Comments on: Which Home Heating Fuel is Best?

By: Rawlins D. Apperson

Rawlins D. Apperson — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 23:37:42 +0000

I use Propane in Seward, Alaska. My force air furnace is 95%effecent, the Tank less water is high effecent. I dropped 25 gallons of propane use when I installed these two appliances each month, including in the winter. I also cook and dry our clothes with propane. Propane is a lot cleaner to operate, than fuel oil.
>I service, clean, and operate fourteen fuel oil burners at work. So, I know how time comsuming it is to maintain these at 78 % t0 80% effecency in year!

By: Karyn S.

Karyn S. — Tue, 28 May 2013 22:40:24 +0000

I’m in the middle of a huge renovation. We live in the mountains on a lake in NJ. No natural gas is available. We just installed a LP unit, ductwork etc. for our 2nd fl.
I just found out today that our oil burner downstairs is past it’s age and should be replaced. The HVAC sub. suggested going all liquid propane and install a unit for the downstairs. He said it runs more efficiently. I need an immediate suggestion as he is going to quote me in a few days. The house is about 2200 sq. ft. The backup generator and stove will also run off a propane tank. If you think it would make sense to switch now, I would probably need a tank larger than 100 gal.

Thank you

By: Troy Howard

Troy Howard — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:09:58 +0000

Sorry that is meant to say 80% efficient

By: Troy Howard

Troy Howard — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 15:07:49 +0000

The authors btu counts vary alot from heat source to heat source but 36 million / year is the middle of the propane scale using an 805 efficient appliance so lets assume that.

Electric at $.12 per KWh is $1,391

Geo Thermal heat Pump at $.12 per KWh is $463

Air Source Heat Pump with electric backup HP 70% load $389 EH 30% Load $417
Total $806

Hope this helps

By: Deana

Deana — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 04:15:03 +0000

I live in central Alberta and our winters can get very cold. I will go with the gas being the cheapest, no work and no mess, the house stays clean and there is no smell.

By: Jo Salisbury

Jo Salisbury — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:56:32 +0000

What about using electric heating methods such as a heat pump? In New Zealand we use these and they double up as an air conditioning unit in the Summer. Very efficient.

By: MK Chesley

MK Chesley — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 14:45:24 +0000

I would like to see comparisons of electric heat alone as well. And do these figures reflect any of the electrical cost to run the pellet stove?

By: Liam Klyfshamra

Liam Klyfshamra — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 00:36:40 +0000

We live within the boundries of the Manistee National Forest in N.W. lower Michigan. We get Federal fuel wood permits good for 5 full cords per permit. You can cut standing dead within 200ft of forest roads and fallen dead from anywhere within. We are on permit 2 and other wise it’s the cost of gas and chainsaw upkeep. I save even more when you consider I do not have to pay a gym membership to stay in shape. We heat a 2500 sq.ft house built in 1893 with just a wood stove and keep it 68-70 even on the coldest days.

By: JANE HAZELL

JANE HAZELL — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:34:35 +0000

Here in Ohio, currently Propane costs are around $3.89 a gallon. We have apr. 2500 sq. ft (including basement) to heat. We heat with wood. We have a propane furnace that gets used only if the wood burner goes out during the night (hardly ever)…The last year we heated with only propane (2009) we went through just about $400 per month for propane. We buy our wood from a neighboring farmer that had his land logged & we pay $120/ cord of wood. A cord last us a month..big savings over propane!!