The Many Uses of Propane — What is it Used For, Outside of the Home?

When most people think of propane, they probably start to think about barbecue. People might be prone to seeing white propane tanks outside of some homes, but have probably given little thought to what sort of other functions the gas may have, or how much use a homeowner can get out of it.

As most of us undoubtedly already know, propane is good for a lot more than just running the grill. This versatile energy source is used by over 9 million families for a wide array of uses, ranging from furnaces, water heaters, fireplaces, cooktops, generators, and many others. Water heating with propane is quite a bit cheaper than heating with other gas products.

Wherever a homeowner may typically depend on other energy sources, propane is more than sufficient for the job. Not only that, but it burns cleaner, and it’s more cost-effective, energy efficient, and reliable than most of the alternatives.

What people may or may not realize — even those who use it around their homes — is that propane fuel is also a popular energy source in industry and agriculture thanks to its use as a cost efficient fuel.

There are over a million commercial operations, like hotels, laundromats, restaurants, and bars use propane in much the same way a homeowner would: for cooling or heating the air inside the building, refrigeration, cooking, drying clothes, lighting materials, and, of course, barbecuing. Odds are, a business you shop at or restaurant you eat at prefers water heating with propane.

As mentioned, propane is widely used by farmers and others in the agricultural industry for a number of reasons. Over 600,000 agricultural sites use propane in one way or another — some of the most popular uses are for grain dryers, irrigation pumps, standby generations, and a number of other pieces of machinery you might find on the farm. Farmers also use it for flame cultivation, grain dryers, fruit ripening, space and water heating, and refrigeration of food and other perishables.

That’s a pretty impressive resume.