What happens when the Nat. Gas. Co. finds out I burn?

[PapaDave]

"I'm not so sure if it's economic to burn purchased wood if natural gas is available. Just sayin'."

I guess that really depends on your costs for each.
This has been beat to death in various posts, but wood is cheaper here.
YMMV
We (meaning, I) turned off the wall furnace and our other heater back in '07-'08, and no one came beating on our door to tell us to use more gas or anything.
Our gas bill to heat water is about 25-27 bucks a month, and $12 of that is an availability charge.
Co-op here, and we read our own meter. Might be a good idea to take 3 minutes every month to do that to make sure you aren't being hit for more than you're using.
It's also a real good way to track usage on your own.
I turned on our DV heater of unknown vintage a couple days ago .........we'll be out of town for a couple days, and I wanted to make sure it still burns NG. It does.
Checked the meter when I turned it on, then again 12 hours later. 2 ccf used in 12 hours, would translate into somewhere around 120-140 bucks to run that thing @ #3 out of a total of ten settings, and this is only November.
Firewood costs me about 30 bucks/month when I buy some and cut some of my own.

 

[velvetfoot]

Here's a link to that handy spreadsheet:
www.eia.gov/neic/experts/heatcalc.xls‎

 

[egclassic]

I get paid to take down trees in my business and I offer my neighbors free wood if they donate time at my yard when we run the splitter.
They all choose to buy wood from somebody that just dumps it off in their driveway what ever kind they supply.

I wish you were my neighbor!
I have not bought firewood since my 1st season (2 years ago). Prices around here are all over the place, as is the quality of the wood they are selling.
Not sure about NG being cheaper than wood. In the winter, NG comes out to be around $1-$1.50 per ccf by the time they add all the BS charges.
The year before I got my insert, my Feb. bill was $186, just the gas part (186 ccf used). The next Feb, I burned 24/7 just to see, and I only used 19 CCF. I don't think I burned $167 worth of wood that month. (but I did not have to buy any either).

 

[stoveguy2esw]

It varies from state to state depending on how the utilities are regulated. In Taxachusetts there is a big difference in price per gallon for propane if it is used for heat. If you use propane (delivered service) for just cooking and clothes dryer you pay (current price) about $5.50 a gallon. If you use the same product for heat (even just hot water) then the price drops to about $3.30 a gallon. I just went through this with my propane company. I am going to install an on demand propane hot water heater and I will get the price drop as soon as it is installed. I assume the same hold true for natural gas. If it is called out for heating on your bill then you are probably getting the reduced rate. My guess is that as long as you still have natural gas as your "primary heat source" then you will keep the reduced rate. You don't have to use it, you just need to have it installed. After all, your insert is just a backup heat source, right??? (at least that is what you tell the gas company)

this is ridiculous why should the same product out of the same truck cost more for one use than another? the propane company buys it for the same price regardless of what its sold for. if they can afford to sell it to you for 3.30 /gal for one thing they should sell it to you at that price for everything. least thats my opinion on it

 

[Free BTUs]

this is ridiculous why should the same product out of the same truck cost more for one use than another? the propane company buys it for the same price regardless of what its sold for. if they can afford to sell it to you for 3.30 /gal for one thing they should sell it to you at that price for everything. least thats my opinion on it

Yah that all makes sense...until the government gets involved. I'm sure there is a huge tax difference between the 2 uses. Just like the big price difference between heating oil and road diesel (same product). The difference is the taxes and the regulation of what a utility can charge for a necessity utility (heat).

 

[Gboutdoors]

Yah that all makes sense...until the government gets involved. I'm sure there is a huge tax difference between the 2 uses. Just like the big price difference between heating oil and road diesel (same product). The difference is the taxes and the regulation of what a utility can charge for a necessity utility (heat).

We have propane and the price here in Taxachusetts as Free BTUs said is regulated by use. At the old house we had NG and that was also regulated. We now have 22 acres of free heat waiting to be harvested. By the way Free I am also here in S.E. Mass. And love my ariens 22 ton splitter.