Learn How Alternative Heat Sources Can Save You Money

Author: Ashley Smith
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Nashua Telegraph

More Warming To Other Heat Sources

Every third day or so, Mike Henning, a professional chimney sweep, treks down the L-shaped stairway to the basement of his 3,000-square-foot Nashua home, where an eight-ton stack of coal nearly touches the ceiling.

He grabs a 40-pound bag from the pile - which is about 10 feet by 6 feet wide and 6 feet high - and snips off the top with a pair of scissors. He dumps the sack of tiny black coal pellets into the auger of a stove.

"That's one," he said during Wednesday's fill.

He repeats the process with a second bag, a third and then a fourth. He grabs a bag, snips off the top and adds fuel to the fire. He closes the lid and empties the ash pan.

"And I'll be back on Saturday," Henning said.The process takes just a few minutes, but it's more effort than would have been necessary two years ago, when heating Henning's home was as simple as pressing a button on the thermostat. But Henning said he's willing to work the extra 15 hours a year or so to save a bundle of cash.

Fed up with the increasing cost of propane, Henning converted his entire home to a heating system powered by coal - a form of energy rarely used these days but cheaper than more popular sources like oil, natural gas or electricity.

Henning is a rarity in this state.

Only two out of 1,000 households in the state use coal as a primary heating source, according to 2004 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

That works out to fewer than 2,000 households in the entire state.
Coal is not considered an environmentally friendly heating option, although Henning uses a type of hard coal called anthracite, which burns cleaner than soft coal common to New England.

But coal is cheap. The federal Energy Information Administration estimates that a set amount of heating - one million BTUs - could be generated by coal for a cost of $5.35, whereas it would cost $14.39 with wood, at least $27.65 with propane and $30.86 with electricity, unless a "geothermal" heat pump is used.

Henning said his yearly cost for coal - around $1,500 - is equivalent to what he was spending per month on propane during the coldest months of the year. And in two years, he's already recouped the $5,000 spent on the stove and ductwork, he said.

It's tough to say if other Granite Staters have been making the same switch in the past few years during a period when the price of oil has skyrocketed. Joseph Broyles of the energy and planning office said his department has no way to keep track of that.

But switching to coal isn't the only way to save a few bucks on home heating.

Nancy Milliard, 58, of Merrimack, found similar savings 16 years ago when she switched from electric heat to a wood stove. Wood is a far more popular heat source in New Hampshire than coal.

Shortly after moving into her townhouse in 1990, Milliard got a $2,000 electric bill, she said. A call to the electric company revealed the home used an electric heat pump – a device made popular in the '80s that has not proven efficient or cost effective in cold winter climates.

Milliard said a neighbor introduced her to the idea of using a wood stove for heat after finding her sitting on the steps crying over the bill. Milliard said several people in the neighborhood have switched to using wood pellets as a fuel source to save money.

Nashua homeowner Mike Henning has added a coal burning furnace to his existing propane system, reducing the cost of heating his family's home. Bags of coal are stacked behind him as he fills the hopper with a 50-pound bag Nov. 27.

Millard soon began making payments on her first wood stove and has since purchased two smaller units to supplement the heat, she said.

"The cost of the pellets is a lot, lot less," Milliard said. "It's a lot less costly than the electric."

About 10 percent of New Hampshire households rely on wood heat, making it the third most common source behind oil and natural gas, according to the latest data available from the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning, which are survey results from 1999.

More than half the households in New Hampshire heat their homes with oil and around 14 percent use natural gas. Coal is by far the least common fuel - trailing electricity by more than more than 4 percent.

Henning, who was introduced to the possibility of coal heat by a customer whose chimney he swept, is so pleased with his decision, he considers himself the coal distributor's best form of advertising.

His propane company was not quite as thrilled. Henning's only use for propane these days is cooking. He got a call from the company after his January bill was $6.72.

After realizing Henning was not going to meet his contractual consumption minimum, the company began charging him a $180 per year rental fee for his propane tank.

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