Comparing Heating Costs
Comparing Heating Costs
You may be interested in calculating the cost of using wood fuel compared to the conventional fuels such as oil, natural gas, propane or electricity. The procedure outlined here can provide comparative figures.
You may be interested in calculating the cost of using wood fuel compared to the conventional fuels such as oil, natural gas, propane or electricity. The procedure outlined here can provide comparative figures. However, no calculation can account for all the variables involved when a wood heating system is installed. For example, this procedure is based on the fuel consumption of central heating systems that heat all areas of the house to the same temperature, whereas most people who heat with wood keep their main living areas much warmer than bedrooms and utility areas. As a result, the savings that could result from the installation of a wood stove to supplement the heat provided by another fuel cannot be estimated accurately using this procedure.
If you are unsure if you can save money by burning wood, your own community can help to provide the answer. Piles of firewood standing in yards in your neighbourhood are an indication that some households heat with wood. You might ask neighbours who have wood heating systems whether they actually save money by heating with wood. Direct advice from people who live near you may be more accurate than a calculated number.
Here is a tip on how to make the calculation more accurate for your situation. If you know how much money you spent on another energy source last year, you could test the accuracy of the heat load and house type figures for your area. If the resulting cost is more than you spent, lower the house heat load figure until the calculation matches the amount you spent. Then you can calculate your wood heating costs more accurately.
Step 1: The Price of Fuels in Your Area
Call your local fuel suppliers to find out the average cost of fuels. The cost should be the total cost as delivered to your home. Be sure to get the prices in the same units for the fuel as shown in Table 1. Write the costs in the spaces provided. Note that the figures for natural firewood fuel are for full 4 x 4 x 8 ft. cords. The energy content figures are in metric units called megajoules (MJ).
Step 2: Typical Seasonal Efficiency of Appliance Types
Choose the types of equipment you want to compare from the list of systems in Table 2. Note the efficiency figures for the equipment in the right-hand column. Using these efficiency figures, you can calculate the savings you can achieve by upgrading an older system to a newer, more efficient appliance.
Step 3: Housing Type and Heating Loads
From the list of cities and housing types in Table 3, select the combination that is the closest to your area and house type. The heating load figures are in metric units called gigajoules. One gigajoule equals 1000 megajoules.
Notes:
1. Town House – inside unit, approximately 1000 square feet
2. New Semi-Detached – approximately 1500 square feet
3. New Detached House – approximately 2000 square feet
4. Old Detached House – approximately 2000 square feet
Step 4: Calculation Using the Formula
The annual heating cost is calculated as follows:.
((Energy Cost/Unit)/Energy Content) X (Heating Load/System Efficiency) x 100 000 = Approximate Annual Heating Cost
Enter the cost per unit of energy and divide it by the energy content of the fuel (both figures come from Table 1). Select the heating load for your location and housing type from Table 3 and divide it by the efficiency of the proposed heating system from Table 2. Multiply the results of these two calculations, then multiply that result by 100,000.
Sample Calculation
Here are the details of the sample calculation: Location: near Halifax, N.S.
House type: new detached, heating load 75
Type and cost of existing fuel: oil at $1.12/L
Type and cost of proposed fuel: mixed hardwood at $250/cord
Type and efficiency of existing heating system: oil furnace 80%
Type and efficiency of proposed heating system: advanced wood stove 70%
The calculation of the cost of oil heating would be:
(1.12 ÷ 38.23) x (75 ÷ 80) x 100,000 = $2,747.
The calculation of the cost of wood heating using mixed firewood would be:
(300 ÷ 25,000) x (75 ÷ 70) x 100,000 = $1286.
In this example, if the wood stove displaced all of the oil previously used for heating, the annual savings would be $1,461.
Table 1 Energy Content and Local Price of Various Fuels
Energy Source-Energy Content-Your Local Price
Oil-38.2 MJ/Litre-/litre
Electricity-3.6 MJ/kWh-/kWh
Natural Gas-37.5 MJ/m3-/m3
Propane-25.3/MJ/litre-/litre
Hardwood (air dried)-30 600 MJ/cord-/cord
Softwood (air dried)-18 700 MJ/cord-/cord
Mixed Fuelwood (air dried)-25 000 MJ/cord-/cord
Wood Pellets-19 800 MJ/tonne-/tonne
Table 2 Typical Seasonal Heating System Efficiencies
Fuel – Type Of System – Efficiency %
Oil (furnace or boiler) – Cast Iron Head Burner (pre 1970) – 60
Oil (furnace or boiler) - Retention Head Burner – 70 – 78
Oil (furnace or boiler) - Mid-efficiency Furnace or boiler – 83 – 89
Electricity – Furnace/Boiler or Baseboard – 100
Electricity – Geothermal (ground source heat pump) – 260
Natural Gas Furnace/Boiler – conventional – 55 – 65
Natural Gas Furnace/Boiler - mid-efficiency – 78 – 84
Natural Gas Furnace/Boiler - condensing – 90 – 97
Propane Furnace/boiler – conventional – 55 – 65
Propane Furnace/boiler – mid-efficiency – 79 – 85
Propane Furnace/boiler - condensing – 88 – 95
Wood Conventional – Furnace/Boiler – 45 – 55
Wood Conventional - Advanced* Furnace/Boiler – 55 – 65
Wood Conventional - Conventional Stove (properly located) – 50 – 65
Wood Conventional - Advanced* Stove (properly located) – 65 – 80
Wood Conventional - Advanced* Fireplace – 50 – 70
Wood – Pellet Stove – 55 – 80
Table 3 Typical Heating Loads in gigajoules (GJ) for Various Housing Type in Canadian Cities
City – Townhome – New Semi-Detached – New Detached – Old Detached
Victoria/Vancouver – 30 – 45 – 60 – 85
Prince George – 60 – 80 – 110 – 150
Calgary – 50 – 65 – 90 – 120
Edmonton – 55 – 70 – 95 – 130
Grand Prairie/Pr.Albert – 60 – 80 – 105 – 140
Regina/Saskatoon – 50 – 70 – 90 – 130
Winnipeg – 50 – 70 – 90 – 130
Whitehorse – 60 – 85 – 115 – 155
Yellowknife – 80 – 110 – 145 – 195
Thunder Bay – 55 – 70 – 95 – 130
Sudbury – 50 – 65 – 90 – 120
Ottawa – 40 – 55 – 75 – 110
Toronto – 35 – 45 – 65 – 95
Windsor – 30 – 40 – 55 – 80
Montréal – 45 – 60 – 80 – 110
Québec City – 50 – 65 – 85 – 115
Chicoutimi – 55 – 70 – 90 – 125
Saint John – 45 – 60 – 75 – 105
Edmundston – 50 – 65 – 90 – 120
Charlottetown – 45 – 60 – 80 – 110
Halifax – 40 – 55 – 75 – 100
St. John’s – 45 – 60 – 85 – 120
Contact your REALTOR at Coldwell Banker Vantage Realty for more tips and advice on your home maintenance.
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