City Gas vs. Propane in Japan

Okay, this is pretty long, but if you're ever in this situation yourself, you'll probably find it pretty useful to know. I know I would have...

I grew up in Canada during the dark ages of electric stoves (what was that all about, anyway?), so using and paying for gas was new to me when I came to Japan. All I really knew was that it powered my stove, and perhaps the hot water for my showers, and at the end of the month, I got a bill for it. One more thing- I knew that it was fairly expensive, and that therefore it wasn't a good choice for heating in the winter. So instead, like most people, I heated my places with kerosene.

But Kerosene has its problems. Its a gasoline product, and your clothes and belongings stink as such throughout the winter (you may get used to it and not notice, but trust me, it's there). You have to buy it elsewhere and lug it to your place. Have to periodically sit on your cold kitchen floor and fill the tank using an awkward plastic pump with a squeeze bubble, getting gas on your hands in the process. To top it all off, with gas prices rising, its not even all that cheaper. So I decided to make the switch to gas, which burns clean and has a dedicated pipe running into my place.

Only one problem- There are only 2 gas outlets in my place, and I was already using them. So I need to get permission from my landlord to install another. I went to the real estate office with my girlfriend, and found out that they didn't want to do it, because the building would be switching from City Gas to Propane soon. (We also found out from the ads out front that the apartments on the floors beneath me, identical in every respect, were going for considerably less than the rent I pay every month. But that's another story).

Back to the propane switch- why? The official reason was that propane had "more power". But that seemed thinner the more I looked into the matter. Essentially, city gas is a public service, and named such because its usually only available in the city, where its practical to build lines for it, as are done for other utilities. A private company runs it, but the city subsidizes it and ensures that like water, its available for a reasonable price.

Propane, on the other hand, is private industry and brought to houses via trucks, which fill tanks outside the buildings. In short, propane is usually used by people out of city limits, who don't have direct lines of city gas leading to their house. Its use is usually analogous to septic tanks for homes in the country. And consequently, its nearly always more expensive. Since propane is entirely free enterprise, the prices range wildly. People out in the country away from city lines obviously pay a good deal more. Within the city, it could be a lot cheaper. But overall, the odds of paying a comparable price seemed pretty low. Online people said they usually paid about 12,000 yen a month ($120) for their propane, whereas I pay on average about 3000-5000.

So why did the building manager agree to it? The short answer is we still don't know. But I can speculate -I do know that city gas requires a fixed monthly fee for the building owner, and that propane doesn't necessarily. So the owner could be saving money, and passing the cost on to the tenants by selling out their city gas to private enterprise. Also, the propane people offered to switch over the hot water heaters for free, giving the apartments a much-needed renovation that would have cost the owners a lot out of their own pockets (this was another bone to pick- I paid for those upgrades out of my own pocket last year. Now they were going to install a new heater, take out the one I'd bought for city gas, and I'd be out $300). It reminded me of in junior high school, when Pepsi paid for new curtains for the school auditorium in exchange for letting them put Pepsi machines in the school. Only in this analogy, the Pepsi costs more than the coke did, and the students are stuck with the increase.


I got a permission form in the mail that I needed to sign stating that I no longer wanted city gas, and would switch to propane. I sat on it. When the building custodian came by asking when they could come into my apartment to switch the lines, I raised my concerns. What's really weird is that my place is just 15 minutes from the city center. Why on earth switch to propane if we don't need to? What's the point? And most importantly- exactly how much more is this going to cost me, anyway? No-one would give me a straight answer, and kept asking me to consult someone else. She told me someone would come see me and alleviate my concerns.

So some propane guys came to my place, waving the permission form. I think the owners needed all of them before they could switch the whole building away from city gas. I raised my concerns and got the usual "more power" spiel. Finally I just asked- "look, give this to me point blank. Measured objectively, how much does city gas cost, and how much will propane cost me?" They cadged for a bit, but eventually came out to an equation that showed propane cost 1300 yen a cubic meter. City Gas, they insisted, was weaker, and twice as much was required to do the same things. "Well okay," I replied. "So how much is 2 cubic meters?" They fumbled with the calculations for a bit and came out with 1100 yen.

I was still dubious that 2 really equaled one, and even if that was true, it was still going to run me almost 20% more by their own calculations. One of the propane guys lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper and said, "look, just for you, we'll cut you a special deal, but you have to promise not to tell your neighbors, because they'll be paying more. Just for you- 468 yen a cubic meter."

I felt bad about the secrecy, but having the cost cut by two thirds seemed like a good deal. Reluctantly, I signed the permission...but couldn't help notice that the propane guy looked just a little too satisfied when I shook his hand. Who looks that smug when they just had their asking price slashed by two thirds?

I went back inside and messaged Nick, who has propane and was researching this very topic. "Hey Nick...how much is propane by cubic meter, and how does it compare to city gas?" The answer-

"City gas- about 199 yen a cubic meter.
Propane- It varies. 220-760, with an average of about 450"

They completely lied about the prices...and then "negotiated" down to a price that was STILL above average!!

I called the guy and told him the deal was off. They said they were coming back. I more or less called them complete liars and got the permission form back. They offered 370 yen this time. I said no deal. They insisted that was a great value, and that they couldn't possibly go any lower, but I had no reason to trust them at that point. They went back into their "more power" spiel, and my eyes glazed over. I told them to come back the following week, after I had time to do more research.

Someone posted the following comparison numbers on Yahoo Answers Japan-

12.9m3×2.2(都市ガスとプロパンのガス熱量の差)＝28.38m3(都市ガスの場合の使用量)
1092円(基本料金）＋28.38m3×199.12円＝6743円(西部ガスの場合)

福岡市のLPガス平均価格は、
1821円(基本料金)＋12.9m3×456.2円＝7705円です。
(他に設備代金として、平均220円～760円程度必要の場合あり。)

translation-

City Gas base price 1092 yen plus 199.12 per cubic meter. Used 28.38m3, for a total of 6743 yen for the month.

Propane base price 1821 yen plus 456 per m3 (average rate). Propane is 2,2 times as strong, so the equiv of 28.3m3 is just 12.9. Accounting for that, the price is 7705...on average.

So in other words, the 370 they were offering was a fair, if not spectacular deal. But the propane people had thrown away a lot of good will with that stunt, and I didn't want to take any chances. Once they had my permission to switch, the leverage I had with my existing city gas would be gone and I'd be stuck with the agreed rate. If there was a time to get it down, it was now.

When they came back, they asked me how much I wanted to pay. I said, "same as what I pay now- 200 yen." I finally got it down to 270, and an agreement that I wouldn't pay any "base price" at all.

To top it off, I found out from city gas that my rate is actually 238 per m3, with a base price of about 860, and that I currently use about 12 m3 a month. So even if the "more power" argument had no truth to it, I would be paying about the same. And if it is true, I'll wind up paying about half what I pay now. And I get an upgrade to my heater for free, which the servicemen are installing right now. It's no fun dealing with these people, but if you have to, get the facts and do it right.