Home heating discussion (split from a ski question thread)

[SkiFanE]

Oil. Let's just say that house you see blow up on the news due to natural gas explosion...well...btdt. Will never heat with a volatile fuel, not worth saving a few bucks. Oil it is, forever.

[vdk03]

You've never seen oil burn? It burns hotter than gas.

[SkiFanE]

You've never seen oil burn? It burns hotter than gas.

Yes..but is it easy to ignite?

[Fuller Wycliff]

just putting it out there, i know a guy in the solar biz if anyone is interested. not trying to spam the forum or anything, just offering a service that might be of interest.

[o3jeff]

If there was gas on my street I'd switch. It'd be about 5k for a new furnace.

Can't you do propane?

[wa-loaf]

Can't you do propane?

Propane is pretty expensive and then you are still dealing with deliveries.

[Geoff]

Can't you do propane?

Propane:
Unless you are set up to bulk buy it, propane is at least as expensive as oil.

My Vermont townhouse is heated with a propane boiler. Each building has a big buried tank and the units are individually metered off the tank. I'm locked in at $2.25/gallon. Propane is 2/3 the energy of oil so it's comparable to locking in on an oil contract at $3.38/gallon. The lock-in price for single family homes was around $3.00/gallon. You need to buy a lot of propane before it comes in cheaper than oil.

Right now, small fill-ups of propane around here are around $3.60 a gallon so it's like paying $5.00/gallon for heating oil.

Natural gas:
My flatland place has NStar natural gas service. Their price is about to go down 16% in May to reflect the decline in natural gas prices.

My gas bill for January said I burned 107 ccf. You burn about 135 cubic feet of natural gas to get the same heat as one gallon of heating oil. This translates to about 80 gallons of oil. My gas bill was $127.50 so this is way cheaper than oil heat.

Of course, the flip side of this is consuming less energy....

I've been doing substantial improvements to the insulation of my summer house. The attic is now R-30. About 60% of the exterior walls have been gutted, re-framed, and insulated. The rest will be completed next winter.

[severine]

Propane is pretty expensive and then you are still dealing with deliveries.

That's what I love about natural gas. I never have to worry about running out; turn on the stove or turn up the thermostat, and we're all set. 10+ years of this will be hard to give up, but there are very few houses on the market right now that meet our needs and have gas.

Thanks, guys! It helps to know! I read on a website that the average home in the US uses 185 gallons of oil per month during the winter heating season. It seems their figures are not exactly accurate...

[mattm59]

That's what I love about natural gas. I never have to worry about running out;

After Irene and Alfred, I've been saying the same about my wood pile

I burn about 8-10 cord a year, and average 190 gallons of oil annually. 2300 sq. ft., I wear shorts all winter in the house. 17 years doing this, splitter/saws/truck cost money, but it's good being the noisiest a-hole in the neighborhood, and I sold enough wood to pay for the splitter and saws, as well as making Christmas money a couple years for me and my son. looks like with a little hustle I'll sell a few cords again.

[Abubob]

Home heating prices are what keep me renting. But that may change soon. What I worry about (besides the exorbitant cost) is power outages. My wife gets huge headaches when ever she goes into someone home with a wood stove. Does anyone know anything about outdoor wood furnaces?