I just bought 200 gallons (757 litres) of propane on February 22nd, eleven days ago, for which I paid about us$800 (about £1336). I ran out of wood and then propane just as the propane price spiked to about double normal because of the very cold weather, causing a propane shortage in Michigan. When the weather warmed up to about 25°F I got some wood cut and hauled.
Between January 17th thru Feb 22nd, I burned about 400 gallons propane in 36 days. I was out of firewood and it was too cold outside to cut wood.
Last week I was low on wood again, so I burned propane for two days as the temperate dropped well below zero Fahrenheit. The propane gauge dropped by 5%. The tank size is 500 gallons. Five percent of 500 gallons is 25 gallons burned during those two days. At $3.99 per gallon, I figure those two days of burning propane cost me almost us$100. The propane price is going back down now. The Governor declared a state of emergency and suspended weight restrictions on the roads so that the propane trucks could haul full loads until the shortage subsides.
Right now I have about 36 hours worth of firewood left in my wood-bin, so my job today is to cut and haul firewood, through about 18 inches of snow, while breathing 23°F (-10°C) temperature air. I have four dead ash trees, each about 150 feet from the house but in different directions. So each arm-load of firewood requires me walking about 300 feet, after I drop the trees and slice them into 18 inch lengths with the chainsaw. I can only carry one big trunk piece at a time, two middle section pieces at a time, or an armload of many twig-sized pieces from the tree tops. I waste nothing, since all the twigs need to be picked up anyway before next summer's lawn-mowing. Normally, I would haul the wood using the garden cart behind the riding lawn mower or I would use the wheelbarrow. Normally it is not this cold this long.
I did a little internet searching. Heating degree days is a measurement of average temperature degrees below 65°F, thus it's a measure of heating needed during a heating season. So far,
Michigan's heating degree days since the first of the year are more than 16 percent greater than normal. This is the third coldest (and snowiest) winter on record.
Here is a link to a nearby home weather station that is about 6 miles from of my house.
PS. This is what I need ... an Australian V8 chainsaw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5WO9nulOXc
