crystal
My husband, myself and our two children went to go look at a 3 bedroom apartment in Shippensburg,PA, the heating is gas heat and the current tenant said that it has cost them about $100 a month but then they said the place isn't hard to heat. We were wondering if this sounds about right for a Gas Heating monthly bill for PA or in general? Right now in our current apartment we are using 2 electric fireplaces and a space heater to heat our pretty good sized apartment and our electric bill has been ranging about $200 to $600 max during the winter time... Do you think it would be cheaper to pay the gas heating or just keep using the electric fireplaces?
Answer
Gas, the DOE says at http://www.eia.gov/neic/experts/heatcalc.xls that the average US net cost per BTU for electricity is about 3 times the cost of gas.
Gas, 82% (Low) efficiency, $1.10 per therm, $13.47 net per 100,000 BTU
Electricity, 98% efficiency $0.122 per kw/h, $36.49 per net 100,000 BTU
If you save and reopen the above file you can adjust the local unit cost for energy and compare your net difference.
Gas, the DOE says at http://www.eia.gov/neic/experts/heatcalc.xls that the average US net cost per BTU for electricity is about 3 times the cost of gas.
Gas, 82% (Low) efficiency, $1.10 per therm, $13.47 net per 100,000 BTU
Electricity, 98% efficiency $0.122 per kw/h, $36.49 per net 100,000 BTU
If you save and reopen the above file you can adjust the local unit cost for energy and compare your net difference.
A couple questions about a wood stove and a fireplace?
dt
Can you put a wood stove in a fireplace? Does it have to be a certain type and size of stove? Will the walls of the fireplace hinder it from exerting heat since hte fireplace walls surround it?
I heard there are different types of stove like oil ones and such which is the best type? Can you buy a really large stove? How much are stoves?
Do wood stoves come with fans or can you just put one next to it?
Do fireplaces have fans or can you just put on next to it?
Is there something you can have built into your fireplace so that all the warm air in your house will not exit out of the chimney?
Answer
I have a fireplace I've had more than one stove in. As a fireplace, it was a total energy loss - it sucked more cold air into the house than the heat it produced. You're right, you have to close off this big opening to put a wood stove in. First, I had a piece of sheet metal fashioned that fit over the opening at the top of the fireplace. This sheet metal has a lip bent into it all the way around, and screws through the lip hold it into position. There's a hole cut into the middle that the chimney pipe fits snugly through. My first stove sat out in the room, right in front of the fireplace. This made a dramatic improvement in efficiency, but took up a lot of floor space. This was in a house with a concrete slab floor, so I didn't need a hearth. Later, when I could afford it, I had the stove changed for a "fireplace insert", which is a wood stove meant to be installed in the recess of the fireplace. Mine has a built in fan, although I don't use it anymore - it's my operating theory that the heat doesn't really go anywhere except in the masonry around the fireplace, and that radiates back into the house eventually anyway, and this way I don't have to listen to the fan. I also installed a 6" stainless steel liner in my chimney, this draws much better than the masonry chimney and I think it's safer.
I was at the wood stove shop the other day, and say an insert like mine for $2700 (the biggest Quadra-Fire insert made). Installation and chimney might run $1500 or so more.
Wood heat is messy, but it's a very comforting heat. I have electric I could use too, but I'm using wood now as we speak. I think it's cheaper, and I know it feels warmer. It works when the powers out, too.
I have a fireplace I've had more than one stove in. As a fireplace, it was a total energy loss - it sucked more cold air into the house than the heat it produced. You're right, you have to close off this big opening to put a wood stove in. First, I had a piece of sheet metal fashioned that fit over the opening at the top of the fireplace. This sheet metal has a lip bent into it all the way around, and screws through the lip hold it into position. There's a hole cut into the middle that the chimney pipe fits snugly through. My first stove sat out in the room, right in front of the fireplace. This made a dramatic improvement in efficiency, but took up a lot of floor space. This was in a house with a concrete slab floor, so I didn't need a hearth. Later, when I could afford it, I had the stove changed for a "fireplace insert", which is a wood stove meant to be installed in the recess of the fireplace. Mine has a built in fan, although I don't use it anymore - it's my operating theory that the heat doesn't really go anywhere except in the masonry around the fireplace, and that radiates back into the house eventually anyway, and this way I don't have to listen to the fan. I also installed a 6" stainless steel liner in my chimney, this draws much better than the masonry chimney and I think it's safer.
I was at the wood stove shop the other day, and say an insert like mine for $2700 (the biggest Quadra-Fire insert made). Installation and chimney might run $1500 or so more.
Wood heat is messy, but it's a very comforting heat. I have electric I could use too, but I'm using wood now as we speak. I think it's cheaper, and I know it feels warmer. It works when the powers out, too.
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