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Comparing Heating Costs With Various Fuels

Sweepy The chart below shows how much it costs to heat an average home using the various fuels listed. Fuel pricing is from the Department of Energy national average for 2009.

The EFFICIENCY column shows the listed overall heat extraction efficiency of the appliance used. For this chart, we wanted representative comparisons for modern-day appliances, so we used the manufacturer's listed efficiency rating for the Pacific Super Series woodstoves, the Avalon Astoria pellet stove (annual cost adjusted to include $150.00 annual electricity consumption), the Hearthstone Santa Fe natural gas and LP stoves, and the Efel Harmony II oil stove.

The PRICE / MBTU column shows the cost of one Million British Thermal Units of each fuel.

The ANNUAL COST column shows the fuel expense to heat the average US household for one year (44 MBTU).

Because BTU content varies among species of fuel wood, the chart uses an average of the 28 recommended species from our firewood comparison table.


TYPE OF
FUEL USED

AVG PRICE/UNIT
DOE, 2009

APPLIANCE
EFFICIENCY

PRICE
/MBTU

ANNUAL
COST

ELECTRICITY
LP (PROPANE)
WOOD PELLETS
FUEL OIL
NATURAL GAS
CORDWOOD

11.40¢ / KWH
$1.92/GAL
$230 / TON
$2.25 / GAL
$1.12 / THERM
$160 / CORD

99%
83%
80%
80%
83%
80%

$33.75
$25.28
$22.73
$20.68
$13.40
..$9.06

$1,484.89
$1,112.38
$979.46
$909.93
$589.49
$398.61

Sweepy Note that the above chart compares NEW, high efficiency appliances. Efficiency ratings have improved dramatically in almost all appliance categories in recent years: for example, if you're currently heating with a typical 12-year-old woodstove, you could save up to 30% on your fuel bill by replacing it with a new, high efficiency model.

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