Wood Pellet Furnance To Replace Heating Oil?
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In an attempt to beat the high cost of heating oil, people in the Northeast are turning to wood pellet furnaces as an alternative. Even with the cost of a new furnace, it is estimated that the units can pay for themselves in about 5 years. According to the article which states:
Instead of paying $5,000 for 1,100 gallons of heating oil in the coming year based on today’s record prices, he’ll spend $2,000 on about eight tons of wood pellets. Even at a cost of more than $12,000, he thinks the new furnace will pay for itself within five years.
“How great is it if we make a move toward this type of heating that can boost the economy instead of sending money to foreign lands for oil?” said Bancroft, who plans to have the unit installed this summer.
As heating oil approaches $5 a gallon, consumers in the oil-reliant Northeast are looking at pellets, heat pumps, firewood and even geothermal systems to soften the blow of high oil prices — which have almost doubled in the past year and gone up nearly fivefold since 2003.
Nowhere is the pain of skyrocketing oil prices more acute than in the Northeast, which accounts for more than three-quarters of the nation’s heating oil sales. And no state relies more on heating oil than Maine, where it’s used in 80 percent of homes.
Oil used to be a cheap heating source, with prices around $1 a gallon as recently as five years ago. But as prices rise to unprecedented levels, homeowners are angry and scared.
There are risks, of course, to giving heating oil the boot. Oil prices could drop or wood pellet prices could rise. Questions remain about whether there are enough certified technicians to install and service other types of furnaces.
I am not sure about the mechanics of how the wood pellet furnaces work, but I am familiar with wood pellet stoves. When I was living in the Mother Lode in California, wood stoves were popular for heat during the winters. Some people had opted to use pellet stoves. The pellets came in 40 lbs bag which needed to be loaded in the rear of the stove. Storage of he pellets was crucial so that they did not become wet.
It appears that wood pellets for furnaces have overcome this delivery problem.
And instead of heating oil deliveries, trucks will deliver pellets, which are pumped into a bin in his basement that can hold 4 tons. They are then carried automatically from the bin to the furnace, where they are burned to heat water that is used to heat the house.
What do you think of this idea?
Comments welcome.
10 Comments
earle.allen
July 19th, 2008
at 9:39am
as an asthmatic with a wife who has C.O.P.D.,I think it STINKS !!
both literally as well as figuratively !! with Ct. having 25% of it’s CHILDREN [ that's NOT counting adults ] with asthma,going to wood[smoke] is NOT a good idea for EITHER children OR adults [ at least in THIS state ]
dkg1
July 20th, 2008
at 2:00am
I concur with earle.allen. Wood smoke is very toxic, maybe worse than cigarette smoke and smog combined. I’m not usually in favor of the government meddling in our lives but I’d certainly be in favor of an all out ban on wood burning, and barbecuing as well. They are both an assault on our health and well-being.
William D'Avanzo
July 20th, 2008
at 3:55am
It is my understanding that the pellets come from saw dust and there was a saw dust shortage a couple of years ago. I would not be surprised if it continues particularly in light of reduced construction.
If you made the pellets directly from wood - rather than from a waste product - their price would obviously go up.
Mike B
July 20th, 2008
at 11:56am
Pellet stoves are exceptionally efficient, and have a positive pressure system that forces the smoke out into a typical chimney or exhaust, much like those seen on gas furnace exhausts.
The pellets are made from wood waste byproducts. Please look into this before you cast doubt like the first 3 posters. Also the ash by product is great for the garden!!
Rose Palmer
July 20th, 2008
at 1:38pm
So wood chips are made of what - trees right. And what do trees do - they provide shade and beauty and filter contaminants from the air and when burned they in turn let off very toxic fumes.
Have these people in Maine and elsewhere ever heard of solar power???
ken maxwell
July 20th, 2008
at 8:25pm
Yes wood pellets are “slightly more economical, but they are absolutely useless if you have a power outage. A pellet stove works like an old time forge, it needs forced air in the combustion chamber to make the pellets burn, this takes electricity . The pellets are not even pure wood, it is a mix of sawdust and Urea. The stoves will put out more heat if you burn corn kernels, but look at today’s grain prices.
If you want to save on heating burn wood, it is natural, plentiful, and just takes a little exercise to get.
Sean
July 20th, 2008
at 8:50pm
Pellets can be and are made of any cellulose waste available, not just wood. On top of that, your pellet burning system should have a catalytic converter which takes care of the objectionable creosote and tar that makes burning wood a pollution problem. Which means they probably pollute just as much as current oil furnaces pollute, not more.
On the carbon balance, they are using fuels that currently participate in the carbon cycle, not by releasing anciently buried hydrocarbons.
Exothermic Reaction
July 21st, 2008
at 5:37pm
Anything to use domestically produced renewable waste byproduct resources over imported ones.
From what I have read, Sean is correct, the technology burns as clean if not cleaner than oil. Do not expect it to satisfy the anti CO2 global warming crowd. It still takes the same number of carbon atoms being burned to achieve an equivalent BTU output. But keeping the carbon cycle to more recent renewable resources is better than releasing carbon from the past.
Exo
BD
July 24th, 2008
at 10:50am
dkg1 - You are an assault on our health and well being - not to mention rational thought. Your assertion that “Wood smoke is very toxic, maybe worse than cigarette smoke and smog combined” is insane and perhaps the dumbest thing written. Do you know the chemical added to cigarettes and what lies in smog? Just use google and READ before you make stuff up! Additionally, if you knew anyting about BBQ the goal is as little smoke and ash as possible except for the very small particular wood you use to add smokey flavor. Again READ before you spout ignorance!
Rose Palmer - Solar collectors are only truly effective if they face south. Tearing down our houses and rebuilding it with a southern exposure so we don’t have to burn wood might not be all that green or economically viable. Duh! People in Maine have lots of trees. Trees block the sun. Solar collectors don’t work so well without THE SUN! Oh…. another interesting tidbit for you… I read that solar collectors aren’t nearly as effective UNDER FIVE FEET OF SNOW!
Geez was the 20th of July dip wad day or something?
TJ
September 15th, 2008
at 5:33pm
I think I am going to go and hug a tree. Oh, wait. I can’t because I am freezing to death. Oh but the tree lives on…Dip wad day is right. Look up the information. Pellet stoves and furnaces burn much cleaner than oil and they are carbon neutral. There is NO visible smoke and they burn so clean that they are EPA exempt from testing.