Heating by burning wood only (pr Oil)
 

I put this question in another thread that was going off topic and I think it will be seen more here.

For those burning wood for their heating, how much are electricity costs for the year?

Come to think of it, why not everyone say how much heating by wood is (or oil if that's the heating method) and give the electricity costs for everything else.

That way we can see the variation in total costs according to the various types of fuel used.

Re: Heating by burning wood only (pr Oil)
 

One consideration when heating by wood as a primary source of heat, your home insurance may go up.

Re: Heating by burning wood only (pr Oil)
 

We heat 90% with wood, although do have propane fuelled forced air heating as backup for when it's not cold enough to use the woodstoves (as they really throw out the heat) but not mild enough to feel comfortable without a bit of extra warmth.

Our electricity bill varies hugely, but is between $160-$280, every 2 months. The main culprits are the tumble drier and our hot water, so it really hikes in the summer when we have daily B&B change-overs, and guests using loads of hot water, and is much less when it's just our family on the property...

Our total in the last 12 months was $1400 for electricity, nothing for wood :) and I think it was about $600-$700 for propane (but I've no idea how much is still left of that!)

With the amount of beetle kill pine around here :thumbdown: wood is free :thumbup:

Re: Heating by burning wood only (pr Oil)
 

Don't know what would be considered the going rate for insurance on a property like ours (i.e. log home with seperate guest cabin and the necessary extra liability incase a guest gets trampled by the donkeys ;)) We're heating our log home with wood stoves, whilst outside of any fire department's coverage :eek: and the insurance company are aware of all that...but anyway, we pay $2k p/a, buildings, contents and liability.

Re: Heating by burning wood only (pr Oil)
 

We heat by wood but it's a fallacy to suppose that this has much effect on our electric bill. In Ontario most of the electric bill is fixed cost, delivery charges, debt repayment charges and so on. Variations in the amount of electricity consumed don't have much bearing on the overall bill unless you can get completely off grid. For example, measured electricity consumption accounted for about $25 of our last, $200, bill.

I reckon that, if we bought all our firewood at $300/cord (the going rate around here) it would cost about $1200 a season to heat the house. Insurance is also $1200 including the saddle beast and small hp tractor endorsements.

We bought $300 worth of gas for the, cooking, stove, 18 months ago and have about half of it left. otoh we burn an average of $10 worth of charcoal a week in various cooking appliances.

Re: Heating by burning wood only (pr Oil)
 

Our electricity costs alone, no heating (thats Oil) for a 3 bed house with two adults is $51 a month on a 12mth budget plan.

Re: Heating by burning wood only (or Oil)
 

We pay around $3k a year for a heat pump/air con system and all other electricity. We have a woodstove in a room that doesn't heat terribly well using the normal system. Last winter we moved into the second living room which does heat better. That saved on the woodstove and the ordinary heating bill.

If you spend $600 on electricity, how much is oil for the year?

Re: Heating by burning wood only (or Oil)
 

I'm too scared to calculate that.;) Typically we buy 500l at a time. In the depths of winter 500l lasts 4-6 weeks. In May the 500l fill usually carries us through until late Oct. So somewhere around 3000-3500l per annum. At current prices ($1.121 a l) thats somewhere towards $4k.

Ouch.:(

EDIT: I wish I hadn't started this. This time last year heating oil was 75c a litre. This year its 112c. I imagine in the winter we'll be paying anywhere upto a buck fifty a litre. Sheesh.

Re: Heating by burning wood only (or Oil)
 

$1.12.... I wish!

http://www.gov.ns.ca/energy/AbsPage....lang=1&id=1325

Re: Heating by burning wood only (or Oil)
 

Eh? Why are you quoting NS prices when neither you, nor I live there?
Current pricing in Newfoundland: http://n225h099.pub.nf.ca/orders/ppo/oil/HO-080731.pdf

Re: Heating by burning wood only (or Oil)
 

Loof further down the page for prices across canadian cities...the NS ones are more recent, but it gives an idea of recent costs across the country....

Re: Heating by burning wood only (pr Oil)
 

Currently 131.9 plus GST here;

Heres a better comprehensive cross country fuel price site:
http://www.fuelfocus.nrcan.gc.ca/price_map_e.cfm

some scary links there too..Furnace oil this year up 48% on average.

Re: Heating by burning wood only (or Oil)
 

Ahh. The definitive source on Canadian fuel prices & history is MJ Ervin associates: http://www.mjervin.com/other_fuel_prices.htm (Guess who did any economics paper on the price of diesel last semester!)