Here & There Column 4-1-08

A Hot Topic.......Heating Your Home

Wow.......have you taken a close look at your fuel bill recently.......when 150 to 200 gallons registers a $500 and $600 pay out I've heard many local folks say they are looking for alternative heating.
Wood stoves and pellet stoves sales have gained the interest of many and will most likely continue to climb as oil prices go up and up.
Friends of ours showed us their outdoor wood burning furnace that also heats their hot water.......this item is bound to become more popular but some municipalities have placed limits on where these can be installed and put to use.
Coal stoves for home heat are hot on the US market. Reports are that all of the corn stove makers are sold out with long waiting times and sales volumes have more than doubled in the last year.
One would have to ask why the big demand for corn heating and the simple answer is that nothing costs less to burn at this point than corn.
According to figures provided by Even Temp, maker of the St.Croix line of stoves, the cost per therm for 100,000British thermal units is 42 cents.
Dennis Buffington, a professor of engineering at Penn State University, provided figures in late January 2006 that for 1 million BTUs of heat, it takes $16.47 in natural gas, $33.80 in propane and a mere$8.75 for corn.
The corn industry is loving this move to corn for hear and they are promoting statements that corn is less expensive and safe for the environment.
Corn for heat sure looks like a comer on the energy scene .
And then there was coal........remember how many of your parents and grandparents homes were heated by coal....well folks coal is making a return in home heating and one of the popular units today is the direct vent coal stoker and while talking to a coal stove distributor (dealer) the other day he spoke about the Narman Stove Company in Halifax, PA and their Harman DVC-500 Direct coal stoker which he noted comes with a computer on board which make constant adjustments to the fuel consumed and to the heat driven into the room through the blower.
The distributor said a coal stove like this can sit in the center of your home and with a low setting of 7,000 BTU's, this stoker doesn't drive you our of the room. Come January he noted comfort is assured with a house-heating maximum of 75,000 BTUs.
An interesting aspect about this stove is that it is a true direct vent coal stove, the first of it kind, and does not require a chimney for installation or operation. It is said to be extremely safe and airtight, obtaining 100 percent of the air needed for the fire from outside your home and returning 100 percent of the exhaust air back outside.
And another interesting aspect about this type of heating is that the Anthracite coal for this unit comes to you in 40-pound bags and many homeowners report up to a 50% saving on their heating bills.
Coal companies are quick to point out that Anthracite s an American-produced, clean-burning, smokeless fuel that's continuously warmer and costs less than other heating options.
So this is fuel for thought and many are thinking alternative heating for their homes.