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Spending Too Much on Energy? BuildingGreen's Fuel-Cost Calculator Simplifies Comparisons
With rapidly rising energy prices around the country, something unusual has happened. Some heating fuels that used to be quite affordable, such as heating oil, have risen in price dramatically, making competing energy sources such as electricity relatively less expensive. In parts of the Northeast and Upper Midwest, even the most expensive form of electric heat - electric-resistance baseboard heat - is now less expensive than fuel oil.
To help consumers objectively compare fuel costs,
BuildingGreen has just launched a sophisticated, yet very simple, online
fuel-cost-comparison calculator.
The challenge in comparing fuel costs is the fact that most
fuels are purchased by volume or weight, rather than energy content. It’s hard
to compare gallons of fuel oil with hundreds of cubic-feet (ccf) of natural gas
and kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. Adding to the complexity, there are big
differences in how efficiently energy sources are converted into heat and how
efficiently that heat is distributed throughout a building. To accurately
compare the costs of different energy sources, we need to look at the price per
delivered unit of heat. If we compare fuel costs on the basis of dollars per
million British thermal units (Btus) of delivered heat, we are comparing apples
to apples.
The new fuel-cost comparison tool is free on BuildingGreen.com
along with a primer on comparing fuel costs (visit www.BuildingGreen.com/calc/fuel_cost.cfm).
BuildingGreen’s online fuel-cost calculator considers the heat content of each
fuel, the efficiency of combustion by the heating equipment, and the efficiency
of distribution. With furnaces and forced-air distribution, there are often very
significant distribution losses that raise the cost per million Btus of
delivered heat. The BuildingGreen calculator provides default (average)
efficiencies but allows users to enter different values if they are
known.
Because the prices of most fossil fuels are rising faster than
the price of electricity, which is regulated, some homeowners and businesses are
likely to switch from oil, natural gas, or propane to electricity. “There has
been very little attention paid to this issue by utility companies and public
utility commissions,” according to Alex Wilson, president of BuildingGreen, “but
the likelihood of fuel switching to electricity may have very significant
implications on electricity demand and safety—especially if homeowners begin
using portable electric heaters more widely.” In an editorial called “Get Ready
for Fuel Switching” in the July 2008 issue of Environmental Building News,
Wilson cautions that fuel switching could cause capacity shortages this coming
winter, potentially leading to brownouts and blackouts. In addition, the use of
portable electric heaters in homes with outdated wiring may cause a rash of
house fires. His editorial can be accessed from the online
calculator.
CONTACT:
Jerelyn Wilson
802-257-7300 ext. 102
jerelyn@buildinggreen.com
CONTACT:
Jerelyn Wilson
802-257-7300 ext. 102