Oil vs wood heat for 2016/2017 winter (live, prices, estimate)

[Last1Standing]

If you're wondering which is more expensive, go to the fuel comparison chart at https://www.nh.gov/oep/energy/energy...dex.htm#note_2. Here's what it shows as of today:

OIL @ $2.03 per gallon = $14.67 per million BTU

WOOD @ $315 per cord = $15.75 per million BTU

To find the lowest oil price go to Oil Prices
Right now the lowest price in central NH is $1.65 at CN Brown. At that price, the price per million BTUs is $11.80 for oil compared to $15.75 for wood.

On Craigslist the average price for dry firewood is about $300 to $325, so the government's estimate for wood is about right.

The national oil price outlook is at http://www.eia.gov/forecasts/steo/. Last year the price of oil by the end of the winter was $1 below the projected price.

CONCLUSION: Like last year, this is a year when you can stock just enough firewood for power outages and use oil all winter, knowing that YOU'RE SAVING MONEY WITH OIL. No need to be a slave to the exorbitant price of cord wood.

[unit731]

You forgot to mention the BTU ratings of the carpenter ants that are inside the cord wood !

[sgthoskins]

If you're paying $300 a cord you need to find another wood guy. People tend to manage temps more when they burn oil, so it's not cold but it's not really warm. I like to crank my stove up, grab a whiskey, and know that I'm not burning oil.

[Last1Standing]

Originally Posted by sgthoskins

If you're paying $300 a cord you need to find another wood guy. People tend to manage temps more when they burn oil, so it's not cold but it's not really warm. I like to crank my stove up, grab a whiskey, and know that I'm not burning oil.

There has been a shortage of woods in recent years. Craigslist is representative of what's available.

[sb2017]

Originally Posted by Last1Standing

There has been a shortage of woods in recent years. Craigslist is representative of what's available.

Yikes. You aren't kidding.

https://nh.craigslist.org/search/sss...ax_auto_miles=

[miu]

My boyfriend has been gathering free firewood all summer. Some of our friends needed some trees (nothing huge) cut down, so he went and did it. One of our neighbors bought a log splitter. So for us, this winter will be mainly wood heat with a little oil heat for backup.

So very little in cash out of pocket, but instead a good amount of sweat equity. And he feels a lot of pride as he looks at his stacks of firewood by our house.

[Samiamnh]

Originally Posted by Last1Standing

If you're wondering which is more expensive, go to the fuel comparison chart at https://www.nh.gov/oep/energy/energy...dex.htm#note_2. Here's what it shows as of today:

OIL @ $2.03 per gallon = $14.67 per million BTU

WOOD @ $315 per cord = $15.75 per million BTU

To find the lowest oil price go to Oil Prices
Right now the lowest price in central NH is $1.65 at CN Brown. At that price, the price per million BTUs is $11.80 for oil compared to $15.75 for wood.

On Craigslist the average price for dry firewood is about $300 to $325, so the government's estimate for wood is about right.

The national oil price outlook is at Short-Term Energy Outlook - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Last year the price of oil by the end of the winter was $1 below the projected price.

CONCLUSION: Like last year, this is a year when you can stock just enough firewood for power outages and use oil all winter, knowing that YOU'RE SAVING MONEY WITH OIL. No need to be a slave to the exorbitant price of cord wood.

You can cut your own firewood for FREE....but you can't pump your own oil

[chris410]

Originally Posted by Last1Standing

There has been a shortage of woods in recent years. Craigslist is representative of what's available.

YUP, Cut your own wood and scrounger here... Last year I had amassed about 12 cord of fire wood. With prices where they were, I EASILY sold 2 cords of seasoned wood (delivered it) for 350 a cord... I couldn't believe it. I could have sold more as there was interest.

At that price. burning oil is a no-brainer..

so wood at 300 a cord is cheaper than last year but still a rip-off in my opinion.

The most frustrating thing is free wood/scrounges are no longer easy to come by.