Heating season: the October checklist

Propane in mid-Michigan is an October–November decision wearing a January price tag. The tank you fill and the dealer you sign with this month is the contract you live with all winter. Here's the short version — the five questions below decide most of it.

Out of gas, or no heat right now? Don't wait — start with the dealers marked 24/7 emergency on their listings: urgent fills are exactly what those lines are kept for, and an empty tank can require a leak check and purge before anyone can refill it, so every hour matters. (If you smell gas strongly or suspect a leak, leave the building and call 911 first — that's never a directory question.)

The five questions that decide your winter bill

What are the card fees? Some dealers charge a fee on every debit or credit payment; over a winter of fills that's real money. Facebook groups in this region ask exactly this question — we think it deserves a straight answer on every listing.
What's the delivery minimum? Many dealers won't roll a truck for less than 100–200 gallons (first fills often higher). If your tank is small, this decides who will actually serve you.
Will-call or automatic delivery? Automatic delivery means the dealer watches your usage and fills before you run low — usually the safe choice. Will-call means you watch the gauge yourself. Ask if pricing differs between them.
Who owns the tank? A rented tank usually means a monthly or annual fee and you can only buy fuel from the tank's owner. A customer-owned tank frees you to price-shop every fill — but tank service becomes your problem. Neither is wrong; just know which one you're signing.
Is there a first-fill or pre-buy deal? New-customer first fills and pre-buy (locking a season's gallons early) can be genuinely good — the catch is they're usually attached to a contract. Read the exit clause before you sign.

These five are exactly what our verification calls ask every dealer on this directory — and the dealers who answer them in public earn a “published terms” mark on their listings. Parker's, Fairgrove, Cass City and Hamilton's already publish prices or fee schedules on their own sites.

Why October–November is the window

Dealers have capacity now. Every furnace-adjacent trade in Michigan gets slammed at first hard freeze; scheduling a switch or first fill in October means it actually happens.
Pre-buy and budget plans price in the fall. Locking winter gallons before demand peaks is the whole point of the offer — enrollment windows for several local dealers run June through August, with fall as the last call.
Summer-fill pricing is the other window. April–August fills are traditionally the cheapest of the year — if you're reading this in summer, that's your moment instead.

Don't run the tank empty

Besides the obvious — no heat, no hot water, no cooking gas — an empty tank pulls air and moisture into the system. Most dealers must perform a leak check before refilling a tank that's run dry, and some require a purge. Fairgrove, the Thumb dealer that publishes its fee schedule, charges $75 for exactly that pressure test and relight after a run-out, plus $75 for same-day emergency delivery — real numbers from a real fee card. Watch the gauge and call at a quarter tank, not at fumes.

Comparing per-gallon prices? Live local price comparison is fuelwonk.com's job — a national tracker of heating-oil and propane prices by area. We track the terms (fees, minimums, tanks, deals); they track the price per gallon. Use both.

What to have ready when you call a dealer

Your township and roughly how big the tank is (120, 250, 500 gallon — the size is on the tank's data plate or the last delivery slip).
Owned or rented — if you don't know, the name on the tank's data plate usually tells you.
Whether anyone in the house is on the line for the next fill, and how low the gauge reads.

Last reviewed 2026-09-29. Seasonal timing is general information, not a contract offer — terms differ by dealer and publish on each listing only when verified.