With today's high heating costs, is switching to wood or other solid fuel a good idea?

Rising fossil fuel prices have generated a lot of interest in heating systems that use bulk fuels like wood, wood pellets, coal and corn. Many households are considering whether to switch some or all of their heating to these fuels because they can cost considerably less than oil or propane. Efficiency Vermont advises that switching fuels and system types be considered very cautiously. Before you make any decision about switching your space heating systems, we recommend that you first consider whether you can reduce your heating and cooling needs through improving the energy efficiency of your home. 

Below, we offer a few other things you may want to consider with respect to using bulk fuels for home heating in Vermont.

• If you are considering heating with a solid fuel, we suggest:
  • ask the equipment dealer to estimate the installed cost of a new system and the cost per unit of the new fuel you are comparing.
    
    
  • use a fuel cost comparison calculator to complete a cost comparison between various fuel sources.
    
    
  • determine if your annual fuel savings are worth the initial investment  and don't forget to include in your calculation any change in costs associated with regular cleaning and maintenance

Non-automatically fueled systems require considerable attention. Wood, corn, coal and other solid fuel-fired systems require you to manage the fuel supply. They also require regular cleaning and maintenance. A typical 1,500 square foot house will use 3 to 4 tons of wood pellets over the course of a typical heating season. Pellets are normally available in 40 lb. bags and many stoves will require refueling at least once per day.  Pellet stove users can buy pellets by the bag or purchase enough for the entire heating season. One ton of pellets takes up a space approximately 4'x4'x5', so a homeowner using 4 tons would need to find at least 64 square feet of floor space for storage to store pellets to last a typical heating season

Solid fuel (chunk wood, wood pellets, corn, coal, etc.) requires the homeowner to find a convenient storage location and move the solid fuel from the delivery vehicle to the storage location then again from storage to the stove. Refueling is often required more than once per day. The heating system requires regular, weekly and sometimes daily, cleaning and ash removal. Solid fuel can be dirty to handle, store and burn, leaving dust, smoke, and dirt in its wake.

Wood and pellet stoves rely on radiation and air flows in your home for heat distribution. They can efficiently heat a single room or even the whole house if it's a small or very efficient house with an open floor plan. Due to the heating capacity and the single source nature of the heat distribution, often multiple space heating units will be necessary to replace a central heating (forced hot air or baseboard hot water) system.  Distribution of the heat often requires the operation of one or more fans, which will increase electric bills.

The overall efficiency of wood and pellet stoves depends greatly on the quality of the fuel being burned. Wood must have been properly dried for at least 8 months prior to burning. Pellets are delivered ready-to-burn, and must be kept dry to burn properly.

For more information about burning corn please visit: http://burncorn.cas.psu.edu/