Home Heating Options for Rural Midwest Residents?

[k]

If a pellet shortage does develop, and it well may, it won't be from overuse, but rather the US 32% tax on wood products from Canada. The lumber mills create the raw material for the pellet mills (sawdust), and production has been cut way back A large percentage of wood pellets sold in the northern US are from Canada.

I have an acquaintance who sells pellets in New England, and he is now ordering them by the traincar load from west of the Rockies. Even with that, he says pellets this year will cost about 50% more than they did ten years ago, and that's not too shabby when you look at gas and oil prices compared to just a few years ago.

k

[NotMe]

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

Heat pumps use electricity, which is usually always the most expensive form of ebergy over the long term. The pricing situation that exists right now with oil will either drive electricity prices up or will drop back to a more typical level.

The largest problem with heat pumps is that they don't work at all when the outside temp drops below freezing. The system kicks over into resistive heating then. Brings new meaning to the words "spinning top" when you watch your electric meter under those conditions.

A relative just installed a geothermal heat pump, which works by using a dozen or so closed loop wells, sunk 50' under the house. Since ground temps are around

50 degrees year round at that level, frezze up is not a concern. Must ask them how their electric bill is - they've had it for just over a year now.

[Maximust]

Actually, burning corn in a pellet stove is more common than one would think.

[Lou]

If you're going to switch from oil, then you're going to need a new furnace. If you're considering buying a new furnace, you might as well consider a new, efficient oil furnace.

The usual alternatives are oil, gas (propane or natural), electric resistance, electric heat pump, gas heat pump. Heat pumps have the advantage of providing air conditioning in the summer, but probably will not be cheaper than an efficient oil furnace when it comes to providing heat in the winter.

[Steve Spence]

Make biodiesel and mix it 50/50 with your HHO.

[Bill]

Learn all you can! Study the following web site like there is no tomorrow...

Read about "Energy Star" windows... Read about "Energy Star" heating and cooling systems... Read about "Energy Star" home improvements...

[Gene (Ya fooking idiot!)]

How small is the town? I mean I lived 18 miles out from Riverside IA and had NO problems having gas truck come with monthly supply.. And the truck came from Iowa City which added another 12 miles to my place...

[Dan Bloomquist]

You must have missed his previous posts.

Best, Dan.

[Clark W. Griswold, Jr.]

Heat pumps work by using electrical compressors, which use a significant amount of electricity. When a heat pump rolls over to using resistive heating, it uses even more electricity.

You have to look at energy costs over the life of the heat pump (20+ years), not just a few months.

[Duane Bozarth]

It's not affecting the price of , just the price of the used to make it... :) (Word of Rod, apparently.)

I'll add that coal will probably go up some too if oil prices stay high

-- I've not looked at markets recently so don't know what its done so far but as you point out, fuel prices tend to track.

I do agree oil will come back down fairly near pre-Katrina levels at least and I tend to think Steve Forbes is right that it will fall over the next year.

[Duane Bozarth]

You're mixing metaphors here--while electric heat may have been expensive compared to others, the heat pump doesn't use the electricity as the heat source. Plus, those comparative figures need to be updated given the cost of oil and gas at current prices. So far, electricity hasn't been hit as hard.

We had geothermal heat pump in TN and it cut heating costs by over half compared to the air-exchange heat pump. I recommend them as a worthy alternative.

[Duane Bozarth]

I'm sure he can get LP delivered--he said there was not natural gas service..

[Duane Bozarth]

So do air conditioners, yet we don't think they're so extravagent. :)

But to compare costs from one period to those at present and whatever one projects as where oil/gas prices are going to historical data from

10 or 20 years ago isn't very useful either. I never said a thing about short term comparisons, only that one needs to reevaluate old saws under present conditions.

[Steve Spence]

I make biodiesel for $0.70 / gallon, so it's not such a stupid idea. If normal people do not make biodiesel, how come biodiesel processor kits are sold out at every major vendor? We can't keep up with the demand.

[Steve Spence]

And your responses. Get a clue.

[Rod Speed]

Not true of electricity from coal. And there is very little electricity generated from oil in the first world anymore.

Nope, most obviously with electricity.

Nope, because coal wont be running out any century soon.

And is trivially replaceable with nukes even when it does.

Boilers basically heat water, furnaces heat air.

[Rod Speed]

Maximust wrote

One of the terminal stupiditys produced by subsidising agriculture in the first world.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

As the price of oil fluctuates, so do other fuels. What is that Fuel Adjustment Charge on my electric bill?

[Duane Bozarth]

You just answered the question. Secondly, some use is made of biomass for energy directly--waste-fired generation for one is largely biomass-fueled.