Ever wonder how Firewoods compared to Propane and Oil heat?

[begreen]

I put together a spreadsheet a few years ago with similar heating values, adjusted for efficiency of the appliance I would use to heat my house (example, a natural gas furnace loses 5-15% of its heat out the exhaust, and a ducted system loses 20-30% of its heat to the crawlspace/attic), and also costs, and then approximated how many BTU's I should need on a cool winter day. I did not try to factor in electricity to run blowers. Maybe down the road.

For the local energy costs and my house, these are some of my current approximations. Since energy costs vary by region, and heating demand varies by house, your numbers will definitely vary, but these figures are consistent with my power bills:

Heater @ Fuel Cost - Cost per day

Ducted Heat Pump @ $0.085/kWh - $3.43
Douglas Fir in EPA-certified Stove @ $200/cord - $3.81
Natural Gas Furnace @ $1.25/therm - $5.34
Wood Pellet Stove @ $250/ton - $5.82
Electric Baseboard @ $0.085/kWh - $7.65
Oil Furnace @ $2.50/gallon - $8.27
Electric Furnace @ $0.085/kWh - $9.56
Propane Furnace @ $2.50/gallon - $11.73

The spreadsheet started out to help decide how to replace a 30 year old electric furnace - my real estate agent thought propane was a good idea, but between high propane prices and low electricity prices in the NW, it turned out to be a bad idea. I included natural gas out of curiosity, but it's not available at my house. It also helped me realize how much money I save by burning a fire when the weather gets too cold for the heat pump, so the auxiliary heat takes over at almost $10/day.

Propane prices locally are nuts. The are monopolized in a captive market. Go 40-50 miles north and Cenex propane is a buck cheaper. Are those Seattle prices for electric? PSE electric is up to $.11 now. A cord of doug fir is $300 locally.

 

[blades]

The base fuel prices are cheap the gotchya is all the add on expenses- meters rental. transportation , deadbeat( ya we get charged a percentage for those who don't pay their bills) and of course the fuel adjustment charge ( thats so they can charge a higher price even if what they paid was considerable lower for the futures)

 

[Wood1Dennis]

Here is the best calculator that I have found for comparing heating cost. It is fun to play around with efficiency and fuel cost. No matter how I do it my $20 / cord estimate (saw fuel, chain, maint., etc.) for wood I cut myself off of my land always comes up cheapest

(broken link removed to https://ag.purdue.edu/extension/renewable-energy/Documents/ON-Farm/heatcalc.xls)

Dennis

 

[HybridFyre]

Propane prices locally are nuts. The are monopolized in a captive market. Go 40-50 miles north and Cenex propane is a buck cheaper. Are those Seattle prices for electric? PSE electric is up to $.11 now. A cord of doug fir is $300 locally.

Yikes. I can't imagine paying $300 for doug fir. We get lucky in the northeast. Red Oak as far as the eye can see

 

[begreen]

I'm sure it is much less the farther one gets away from the cities. Urban and suburban locations pay a stiff premium. Doug fir, soft maple and alder trees grow like weeds around here so it's not a question of availability.

 

[iamlucky13]

Propane prices locally are nuts. The are monopolized in a captive market. Go 40-50 miles north and Cenex propane is a buck cheaper. Are those Seattle prices for electric? PSE electric is up to $.11 now. A cord of doug fir is $300 locally.

SnoPUD electric rates from 2-3 years ago. I updated it last week to $0.09815/kWh. They're climbing at 2-3 times the pace of inflation, despite medium term declines in basic energy prices (especially industrial natural gas). I expect we'll catch up to PSE in a few more years - oh the joys of no-bid contracts to personal friends of PUD leadership!

Propane prices came from the EIA at the time I put together the spreadsheet. I'm not surprised propane prices are out of line in Seattle. With easily available natural gas in the urban areas, the delivered propane market is probably too small to draw much competition.

I mostly see Douglas fir and maple going for $200-$250 a cord, "seasoned" for a week or two, but I haven't paid close attention since I've had no trouble scrounging wood and don't mind hauling and splitting it myself.

 

[fire_man]

My other neighbor is all electric...he gets $1000.00 monthly bills during the winter.

bob

Is there a decimal point slip to the right in there?