If sunny August days don’t have you thinking about how you are going to heat your home this winter the rising cost of living might. Everything is more expensive right now, from gasoline, to groceries, and utilities are no exception. We could be facing record setting fuel costs this winter and some people are using the summer months to search for some home heating alternatives. 

 

One such alternative is wood burning stoves. Sales of these units are already starting to speed up in sales and in some cases models are backordered. Among the hardest-to-find items: pellet appliances, which run partly off electricity and use sawdust capsules resembling rabbit food as the main fuel. Touted as particularly clean-burning and easy-to-use — pour pellets in the hopper and push a button to ignite — pellet equipment saw national sales that were up 54% in just the first quarter of the year, according to the Hearth Patio & Barbecue Association.

Even as crude oil and gasoline prices have slipped in recent days, the average U.S. household is expected to spend 20% more this winter on heating with oil, natural gas, propane and electricity, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In the Northeast, oil is still a prevalent form of heating fuel and the EIA predicts an average price of $4.35 a gallon, up 31% from a year ago. That sticker shock coupled with the pain of higher auto fuel prices is suddenly making wood, a renewable resource and one that many consumers can pluck from their own backyards in a pinch, look like a decent deal.

Many homes have existing open combustion fireplaces, which seem romantic and cozy but actually can be energy guzzlers, pulling heat out of the house and up the chimney. Alternatives like free-standing wood and pellet stoves and fireplace inserts with insulated doors, or even newer open fireplaces, can raise efficiency significantly. Prior to the late ’80s, many of the wood units were poor performers in terms of smoke emissions. While some clean-air advocates worry about the environmental impact of this new residential rise in wood-burning, the Environmental Protection Agency today requires all new wood stoves and inserts to burn far more cleanly than their predecessors.

Before you rush out to invest in a wood burning, or pellet burning stove make sure you that you do your math. Installation of a free –standing wood or pellet stove can cost anywhere from $3,000 – $4,200. You also need to determine how much wood and pellets cost in your area. The average for a cord of wood is about $200 and a ton of pellets sell for $250. Next you want to find out how much you will need to heat your home for the season and how much you stand to save by using less traditional utilities. Sites like  (www.eia.doe.gov/neic/experts/heatcalc.xls) and pelletheat.org offer fuel-comparison calculators.