With temperatures set to drop across North Carolina in the weeks ahead, LG Jordan Oil & Gas customers will soon see their propane consumption climb. Furnaces run longer, water heaters work harder, and other propane heating appliances (like gas logs and space heaters) start pulling more from the tank. The one thing nobody wants during a cold snap is to run out of fuel. An empty tank can mean no heat, no hot water, no stove and no other gas appliances until a delivery arrives.
Because so many appliances may be pulling from your home’s tank, a home’s overall usage can be difficult tricky to predict. Add in unpredictable weather, where one cold night can spike demand while a mild stretch slows it back down, and it’s easy to see why propane planning isn’t as simple as it sounds.
The good news: LG Jordan Oil & Gas makes it simple for homeowners throughout North Carolina. A little understanding of how propane usage works goes a long way, and our automatic delivery service can take the guesswork off your plate entirely.
Propane tanks aren’t filled to 100%. Standard practice is to fill them to about 80% capacity, leaving room for the propane to expand and contract as temperatures shift outdoors. So, if you have a 500-gallon tank, you can expect roughly 400 gallons of usable propane after a fill-up.
Keeping this number in mind — rather than your tank’s full rated size — gives you a much more accurate picture of how long your supply will actually last once winter sets in.
Every household’s propane use looks a little different depending on how many appliances are hooked up to the tank. Industry estimates suggest a typical propane-heated home — including hot water and cooking — can go through around 700 to 800 gallons over a winter season.
Your heating system does most of that work. Furnace size, efficiency and how cold it gets outside all factor into the pace of consumption. As a general guide, an 80,000 Btu high-efficiency furnace burns close to a gallon of propane per hour of runtime. On a bitterly cold day where the system runs for about 10 hours, that adds up to roughly 9 to 10 gallons used for heating alone.
Beyond heating, other appliances chip away at your supply throughout the year:
Once you stack these on top of heating demand, it’s easy to see how quickly a tank can drain during a busy winter.
Understanding the numbers is useful, but most homeowners don’t want to be out checking their tank gauge every week and doing mental math on gallons burned. That’s exactly the problem our automatic delivery program solves.
LG Jordan uses smart forecasting that factors in your home’s propane appliances alongside real-time weather data to predict your fuel needs before you do. We schedule deliveries ahead of time, so your tank never gets dangerously low — no gauge-checking, no last-minute calls, no risk of running dry on the coldest night of the year.
For homeowners in Wake County and the surrounding region, automatic delivery means one less thing to worry about all winter long. Reach out to LG Jordan Oil & Gas today to sign up and keep your home fueled and comfortable all season.
