Cost Examples of Heating a Typical House

Energy costs rise year after year! Cost of a barrel of Oil is expected to rise by 30 to 40% this year. Actual cost for Propane, Natural Gas, Electricity and Pellets are all going up too! So - you get the picture.
What does this mean for you?
Less money in your pocket and more in, well, you know where.
What can you do about this?
Get a high efficient heat source now!

First, let's look at the heating costs for a house with a heat loss of 65,000 Btu for a recent full heating season with several different heat sources.
Cost of Propane $1.75 and Electricity of .12 per kilowatt.
(Actual Propane Usaged was 1,250 gallons.)

Heat Source	Gallons / Kilowatts	Annual Cost	Savings (Notes)
Electric Storage Tank	36,425 kilowatts	$4,038	You would spend more than $2,091 to heat your house with an electric tank than our most efficient boiler!
Gas Storage Tank - Gravity Vent	1,700 gallons	$2,975	You would spend more than $1,028 to heat your house with an gas tank than our highest efficient boiler!
Gas Storage Tank - Power Vent	1,525 gallons	$2,668	You would spend more than $725 to heat your house with an gas tank than our most efficient boiler! Also, Can cost about $50 per month - read below *
Cast Iron Boiler - Older Hi Mass	1,675 gallons	$2,931	You would spend more than $985 to heat your house with an older Cast Iron Boiler than our most efficient boiler!
Cast Iron Boiler - New Med Mass Gravity Vent	1,412 gallons	$2,471	You would spend more than $524 to heat your house with an new Cast Iron Gravity Vent Boiler than our most efficient boiler!
Low Mass Boiler - New Hi Efficiency Direct Vent	1,112 gallons	$1,946	The best way to heat any house with a btu Heat Loss of Greater than 30,000 to 40,000 btu. Will save the most money now and more money in the future as energy prices go up. Pay Now or Pay More Later!

Now let's take a look at some Heat Sources you have to choose from.

Heat Source	Burn Efficiency	Tank Loss (Daily)	Flue Loss (Daily)	Combustion Loss	Steady State	Effective Efficiency
Electric Storage Tank	99.50%	8 to 10%	N/A	N/A	N/A	90.5%
Gas Storage Tank - Gravity Vent	80%	8 to 10%	72% to 80%	15%	N/A	37% to 45%
Gas Storage Tank - Power Vent	80%	8 to 10%	0%	15%	N/A	55%
Hi Efficiency Gas Storage Tank - Power Vent	up to 95%	8 to 10%	0%	0%	N/A	86% *
Cast Iron Boiler - Older Hi Mass	75%	N/A	N/A	15%	20 to 24 min	40 to 47%
Cast Iron Boiler - New Med Mass Gravity Vent	84%	8 to 10%	0%	0%	5 to 6 min	64%
Cast Iron Boiler - New Direct Vent	84%	8 to 10%	0%	0%	5 to 6 min	77%
Low Mass Boiler - New Direct Vent	84%	N/A	0%	0%	1 to 2 min	83%
Low Mass Boiler - New Hi Efficiency Direct Vent	95%	N/A	0%	0%	1 to 2 min	94%

Burn Efficiency	This is the steady state efficiency of the burners - this assumes at least an 8 to 24 minute burn rate for Cast Iron Boilers and 2 to 3 minutes for Stainless Steel Cooper Low Mass Boilers.
Tank Loss	This is the actual per day heat loss from the tank into the space where the tank is located. (Note: If the tank heat loss is into a non heated space or an unwanted heated space - this number should be considered. If the tank is in a location that is also heated, then this number should not be considered).
Flue Loss	Loss only to gravity vent tanks - 3 to 4% per hour depending on flue size. The bigger the flue size - the higher the heat loss. Also, the higher the btu of the tank - the higher the heat loss.
Combustion Loss	This is due to the amount of inside air that is required to furnish the burners with oxygen in an average house with average insulation. This will be higher in tighter houses and lower in looser houses. (Example - an average 80,000 btu gravity vent boiler would require 4 times additional make up air from outside per hour than a similar direct vent heater.)
Steady State	Steady State Efficiency measures how efficiently a furnace converts fuel to heat, once the furnace has warmed up and is running steadily.
Actual Efficiency	This takes all the above in to consideration. (For Example - if you think that a gas storage tank has an efficiency of 80% - you would be wrong - it is more like 37 to 45%. Terrible! Ugh! And would be 50% less efficient than a low mass direct vent high efficiency boiler.)