Because the different solutions vary in effectiveness depending on where you live in the country and market rates, predicting future heating costs and determining which would be the most cost-effective option are nearly impossible. Here is how to heat your home most cheaply if you’re thinking about changing your heating source but aren’t sure which option is ideal for you. However, if you want to make sure you pick the best option, always talk to a company specializing on heating services.
Oil
Heaters that use oil as a fuel have been around for a long time, as have forced-air duct heaters. Modern units, on the other hand, are far more cost-effective. To be considered great, a boiler or furnace must attain at least 70% efficiency if it is lucky enough to have one in the past. Models currently on the market offer exceptional efficiency ratings of up to 86 percent, thanks in part to advancements in the design of burners.
You’d have to modify your brick chimney with a stainless-steel liner if you wanted to take advantage of modern technology. However, replacing the burner with a flame-retention head that does a better job of mixing air and fuel would be a less expensive option.
Natural gas and propane
Alternatives such as propane and natural gas were excellent choices for those who didn’t want to use oil for heating but still wanted to reap the benefits of oil-related heating. When compared to oil, they have always burned cleaner, especially before the more advanced oil furnaces we currently have, and as a result, they never had the burnt oil smell that was often part of the package when you chose to use heating oil.
Even though propane hasn’t been as cheap as it once was and may even be better than natural gas, it’s still not the great deal it once was. When it comes to gas, though, availability trumps price almost every time. Because there is sufficient demand for gas, it is more readily available and widely used in cities and towns where it is distributed via piping.
Electricity
Electricity is a great source of energy, but its key selling point is how effective it is as a heating source. All of the energy it generates is converted to heat, therefore it is far superior to the alternatives in terms of efficiency and produces no waste. Even though it sounds fantastic, think twice before switching to electricity as the cheapest way to heat your home.
Electricity-based heating is prohibitively expensive. There’s also the possibility that energy isn’t any greener than fossil fuel alternatives if you don’t know your provider.
Wood
Firewood used to be the only readily available fuel for those who lived in the woods back in the day. If you reside in a thickly wooded location near many forests in rural areas, it’s still a possible alternative. If you can find, cut, and stack your wood, wood is the best deal among the more traditional fuels.
That, together with the fact that people enjoy sitting in front of an open fire, burning wood, and being warm and comfortable, may explain its increasing popularity. Firewood does not contribute to any multinational conglomerate corporation that often experiences reaction; therefore, you may avoid the political landscape around other fuels.
Geothermal
Cynicism greeted its introduction in the 1990s. The concept of using energy from the soil to heat your house and never having to pay for oil again appeals to me. However, it’s the desire to be independent of oil that’s fueled the popularity of geothermal and to some extent aqua thermal, which is why they’re so popular. To put it another way, geothermal heating is so popular that it has overtaken all other heating technologies as the fastest-growing heating technology.
