Selecting the fuel and heating system best suited for your needs depends on several factors including, fuel cost and heating efficiency, water heating cost and efficiency, comfort, availability and environmental impact / emissions.

A home owner’s largest combined energy expenditures in their home are space heating (34%) and water heating (13%). 

It is with these two energy expenses that you also have the greatest number of energy options (oil, propane, electricity, and natural gas).

FUEL COST & EFFICIENCY
Fuel costs need to be compared based on their heat content and the efficiency / performance with which each is converted into useful heat.

In the United States, the most commonly used value for expressing the heat content of a fuel is the British thermal unit (BTU). One BTU is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of 39º F water by 1º degree. A single match will produce 1 BTU of heat.

Heating efficiency is the percentage of usable heat extracted from the fuel and distributed throughout the home or building. If a heating system is 80% efficient, 80 cents of every dollar spent goes to heat your home and hot water.

There are two ways think about efficiency:

• Combustion efficiency is the efficiency at the exact time an efficiency test is performed by a technician at your heating unit.

• Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE). AFUE is a measure of how efficient the heating equipment is over the course of a typical year.  This rating is posted on the yellow sticker on the side of new appliances. AFUE ratings are required by the Federal Trade Commission so consumers can compare the heating efficiencies of heating equipment at the time of purchase.

Comparing heating fuel prices can be daunting and sometimes confusing because:

• Fuels are measured and sold in different units such as gallons of oil and propane, therms and cubic feet of natural gas, or kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity.

• When comparing natural gas or electric to oil or propane, you need to take into consideration the additional charges on a typical utility company’s bill. Utility bills usually include monthly customer charges (whether you use the fuel or not), delivery/distribution charges, service charges, commodity charges, as well as Maryland Universal service charges, state surcharges, and franchise taxes.

• Oil and propane bills are much easier to understand.  They tell you exactly what you receive and what the cost is. There are normally no additional charges or fees, other than sales tax, where applicable.

• Another factor to consider is the volatility of all fuels in the global market. Events anywhere in the world can affect all energy prices regardless of the fuel you use.

On average, a household in the Middle Atlantic States will consume 60.1 Million BTUs annually for heating. Water heating will consume additional BTUs (Source DOE/EIA 2001 Residential Energy Consumption Survey)

The table below lists the average BTUs per standard unit of measure and the AFUE range for each of the four main heating fuels. (These figures are general references for residential heating applications only.)

WATER HEATING

But there's more to consider than just cost...

COMFORT
Since comfort is what you're paying for, that's what you should get!

A few words about heat pumps...

Despite claims by heat pump manufacturers that heat pumps cost less to operate than other heat types, most homeowners find the comfort they provide to be less than satisfactory, especially when outdoor temperatures fall below 40°F.

Here's why... the rise in temperature that a heat pump is able to produce decreases as outdoor temperature decreases. And while a heat pump will be able to raise indoor air to a reasonable temperature, the temperature of the air released from the register without the aid of a back-up system is usually lower than your natural body temperature.

As a result, heat pump owners frequently report feeling uncomfortably cool during cold weather. Children may even ask why the "air conditioning" is on!

By comparison, the rise produced by oil, propane, and natural gas is constant regardless of outdoor temperature. The air they produce is usually a very cozy 110°F or warmer.

And on some days, shouldn't you be able to take as long a shower as you want, without running out of hot water?

AVAILABILITY
Availability also needs to be taken into consideration when selecting a heating fuel. For example, natural gas is not an option unless the local utility company has provided your property with a line to their gas infrastructure. (If they have, there is no mandate stating that you must use it, although, from a purely logistical stand-point, we can see why you would be likely to do so.)

Oil and propane are available as long as your property is located within a provider's oil delivery or propane delivery areas, and your tank is accessible. Propane is a great choice for homeowners who prefer gas appliances but who do not have access to natural gas lines.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT / EMISSIONS
As our world population increases, it's important that everyone does their part to take care of the environment. The fuel you use to heat your home makes a difference in the volume of "greenhouse" gases released into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are a cause of global warming an include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorocarbons.

Carbon dioxide, which occurs both naturally and during combustion, comprises approximately 84% of greenhouse gases. The chart below illustrates the composition of human-produced greenhouse gases.

The chart below illustrates the volume of CO2 emissions
produced per one million BTUs for each type of fuel.

Homeowners can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% by switching from electric to oilheat.

Natural gas is unable to make this claim. The Energy Research Center has concluded that leakage of natural gas (which is comprised primarily of methane) into the atmosphere is significant enough to negate natural gas' somewhat lower CO2 emissions. They have further concluded that methane is between 20 and 70 times more powerful than CO2 in producing global warming.

Propane has a different molecular structure than natural gas. Because of this and its excellent storage systems, propane does not pose the same threat to the atmosphere that natural gas does.

Oilheat also produces significantly lower levels of nitrous oxide and particulate matter than electricity. Nitrous oxide is a precursor to unnatural ozone gas. Particulates, such as soot, are unhealthy to breathe and make air look dirty.

CONCLUSION
If you're thinking of converting from electric heat, oil and propane are your best choices when all of the above factors are considered.

And if you're thinking about switching to natural gas from oil because natural gas has been marketed as a cleaner fuel, remember... your cleanest choices are oil and propane. Plus you'll receive levels of personal service that utility companies can't match.

For more information click on the following links:
Converting from Electric to Oil
Converting from Electric to Propane

¹ Electric Resistance Heat
Electric resistance heating converts nearly 100% of the energy in the electricity to heat. However, most electricity is produced from oil, gas, or coal generators that convert only about 30% of the fuel's energy into electricity. Because of electricity generation and transmission losses, electric heat is often more expensive than heat produced in the home or business using combustion appliances, such as natural gas, propane, and oil furnaces.

Electric resistance heat can be supplied by centralized forced-air furnaces or by zonal heaters in each room, both of which can be composed of a variety of heater types. Zonal heaters distribute electric resistance heat more efficiently than electric furnaces because you set room temperatures according to occupancy. In addition, zonal heaters have no ducts that can lose heat before it reaches the room. However, electric furnaces can accommodate central cooling easier than zonal electric heating, because the air conditioner can share the furnace's ducts.

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