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Return on Investment
Each
home has too many variables to provide an easy answer to this
question, but one way to calculate this to create a very rough
estimate is as follows:
Add up the amount of gallons you
use during the heating season, for homes heated by oil, 1 cord of
seasoned wood is equal to approximately 150 gallons of oil, for
homes heated by propane, 1 cord of seasoned wood is equal to
approximately 220 gallons of propane.
Example:
If you consume a 1000 gallons of fuel oil
@ $2.25 per gallon = $2250.00
7 cords of wood @ $200.00 per cord = $1400.00
That’s a savings of $850.00 per heating season.
If you
consume a 1000 gallons of propane @ $2.60 per gallon =
$2600.00
5 cords of wood @ $200.00 per cord = $1000.00
That’s a savings of $1600.00 per heating season.
This
rough calculation is based upon purchasing seasoned wood at market
rate. If you can purchase green wood or a grapple load and let it
season for a year or if you have your own timber lot your savings
and payback period will be much greater.
We can for a small fee complete a
detailed heat loss analysis of your home and using that information,
calculate your energy usage utilizing the Degree Day Method of
energy estimating.
(Degree Day is the lowest recorded daily temperature compared to
your indoor temperature. EG. 70 degrees indoor, lowest temperature
for the day 40 degrees = 30 Degree Days)
Greenfield Farm Case Study
Actual Heat Analysis and Payback Period for our own system
(Greenfield Farm), calculated over 5 heating seasons from 2002-2003
to2006-2007.
Heat loss 132,393 Btu’s per hour @
70 Degree Indoor Design Temperature
Degree Days for Concord, NH 7,383
Fuel Oil @ 140,000 Btu’s per Gallon
Oil Boiler Efficiency 82%
The farm would consume 2,900
gallons of fuel oil per heating season, not including our domestic
hot water load. This equals approximately 20 cords of firewood per
heating season. Our per gallon price for fuel oil was calculated
from data on the State of New Hampshire Office of Planning and
Energy web site utilizing the average winter price of home heating
oil based upon the months of September thru April and does not take
into effect pre-buys or purchasing fuel oil during the summer
months.
2002-2003 Heating Season
2900 gallons of fuel oil @ $1.42 per gallon = $4,118.00
20 cords of seasoned firewood @ 140.00 per cord = $2,800.00
200 gallons of fuel oil = $284.00
Savings $1,034.00
2003-2004 Heating Season
2900 gallons of fuel oil @ $1.24 per gallon = $3,596.00
20 cords of seasoned firewood @ 140.00 per cord = $2,800.00
200 gallons of fuel oil = $248.00
Savings $548.00
2004-2005 Heating Season
2900 gallons of fuel oil @ $2.05 per gallon = $5,945.00
20 cords of seasoned firewood @ 180.00 per cord = $3,600.00
200 gallons of fuel oil = $410.00
Savings $1,935.00
2005-2006 Heating Season
2900 gallons of fuel oil @ $2.45 per gallon = $7,105.00
20 cords of seasoned firewood @ 200.00 per cord = $4,000.00
200 gallons of fuel oil = $490.00
Savings $2,615.00
2006-2007 Heating Season
2900 gallons of fuel oil @ $2.37 per gallon = $6,873.00
20 cords of seasoned firewood @ 200.00 per cord = $4,000.00
200 gallons of fuel oil = $474.00
Savings $2,399.00
The
installed price for our wood fired boiler in the fall of 2002 was
approximately $11,000.00. If we had purchased seasoned
firewood our savings would have been $8,531.00 over this
5year period with our payback period closing in the 6th
heating season. We have our own timber lot and do not purchase
firewood. Our total savings to heat our home over a 5year period
including our payback has been $16,637.00
For us heating with wood hasn’t
been just about saving money. Ever since the oil embargo of 1975
it’s always bothered me to pay for oil to heat a home only to have
your money go up the chimney. We have always supplemented our oil
consumption in previous homes with wood stoves and just felt there
was a better way. That’s when we installed a HS Tarm indoor boiler
at our home in Dunbarton, the outdoor Central Boiler here at the
farm.
With home heating oil expected to
cost close to $3.00 per gallon for the 2007-2008 heating season,
what are you waiting for?
Heat Your Home with a Renewable Resource
Support the Local New Hampshire Timber Industry, not OPEC!
Mechanical,
Innovations, Inc.
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