Cost per 1M BTU's of various heating fuels

[lumberjack_jeff]

This link is to an Excel spreadsheet that enables you to change the local cost for various fuels

[Curmudgeoness]

1. I am a little surprised by this.

I use natural gas, so I know that the price is pretty low right now for that heat source. I also don't pay enough attention to what other sources cost since I don't need them. But looking at fuel prices, I would think that fuel oil would be lower. Also, so much electricity is generated with natural gas, I would think it would be lower. And I have seen the prices of wood pellets and firewood, and I cannot imagine how much you would need to heat a house, but these are really expensive.

I am so glad that I have natural gas service, at least at this point in time! Thanks for the info. And having an Excel spreadsheet where you can change the costs to be relevant to any area/time is great.

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. It takes about 4 cords of firewood to heat my house for a winter.

But I generally don't have to buy it.

My heat pump at home is pretty efficient, but I'm amazed at how inexpensive natural gas is at my workplace.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. That is true---if you are able to get firewood yourself,

it is definitely the way to go. Lots of work, but saves money.

May I ask, what kind of heat system do you have that you use firewood, but also have a heat pump?

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. I have a woodstove... and a forced air furnace with a heat pump.

One of the benefits is that I can turn on the forced air furnace (fan only) and circulate the wood heated livingroom air around the house.

[NeoGreen]

10. Is that "face cords" or standard...

...full cords?

Just curious, because I think the table provided above is listing data for a full 4'x4'x8' cord.
In the table, $200/cord seems high to me unless they are listing a full cord.
Typical seasoned hardwood face cord in my are is between $75 & $95.

I will presume you are discussing face cords, which beats my ~10 face cords/year and 1-ton of pellets.
Guess I will have to add to my insulation.

Can you provide more info on your heat pump?
I've always been curious about them but never really researched how practicable one would be in my area.
What is the 1st question one should ask about the possibility of installing a heat pump?
The typical ground temperature in your area?

Thanks
NG

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. Full cords, measured by shed volume.

"Face cord" is a nearly meaningless unit of volume measure, but if cut to 16" length represents 1/3 of a cord. so our consumption is not that different.

This year I purchased firewood for the first time (from a friends college student son) and paid $250 for a cord and a half.

My heat pump is an air source unit 5 tons, IIRC. The geothermal units require a very large area of buried pipes and with a winter electric heating bill of ?$30/month I couldn't make the ROI make any kind of economic sense.

[cbayer]

4. Does "fuel oil" include both gasoline and diesel?

Isn't diesel more efficient?

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. I don't know anyone who uses gasoline for heating fuel.

"Fuel oil" is essentially the same thing as off road #2 diesel - the same fuel you put in your boat. So to answer your questions; 'no' and 'yes'

[cbayer]

6. Ah, it's only about heating. I completely missed that part.

What about passive solar devices for heating? I don't know much about them, but I suspect there is a major up front cost that pays for itself over time.

[lumberjack_jeff]

7. Passive solar heating is a great idea in some parts of the country.

And they are a lot less expensive than PV solar panels.

And yes, diesel has far more btu per gallon than gas.

The spreadsheet is far more useful than the graph. There are vast differences in the cost of electric heat, for instance, depending on how you use it (a ground source heat pump is cheaper to use than a woodstove).

[cbayer]

9. Ok, thanks. I will play around with the spreadsheet.

We use solar, wind and gasoline for electricity. We use propane for cooking; diesel and wind for the inboard; and gasoline and muscles for the dinghy and kayak. We can heat water with electricity, but prefer to wait until we use the engine, because we have a heat exchanger in the hot water tank.

Currently we are in a very warm climate and have no need for heat, but some people have wood burning stoves on their boats when living in areas with very cold temperatures. We used the stovetop and an eco-fan when we were in the cold.

It's fun to discover new ways of getting and storing energy.

[mackdaddy]

12. Electricity for this graph is resistive only. Heatpumps are about $15/MMBTU

The graph above only shows electricity running resistive heat like baseboards. Heatpumps are many times more efficient according to the outside air temp, and ground source geothermal are even more efficient.

According to the full spreadsheet from the link, the air source heatpump would be about $15/MMBTU and a geothermal heatpump would be about $10/MMBTU.

This would put it on par with firewood instead of Propane.

[sendero]

13. My fire wood....

... costs include the gas and oil for the chainsaw, a new chain now and then, gas for the hydraulic splitter and gas to haul the wood from one place to another. And of course the labor to cut, split and haul the wood, but I actually like doing that, keeps me moving.

I heat my house exclusively with wood and the wood itself is "free" other than those costs so I'm thinking I'm getting off way cheaper than nat gas.

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. Depending on the distance hauled, it can be inexpensive.

Most of my firewood is gathered here at home, so I transport it with the tractor.

[sendero]

15. Usually a total...

.. of 500 ft or less. I live with 30 acres of trees