state and local levels, and every propane delivery is made by highly trained technicians using advanced equipment that is tested and re-tested regularly.

2. Propane installation is more flexible – In most cases, a propane line can enter the home wherever you want it to, 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.
3. Propane produces more energy – Propane contains double the amount of usable energy content per cubic foot as natural gas – about 2,490 BTUs versus 1,030.
4. Propane produces fewer greenhouse gases when burned – Natural gas is a fossil fuel that releases methane when burned; propane combustion produces almost no greenhouse gas.
5. 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 – five 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 CT service area: Hocon.

Contact the propane experts at Hocon today to learn more and see if propane is right for your home!