The best way to compare the various fuels available for home “space” heating is to break each fuel down to the therm (100,000 Btu’s). First determine the various fuels available to you; then the cost-per-therm (your fuel provider can give you the number) and you’re all done!
Some numbers that might help:
- 1 therm = 100,000 Btu’s
- 1 gallon of propane (LP) = 91,333 Btu’s
- 1 gallon of fuel oil = 138,000 Btu’s
- 1 kWh electricity = 3,412 Btu’s
- 1 cubic foot of natural gas = 1000 Btu’s
A Btu is a British Thermal Unit (the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water by one degree from 60° to 61° Fahrenheit at a constant pressure of one atmosphere) about one good matchstick.
So; if you have a cost of 10 cents per kilowatt 1000 watts x 10 = 100,000 Btu’s or 1therm. Now we’re cooking with electricity at a dollar per therm!
In most of the country natural gas is half the cost of electricity-or less- and so is hard to compete with. It should be noted that most of our (US) electricity is created by burning coal which presents twice the carbon footprint of natural gas, about 90 percent of which comes from North American providers.
As you are probably already aware; we compete with the rest of the world for fuel oil and thus suffer the ups and downs of the world oil market.
