I have been talking to some people, mainly my FIL about payback periods of updating equiptment and fuel useage. Mind you I just installed a natural draft low efficiency boiler in a big apartment building for him, and he is already complaining about LP useage in this leaky old building. That is another story for another time about building envelopes and prople sealing and dew point position in walls......
The cost of burning wood thread by heaterman made me think to post this. If we take into account the "cost" of our wood gathering and processing (or buying) vs. paying the oilman and not having any wood heating equiptment and it's associated expences. Basically if we pay $10k or more bor a boiler setup and storage, and eliminate, or drastically reduce our heating bills. But now we have all the "work and cost" of wood, processing, and the equiptment we bought to do so. We here on Hearth obvously don't mind that, but if we try to look at it from strictly a financial and time view, is it worth it? We are biased here, and his answer was no.
I have to admit, in my own super-insulated home, it may not have been worth it to intsall a gasser. But for me, mentally, it was, now that I burn 1 less cord/year. We can afford to live here, and I will always be able to scrounge my yearly heat. He says it would be better to pay the oilman, and not have invested the money in the gasser and it's associated systems. It's kinda like solar or heatpump DHW, the "payback" is quite long and sometimes non existant to the bean-counters. We don't know how long those systems will last vs. their conventional counterparts.
I say, it's a mental thing for me, I'd rather pay for something super-efficient (and more $$$$) now, and not have to worry about my energy bills for the life of that equiptment. The flip side of the coin is to buy conventional (and less complex, less $$$$) equiptment and pay the resulting higher fuel consumption if it works out in the end. Obvously wh don't know what "the fuel" will cost in the futrue, but it can be projected somewhat.
I've had the privelage to have some of these interesting conversations with different people and their perspectives noted. What do ya'll think? Bias noted..
TS
The cost of burning wood thread by heaterman made me think to post this. If we take into account the "cost" of our wood gathering and processing (or buying) vs. paying the oilman and not having any wood heating equiptment and it's associated expences. Basically if we pay $10k or more bor a boiler setup and storage, and eliminate, or drastically reduce our heating bills. But now we have all the "work and cost" of wood, processing, and the equiptment we bought to do so. We here on Hearth obvously don't mind that, but if we try to look at it from strictly a financial and time view, is it worth it? We are biased here, and his answer was no.
I have to admit, in my own super-insulated home, it may not have been worth it to intsall a gasser. But for me, mentally, it was, now that I burn 1 less cord/year. We can afford to live here, and I will always be able to scrounge my yearly heat. He says it would be better to pay the oilman, and not have invested the money in the gasser and it's associated systems. It's kinda like solar or heatpump DHW, the "payback" is quite long and sometimes non existant to the bean-counters. We don't know how long those systems will last vs. their conventional counterparts.
I say, it's a mental thing for me, I'd rather pay for something super-efficient (and more $$$$) now, and not have to worry about my energy bills for the life of that equiptment. The flip side of the coin is to buy conventional (and less complex, less $$$$) equiptment and pay the resulting higher fuel consumption if it works out in the end. Obvously wh don't know what "the fuel" will cost in the futrue, but it can be projected somewhat.
I've had the privelage to have some of these interesting conversations with different people and their perspectives noted. What do ya'll think? Bias noted..
![Stick Out Tongue :p :p](/talk/styles/default/xenforo/smileys/raspberry.gif)
TS