Obviously compiled by the natural gas indusrtry. Burning 21 pounds of
firewood an hour would require an extremely large (castle-sized) fireplace,
and would probably put out enough BTUs to heat that castle!
Compare the cost per BTU of gas and firewood- firewood is, at worst, half
the price.
Natural Gas vs. Firewood Cost Survey
Summary: Are you considering a gas
fireplace over a wood burning fireplace? The following survey compares natural
gas and firewood burning for a number of cities in the United States and clearly
shows the benefits of gas fireplaces.
Related Articles:
Fireplace,
Gas Logs - Vented & Ventless, Gas Fireplaces & Ventless Gas Fireplaces, Gas Fireplace Log Manufacturers
Natural Gas vs. Firewood Cost Survey
The following 1996 survey was compiled by comparing the cost to operate a vented set of fire logs that burned an average of 75,000 BTU's per hour vs. the cost of burning seasoned firewood at the rate of approximately 21 pounds per hour. The firewood cost was based on purchasing a full cord at one time. The gas prices are winter rates. The firewood prices were obtained from leading firewood distributors.
The first set of numbers listed under each city is for natural gas. The second set of numbers is the firewood cost.
|
City
|
Gas Log Cost
|
Firewood Cost
|
| Albuquerque | $0.17 - 0.22 | $0.95 - 1.22 |
| Atlanta | $0.42 - 0.55 | $0.95 - 1.20 |
| Baltimore | $0.32 - 0.42 | $0.99 - 1.27 |
| Birmingham | $0.39 - 0.51 | $0.67 - 0.86 |
| Boston | $0.48 - 0.63 | $1.06 - 1.36 |
| Charlotte | $0.37 - 0.48 | $0.65 - 0.83 |
| Chicago | $0.29 - 0.38 | $0.47 - 0.58 |
| Cleveland | $0.31 - 0.41 | $1.04 - 1.33 |
| Columbus | $0.35 - 0.45 | $0.90 - 1.15 |
| Dallas | $0.39 - 0.51 | $0.78 - 0.99 |
| Denver | $0.43 - 0.69 | $1.19 - 1.52 |
| El Paso | $0.13 - 0.17 | $1.12 - 1.43 |
| Houston | $0.26 - 0.34 | $1.08 - 1.38 |
| Indianapolis | $0.28 - 0.37 | $0.76 - 0.97 |
| Kansas City | $0.22 - 0.29 | $0.67 - 0.85 |
| Las Vegas | $0.35 - 0.46 | $1.58 - 2.02 |
| Lexington | $0.37 - 0.49 | $0.73 - 0.96 |
| Los Angeles | $0.66 - 0.89 | $1.02 - 1.61 |
| Miami | $0.37 - 0.45 | $1.12 - 1.46 |
| Minneapolis | $0.28 - 0.37 | $1.04 - 1.33 |
| Nashville | $0.42 - 0.55 | $0.79 - 0.98 |
| New Orleans | $0.27 - 0.35 | $1.08 - 1.38 |
| New York City | $0.46 - 0.60 | $1.03 - 1.31 |
| Philadelphia | $0.32 - 0.42 | $0.86 - 1.10 |
| Phoenix | $0.32 - 0.42 | $1.82 - 2.32 |
| Pittsburgh | $0.29 - 0.38 | $1.15 - 1.47 |
| Raleigh | $0.39 - 0.51 | $0.79 - 1.00 |
| St. Louis | $0.27 - 0.36 | $0.68 - 0.87 |
| Salt Lake City | $0.63 - 0.71 | $1.12 - 1.43 |
| San Antonio | $0.28 - 0.37 | $1.08 - 1.38 |
| San Francisco | $0.36 - 0.47 | $1.62 - 2.07 |
| Seattle | $0.35 - 0.50 | $0.71 - 0.92 |
| Tulsa | $0.32 - 0.42 | $0.47 - 0.60 |
| Washington, D.C. | $0.57 - 0.74 | $1.08 - 1.38 |
|
|
Comments:
eric johnson 29 Jan 2008, 17:46
AsktheBuilder 29 Jan 2008, 18:09
Eric,
Those numbers in that table are, Gulp, over ten-years old....... I have been trying to get updated data from an independent source but had no luck. So the numbers of both fuels in the table could be way off.
Ryan 07 Sep 2008, 10:18
What's the wood? When and how purchased? Dates for these prices? This is
irresponsibly incomplete.
Ryan 07 Sep 2008, 10:25
I forgot to mention type of woodstove. I agree with eric, this seems
biased.
Kim 08 Sep 2008, 20:39
I agree as well. This report does not contain enough information to allow
a person to determine whether or not the data is even up to date, let alone
accurate.
Also, today's available wood-burning fireplaces are much more energy efficient (and EPA-friendly) than 8-10 years ago. View all comments |
