Energy
efficiency. An LPG water heater conserves enough
energy and increases energy efficiency sufficiently
to reduce a family’s energy cost by approximately $75
to $300 a year compared to the cost of operating an
electric water heater. Typical energy savings range
from $100 to $170 a year, or $1,100 to $1,870 over the
expected 11-year useful life of a water heater.
Low
emissions of regulated pollutants. Propane
water heaters offer substantial air-quality benefits
by reducing emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon
monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, the
main “greenhouse” gas. Compared to a typical electric
water heater with a 0.93 energy efficiency factor, a
propane water heater with a 0.58 energy efficiency factor
reduces NOx emissions by approximately 90 percent, CO
emissions by approximately 70 percent, sulfur dioxide
by 99 percent and carbon dioxide by approximately 60
percent. These air pollution reduction estimates represent
the difference between emissions from power plants utilizing
a typical fuel mix and emissions expected from the combustion
of propane in a properly adjusted water heater in good
condition, as listed in U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency publications on air pollution.
Low
greenhouse-gas emissions. Used for space heating
and water heating, propane’s total fuel-cycle emissions
of urban air pollutants and greenhouse gases are second-lowest
after natural gas, according to DeLucchi (1999). Electricity
has total fuel-cycle emissions two to four times higher
than those for natural gas or LPG, according to this
analysis.
