Natural Gas Prices keep dropping

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stockdoct

New Member
Oct 19, 2008
194
ilinois
In Northern Illinois, Nicor prices for natural gas have dropped to 45 cents/ therm, a new low.

In our bitterest, coldest Februrary, my house uses 200-250 therms of gas, or equivalently, about a cord of wood to heat. This plummetting price for N.G would price equivalent amount of wood at $100 - $125 a cord, or an entire winter home heating bill at about $500.

Damn, I've worked really hard to haul, cut, hand-split, stack my 4 cords of hardwood this summer --- and I'm not gonna be to excited to burn them when natural gas prices are this low. Would you guys keep your stove cool and turn on the furnace if you had the option to go either route, at these prices?



Although "off topic", I ust bought some stock in UNG (United States Natural Gas "exchange traded fund", which tracks the day-to-day price of natural gas) My thought is the price can only go up from here!

Mike
 
I am over $5 a gallon for oil. If I had what you had available, Id let that wood season another year and only have weekend ambiance fires to keep yourself from the woodburners twitch. I have no choice. Enjoy your options.
N of 60
 
I have no oil, gas or anything else but wood. But if I had that blow your house up gas stuff available I would burn it and let the wood rest. That is why they call it alternative heating. Top cover it and it awaits your call.

PS: I have one Jotul gas stove left new in the crate that I thought I would be stuck with for life. Now I don't think so. It goes up for sale in October. :lol:
 
I have natural gas, but as long as I have a woodlot, I'm heating with wood. Not only does wood heat
feel warmer, but it's a heckuva lot quieter than a forced air furnace.

I like your idea of investing in natural gas. I invested in U.S. Oil awhile back and have made some money.
 
northwinds said:
I have natural gas, but as long as I have a woodlot, I'm heating with wood. Not only does wood heat
feel warmer, but it's a heckuva lot quieter than a forced air furnace.
Click to expand...

That is one thing that I always wonder about when people ask about the sound of insert blowers. When we still used the heat pump that sucker had a blower that made our insert sound like a whisper.
 
That heat pump has long since shown it's age. Our system with variable DC motors is pretty quiet unless on high speed. Often, when it's in stage 2 heating/cooling, we don't know it's running.
 
My latest bill was $0.59 / therm for nat gas. Then add $0.25 / therm for distribution and another $0.01 for fees/taxes.
If gas stays cheap through the winter (usually doesn't) then I may just burn on weekends and my the wood season more.
 
BeGreen said:
That heat pump has long since shown it's age. Our system with variable DC motors is pretty quiet unless on high speed. Often, when it's in stage 2 heating/cooling, we don't know it's running.
Click to expand...

Yeah I am gonna be replacing it by the end of 2010. But not with two stage. I can't eat enough vitamins to live long enough to make the payout on the difference.
 
Go for a quality 2 stage installation. It will raise the home value if it needs to be sold to support your old age home life. In the meantime, you will reap the benefits of a more comfortable, quieter life with a lower electric bill.
 
Even though we're paying more for NG in CT, I've still thought about using some of it this winter given the amount of work that goes into procuring and processing wood. With that said, I think I have just over 20 cords of oak now so I really need to burn it up. If nothing else, I won't feel bad if I have to use a little NG while traveling.
 
We have a natural gas furnace, but it's original to the house (1981) as far as I know. Probably no better than 50% efficient overall. Has an actual pilot light, that alone costs maybe $8-10 a month in recent years. I generally only light it when it's going to be in the single digits, or we're going to be gone. I don't expect to replace it unless/until it dies, I'll never come close to breaking even.
 
It's not just natural gas. Electricity is dropping too. I posted some details in another thread. The main factor for electricity seems to be a reduction in demand rather than an increase in supply. But there's a linkage between electric and gas prices now:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125003563550224269.html

"Meanwhile, natural gas, which strongly influences electricity prices, has fallen below $4 per million BTUs, or British thermal units. That's down from $12 at last year's peak."
 
If you own a gas furnace you should use it. The cost to produce 1 mil. Btu with natural gas is half that of wood or wood pellets. Think of your wood pile as money in the bank. Nothing is forever. When the world economy heats up again, and it will, economic forces will once again drive the prices of all fossil fuels through the roof again.

The price of wood and wood products will also be negatively impacted as home building once again resumes in earnest. The best home heating combination you can have is a high efficiency gas furnace with a corn stove/furnace back up. Although the price of corn is also affected by market demand, it is always 50% less than wood or wood pellets.

Fuel comparison chart: http://www.alternative-heating-info.com/fuel_comparison.html
 
Our nat. gas furnace is our primary heat. But I try not to use much, not just about cost, but I really don't lke the stuffy feeling in the house when that furnace kicks in. Don't like the noise, either. Our system is from 1980's and rather noisy. But no pilot, thank goodness. I'd love to replace the wholle system (HVAC) w/ a rooftop system (popular here in so. calif.) but the $$ isn't in the bank so I settle for using it as little as I can.

Fortunately, we have a very mild clime here. Our "dead of winter" is equal to most of you guy's shoulder season.

I can't justify a new wood stove either but I'm keeping my eyes out for a good deal on a used EPAII stove on C/L. With our short heating season and mild temps, spending money on a new stove would only happen if I had lots of money laying around.

Peace,
- Sequoia
 
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