Heating choice (Lincoln: mortgage, new home, heat pump)

[Maineah]

Propane is a bit cheaper than oil. Not a lot though. Natural Gas is not in large use in Maine. There is some NG use in the cities but that's about it.

[emu742]

why is it that natural gas is not used in Maine? Forgive me on my ignorance in this. We don't touch oil out here... but perhaps there is a reason for it being accessible here and not there....??

[tapestry]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Propane is a bit cheaper than oil. Not a lot though. Natural Gas is not in large use in Maine. There is some NG use in the cities but that's about it.

DH and I have been looking at homes in Eastport for sale and several of them said they had gas heat....is there some other type of gas other than natural gas? Could they mean propane?

[tapestry]

Originally Posted by emu742

why is it that natural gas is not used in Maine? Forgive me on my ignorance in this. We don't touch oil out here... but perhaps there is a reason for it being accessible here and not there....??

I am wondering that, too, as it seems that most of the homes here in Pennsy use either natural gas or oil for heating, and Pennsy winters can get pretty cold -- not as much as Maine -- but cold nonetheless....

[tapestry]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Propane is a bit cheaper than oil. Not a lot though. Natural Gas is not in large use in Maine. There is some NG use in the cities but that's about it.

Would you say propane is a better way to go rather than oil, then? One of the homes we were looking at had propane heating....

Are there down sides to propane and, if so, what? Also, how much less expensive is propane than oil?

Sorry for the million questions....just wanna be as sure as possible about what we're getting into regarding heating costs if we move to Maine...

Thank you for your help everyone!

....Sue

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by emu742

why is it that natural gas is not used in Maine? Forgive me on my ignorance in this. We don't touch oil out here... but perhaps there is a reason for it being accessible here and not there....??

Isolation is the simple answer. Until recently the nearest major natural gas supplies came from Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, and the pipelines that carried it to the major metropolitan areas ended in Boston because it wasn't considered profitable to extend them into Maine. A line came into Portland back in the 1970s IIRC, but ended there. But for the past century, the heating fuel of choice has been heating oil. It was cheap, convenient, easy to transport, and didn't depend on digging a network of pipes all over the place.

Then the Sable Island natural gas field was developed off New Brunswick nt he late 1990s, and a big natgas pipeline was built along the coast of Maine to carry the SI gas to southern New England. Larger towns and industries along the way — the paper mill in Bucksport, the city of Bangor — were able to tap into it. But building the infrastructure is expensive, and they've already stopped drilling new wells at Sable Island because the field isn't as big as originally thought. Irving is building a new LNG terminal in St. John, NB, but LNG depends on foreign supplies that could be less than stable.

[Mainer61]

And, of course, there is the discussion and permit gathering for an LNG in Eastport.

[Bydand]

Don't forget thought the different heating properties of the different fuels you are looking at as well. Propane, Oil, Natural Gas, Wood, Electricity, all have different BTU ratings that go along with the difference in price. Here is a quick little chart to help clear things up a bit. EERE Consumer's Guide: Selecting Heating Fuel and System Types

Remember it is going to take a set amount of heat (BTU's) to heat a house no matter what fuel you are using. If you know what the BTU values are of the different heat sources, you can make a better choice if there is a choice available. The house I just left in Washburn used 643.6 gallons of #2 oil in a furnace that was burning at around 88% efficient. which is the equivalent of 79,291,520 BTU's (140,000 * 643.6 * 88%) so to reach that level and keep the house the same temp using wood I would need about 4 cord of hardwood, or 792 therms of Natural gas, or 861 gallons of Propane not taking into consideration the efficiency of those furnaces.

[tapestry]

Originally Posted by Bydand

Don't forget thought the different heating properties of the different fuels you are looking at as well. Propane, Oil, Natural Gas, Wood, Electricity, all have different BTU ratings that go along with the difference in price. Here is a quick little chart to help clear things up a bit. EERE Consumer's Guide: Selecting Heating Fuel and System Types

Remember it is going to take a set amount of heat (BTU's) to heat a house no matter what fuel you are using. If you know what the BTU values are of the different heat sources, you can make a better choice if there is a choice available. The house I just left in Washburn used 643.6 gallons of #2 oil in a furnace that was burning at around 88% efficient. which is the equivalent of 79,291,520 BTU's (140,000 * 643.6 * 88%) so to reach that level and keep the house the same temp using wood I would need about 4 cord of hardwood, or 792 therms of Natural gas, or 861 gallons of Propane not taking into consideration the efficiency of those furnaces.

thank you very much for your explanation and for that link...both are very helpful!

[emu742]

Originally Posted by Coaster

Isolation is the simple answer. Until recently the nearest major natural gas supplies came from Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, and the pipelines that carried it to the major metropolitan areas ended in Boston because it wasn't considered profitable to extend them into Maine. A line came into Portland back in the 1970s IIRC, but ended there. But for the past century, the heating fuel of choice has been heating oil. It was cheap, convenient, easy to transport, and didn't depend on digging a network of pipes all over the place.

Then the Sable Island natural gas field was developed off New Brunswick nt he late 1990s, and a big natgas pipeline was built along the coast of Maine to carry the SI gas to southern New England. Larger towns and industries along the way — the paper mill in Bucksport, the city of Bangor — were able to tap into it. But building the infrastructure is expensive, and they've already stopped drilling new wells at Sable Island because the field isn't as big as originally thought. Irving is building a new LNG terminal in St. John, NB, but LNG depends on foreign supplies that could be less than stable.

ahh ok thats interesting. Hopefully there will be a wider variety of heating methods that are feasible to choose from this coming winter...one would think there will be a lot of companies jumping up to take advantage of alternate heating by fall (and I'm sure they're already are). Probably best to get whatever it is right now- before solar, wood, etc climb in price to take advantage of those getting away from oil...
With the wood...I like the idea of finding the scraps from woodyards etc that you mention Forest... is there ever a concern that there are unwanted things on the wood- treatments or other chemicals you wouldn't want to be burning in your house?