To the Editor:
(Oct. 2015) Recently, we have seen mixed messages regarding the best ways for consumers to heat their homes during this upcoming winter. For home and business owners not connected to the natural gas main lines, options can include propane, heating oil, or wood pellets.
Several sources, including some State agencies, have been sending mixed messages about the advantages of wood in comparison to propane and heating oil.
First, it is very important to understand that propane cannot, nor should, be compared to fuel oil – which is one of several misleading messages coming from those touting wood pellets.
While wood pellet stoves have increased in efficiency compared to years past (now up to 78 percent), propane furnace efficiency levels can be as high as 93 percent or more, with primary by-products of combustion being CO2 and water. This is quite different from even the most efficient heating oil or wood pellet furnace.
There are several pieces to the energy-efficient, renewable landscape. Wood pellets have a role to play – but so does a clean burning fuel such as propane. For nearly a century, propane has provided clean, efficient, and affordable energy to homes, farms and businesses in New York, and is a growing percentage of New York’s energy mix today.
Propane can be brought to your location without installing expensive pipelines, or eliminating healthy competition, or displacing local businesses and taxpayers which have supported communities for decades. It also supports the local economy – with delivery drivers, technicians and customer service professionals who live and work right in our communities.
The propane supply produced right here in the United States has never been more plentiful – in fact, the U.S. is now the world’s largest propane supplier – and consumers are currently enjoying lower prices than in past winters.
Propane is an important part of America’s energy independence, and it’s important for consumers to understand the role of propane accurately.
Rick Cummings, President
New York Propane Gas Association