Comparison between housing wood or fuel heating.

1. Wood vs. Fuel as Heating Source How much heating fuel can I save using a woodstove as additional heating source in my house? Energy Conservation Project by Emanuela Meriggi

2. Wood or Fuel? Logs on Fire by Chris Campbell Firedance by Piddi77 The worldwide economic crisis and the rising cost of the fuel are the main reason why I wanted to investigate about the pros and cons of the use of wood or fuel as housing heating source.

4. How much fuel do I consume for heating my home? Time frame 10/13/2008 10/14/2008 10/15/2008 10/16/2008 10/17/2008 10/18/2008 10/19/2008 Minutes of running time for the furnace 54 50 45 52 60 138 156 Outside Average Temperature 43 °F /6 °C 42 °F / 5 °C 44 °F / 6 °C 43 °F / 6 °C 42 °F / 5 °C 41 °F / 5 °C 37 °F / 2 °C Initial inside temperature 61 °F / 16 °C 60 °F / 15 °C 62 °F / 16 °C 61 °F / 16 °C 60 °F / 16 °C 60 °F / 15 °C 59 °F / 15 °C Final inside temperature 71 °F / 21 °C 71 °F / 21 °C 70 °F / 20 °C 70 °F / 20 °C 71 °F / 20 °C 72 °F / 21 °C 73 °F / 22 °C Termostater set temperature 70 °F / 20 °C 70 °F / 20 °C 70 °F / 20 °C 70 °F / 20 °C 70 °F / 20 °C 72 °F / 21 °C 72 °F / 21 °C Gallons of fuel used (average) 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75

5. How much wood do I consume for heating my home? Time frame 10/20/2008 10/21/2008 10/22/2008 10/23/2008 10/24/2008 10/25/2008 10/26/2008 Running time for the Woodstove (Hours) 6 6 6 6 6 12 10 Outside Average Temperature 40 °F / 4 °C 44 °F / 6 °C 42 °F / 5 °C 39 °F / 3 °C 36 °F / 2 °C 32 °F / 0 °C 32 °F / 0 °C Initial inside temperature 60 °F / 15 °C 62 °F / 16 °C 60 °F / 15 °C 60 °F / 15 °C 59 °F / 15 °C 57 °F / 14 °C 57 °F / 14 °C Final inside temperature 80 °F / 26 °C 81 °F / 26 °C 80 °F / 26 °C 78 °F / 25 °C 80 °F / 26 °C 84 °F / 28 °C 82°F / 27 °C Amount of split wood used 4 3 4 4 4 8 7

6. Let’s look at the numbers! Fuel Consumption Wood Consumption Average final temperature: 71.1 F Average final temperature: 80.7 F This cost estimate is based on the market cost of a cord of wood at $260. In my case I collected the wood, so I had cost ZERO!  Estimate in 1 week: 5.25 gallons $22.83 Estimate in 1 month: 22.75 gallons $98.94 Estimate in 1 year: 273 gallons $1,187.28 Number of pieces of split wood used in 1 week: 34 $49.98 Estimate in 1 month:136 $199.92 Estimate in 1 year: 1632 $2,399.04

8. Equivalent heat of wood and oil 1 Wood available heat at 20 percent moisture 7,000 Btu per pound (128 cubic feet with 80 cubic feet wood volume). 2 Number 2 fuel oil available heat 140,000 Btu per gallon. Wood 1 Available heat per cord in million Btu Number 2 Fuel oil 2 Gallons needed to equal cord Ash 23.6 168.6 Cottonwood 16.1 115.0 Maple (sugar) 25.0 178.6 Oak (red) 25.3 180.7 Oak (white) 27.0 192.9 Pine (shortleaf) 19.0 135.7 Walnut (black) 21.8 155.7