Wood or natural gas?

[begreen]

You're lucky. Our earliest CFLs (Phillips) burned out quickly. Since the mid 90s I date all my CFL and LED bulbs. The next gen after the Phillips CFLs lasted about 2yrs in our kitchen where they get a lot of hours. About the same as the halogens they replaced. But the last (and cheapest) set of CFLs (Feit?) has some bulbs that are going on 5yrs now.

 

[Fastdonzi]

My co has a plant in Utah where I go work a few time a year. One of the Maintenance guys there tells me in the Dead of Winter his Natural Gas Bill is about $18.00 a month... If that's the case I sure wish I could get NG out where I live in TN. The Reason I heat with wood is Propane was Crazy Expensive, The Colder it got the more expensive it was... I told them to get their tank off my property about 12+ Yrs ago..... Heated 100% with wood ever since..I have No Other Heat... But NG at $20.00 per month would be a good backup...

 

[bholler]

One of the Maintenance guys there tells me in the Dead of Winter his Natural Gas Bill is about $18.00 a month...

Is he saying he is heating with ng? If so he is full of it gas is cheap but not that cheap

 

[Grisu]

This is hard to believe but I have two CFL's from the early 90's that are still working great. They were first generation CFL's and Made in the USA. But I agree, the newer ones don't last very long . Hopefully the expensive LED's last as long as claimed!

I had the exact opposite experience. The first CFLs I put in burned out pretty quickly to the point that I was asking myself it is was really worth it. However, the CFLs I have in now have been in their fixtures/lamps for more than 5 years except one. Some could be easier older than that because the previous owner of your home had put them in. I would actually like them to burn out now because I like the LED bulbs much better but so far no "luck".

 

[Highbeam]

I got this from Woodstock Soapstone. It says NG is cheaper than Wood.

Wow look at the electricity comparison. Glad I kept my trusty oil fired hot water heater and did not listen to the "switch to electric water heater" crowd.

Woodstock has some smart employees and that chart is 100% correct but also completely wrong at the same time. When you burn fossil fuel you waste some of that energy up the chimney so you will NOT be able to put that heat into your house for that price per btu. With electricity you get 100% (or more) of that heat in your home. They also used local costs from so long ago that it is no longer a valid chart.

On this site, hearth.com, there is a fuel cost calculator that allows you to input your local price, your appliance efficiency, and then compare the real thing. Another thing that needs to be considered with forced air furnaces besides furnace efficiency is duct efficiency. Some duct systems lose more than 20% of the heat.

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/fuel_cost_comparison_calculator/

As for the question of this thread. IF I had NG at the house I would use it for heat. I would have a freestanding, vented, heater rated, cast iron, NG stove. Those buggers heat like woodstoves, almost zero maintanence, power outage operation, no duct losses, and are very attractive. That would be a great primary heat source. If you can heat your home with a woodstove, then you can heat it with a gas stove.

Somewhere else in the house and/or shop I would have a woodburner because dang it, burning stuff is fun.

If I get too old or crippled up for burning wood, then a gas stove will most likely replace the woodstove. Pellets might be cheaper but require lots of work, may as well burn wood.

Next time you're at a stove shop, stand by a heater rated gas stove. A cast iron box at 400 feels the same whether being heated by gas or wood.

 

[fire_man]

To Woodstock's credit, they did have a disclaimer with the fuel chart stating appliance efficiency was not taken into account.
It was probably meant for first cut comparison.