Costs of fuel in my area

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EatenByLimestone

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A member on another board I frequent asked about the cost of fuel in regards to heating water. I had never calculated it before and was bored so I calculated the cost of 1,000,000 btu of each type of fuel that is common for heating water in my area. I went straight off my utility bill so taxes were included in the natural gas and electric figures. I used NYSERDA (State energy guys) for prices on oil and propane. If I remember when I was using oil last year the price was right there with the final price the fuel guy gave me. I'll assume it is the same situation for propane.

Price for 1,000,000 btu of:
Electricity is $47.27
Oil is $27.31
Propane is $36.13
Natural Gas is $10.74

Wood is a little harder to calculate since cost is all over the place and so is the number of lbs in a cord. It's also not used by the masses to heat water. But I'll try.

Cord of oak: 3700lbs
Guess on cost of a cord of oak: $300
BTU/lb: 8500

Cost/lb of wood: $.0818
Cost for 1,000,000 btu of oak is $9.62

I have no idea on pellets. If somebody in the Capital district of NY can give me a recent price after taxes I'd be happy to calculate it.

Please note my numbers do not include appliance efficiencies. Even though oak looks cheaper than NG, depending on your furnace/boiler it may be more expensive to buy the wood and burn it. My costs for electricity surprised me as I remember it at around $.20/kwh after taxes. When I calculated it last night it was $.16/kwh.

Matt
 
There is a big range in propane prices here. I could easily pay twice if I went to the wrong propane place and I'm not talking about a convenient store gouging on exchanges. I'm pretty sure I'm going to do solar dhw with electric backup this year and get rid of the lp water heater. Then eventually use the wood boiler for dhw in the winter.
 
PapaDave said:
Jim Buckhorn said:
Wood is a little harder to calculate

Righteo. Consider that with mainstream utilities there are no daily chores.

Except going to work to pay for it. :coolsmile:


ya i hate having the man control my comfort! let alone going to work to pay the man to control my comfort.
 
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