Using Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) can potentially save you up to $3,000 in building costs and yearly utility bills. What are the differences between the two and is that worth it?
LPG vs natural gas. What’s the difference?
LPG is propane and is most commonly seen in bottled gas. The two most popular sizes are 4kg or 9kg bottles. You can swap-and-go empty bottles with a full bottle at Bunnings, K-Mart, and patrol stations such as Coles Express, Caltex, and Shell, just to name a few.
Natural gas is methane. Utility companies supply it directly to your home via pipelines. The utility company charged around 20 cents a day for a connection fee ten years ago. By 2022, gas company charges connection fee range from 50¢ to $1.2 per day, making natural gas more expensive in most homes.
Compare LPG vs. natural gas cost:
A modern home that uses a reverse cycle air conditioning system for space heating and a solar boosted hot water unit will only need LPG or natural gas for cooking. The energy usage is around 2000MJ per year for an average household.
Using LPG-bottled gas, it costs approximately 5 cents per MJ or $100 per year.
Using natural gas, the cost will be:
Approximately $3,000 to build the gas pipe from the street to the house appliance.
Daily 50¢ to $1.2 connection fee translates to roughly $300 per year on average at Year 2020
2¢ per MJ at 2020 off-peak rate, which translates to about $60 per year.
Overall, using LPG gas translates to $3,000 one-time capital cost savings, and $260 per year utility cost savings.
What are the benefits of natural gas?
There are situations when connecting with the utility company for natural gas is better:
If there is a physical constraint in storing, using, or swapping bottled gas.
If you use natural gas for space or water heating, which uses a lot more energy than 2000MJ per year. Natural gas is 60% cheaper per unit of energy compared with bottled LPG, which means high usage will quickly offset the connection fee.
And lastly, the LPG bottles outside the home look ugly and may not be preferred by some home owners.
Call or ask us a question if you want to learn more about your project.
Disclaimer: We assume no responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions. The information is for general purposes only with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness, or timeliness. You must engage a suitable consultant for your specific situation.