Tuesday, August 19, 2008
HEATING OPTIONS
Numerous choices
Natural gas:
Price: $14.55 per mcf (per thousand cubic feet) as of August.
Advantages: Little maintenance. Easy to use — set thermostat at desired temperature.
Disadvantages: Cost of natural gas is rising, which results in more-expensive gas bills.
Wood-burning stove:
Price: $750 to $2,300, depending on size and blower option (with or without a blower to blow out heated air).
Wood: Free if have access. Otherwise, about $110 per cord (128 cubic feet is a cord of wood). Heating entire house round-the-clock can use eight-10 cords per year.
Advantages: Depending on model, free-standing wood-burning stoves have the largest range, heating from 600 to 2,400 square feet.
Wood-pellet stove:
Price: $1,800 and up, depending on size and design.
Wood pellets: $4.25 per 40-pound bag. Heating downstairs floor of a home with stove can use 270 bags per heating season.
Advantages: Pellets are made from leftover wood from flooring and furniture industries.
Disadvantages: If pellets get wet, they bloat and are useless. Stove with a blower runs on electricity. If the power goes out, it won’t run unless hooked up to an alternative energy source, such as a generator. Every seven to 10 days of burning round-the-clock, the unit needs to be cleaned.
Anthracite coal stove:
Price: $1,100 to $1,700
Coal: $6 per 40-pound bag. Most people use 4 tons of coal per year.
Advantages: Can self-ignite; after loading, little maintenance required to keep burning. Easy to vent. Anthracite coal gets more BTUs (British Thermal Units) per pound compared with wood pellets. The burning efficiency of wood pellets was not available.
Disadvantages: Requires a lot of maintenance, including cleaning dust. If dust gets into the electronics that regulate the stove, the electronics may malfunction. Stove with a blower requires electricity to run.
Fireplace inserts:
Price of wood-burning insert with liner: $1,600 to $3,000
Price of coal insert with liner: $2,300
Advantages: Converts existing masonry fireplace to a more-efficient heating unit.
Disadvantages: Chimney requires cleaning twice per year. Inserts can cost just as much as a new free-standing unit.
Sources: Energy Information Administration, Bush’s Fireplace, Baryak’s Tree Service, Kinsman Stoves LLC