Cutting Costs and Carbon: How to Heat Your Home Efficiently

The least expensive and most stable form of home heating for Windsor County residents is the electric heat pump. Source: EAN.

January is an apt time to think about home heating. This time of year, many of us watch the thermometer outside drop and monitor how much propane, oil, or wood we have left to keep us warm. According to Efficiency Vermont, the average Vermonter spends $2,447 annually on energy to heat their home, referred to as “thermal energy.” In the Upper Valley many households spend more than $3,000. Beyond the financial burden, home heating is the second-largest source of fossil fuel emissions in Vermont, accounting for 31% of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions. These rising costs and environmental impacts offer compelling reasons to rethink your home heating system.

The most common home heating sources in Vermont in order of popularity are fuel oil and kerosene (26%), fossil/natural gas (26%), wood (24%), propane (20%), and electricity (3%). Energy Action Network (EAN) has produced a graphic, included here, that compares the cost of some of these different heating systems. Disregarding commercial wood chips and fossil gas, which is not available in Windsor County, the least expensive and most stable form of home heating is the electric heat pump, followed by wood pellets (cord wood isn’t included because of a lack of current up-to-date cost reporting data, but is anecdotally one of the cheapest ways to heat a home in Vermont).

Heating with fossil fuels like propane and fuel oil has many downsides. Fossil fuels must be imported from outside of Vermont, which means that most of our local dollars leave the state when we buy them. Because they are imported, they are also high-cost and price-volatile. In November 2022, fuel oil prices spiked to $5.48/gallon, which was more than $2.00/gallon higher than in November 2021. The war in Ukraine helped to drive those prices up, which illustrates the ways that Vermonters who buy fossil fuels are subject to unpredictable global markets. This means that anyone heating with propane or oil may end up paying much higher costs for heating than they planned in any given winter. Of course, burning fossil fuels also produces carbon emissions, which add to global warming.

Heat pumps are one of the most efficient, clean, and cost-effective ways to heat your home. Air source heat pumps gather heat from the ambient air and move it indoors to heat your home, or outdoors to cool your home in the summer. These are the most common type of heat pump in Vermont, and Vermont residents whose annual household income is at or below the low- or moderate-income guidelines qualify for a $200-$2,200 bonus rebate on this type of heat pump. You can learn more about heating and cooling with heat pumps, including the different types of heat pump, here. There are also heat pump hot water heaters, which are much more efficient than gas or standard electric models. Vermont homeowners whose annual household income falls at or below low or moderate-income guidelines may be eligible to have up to 100% of their project cost covered when replacing an existing water heater with a heat pump hot water heater– more info here.

If you decide to heat with cord wood or wood pellets, make sure that you are using an efficient stove– check to make sure your wood stove has an EPA sticker. These stoves have lower emissions and help prevent creosote buildup because they burn so efficiently. If you use cord wood, remember that an efficient stove will also use less firewood over the year, which is less work for you. When I switched from a 1980s woodstove to a new EPA certified stove, I reduced my annual wood usage by roughly a cord.

Lastly, there are a few common misconceptions when it comes to home heating. The first important distinction is that electric heating is not the same as heating with a heat pump. Electric resistance heating, such as electric baseboard heating, is one of the most expensive ways to heat a home. Because electric baseboard heating has a low installation cost, landlords may choose to install it knowing that they won’t have to pay the high heating bill. Many renters in the lowest third of the income distribution are still dependent on these systems. Heat pumps, on the other hand, have a relatively high installation cost but are more cost-effective long term. Another common home heating misconception is that propane is cheaper than fuel oil. While it is true that cost per gallon of propane is cheaper compared to heating oil, the price per amount of delivered heat has historically been lower for fuel oil. This is because propane contains only 66% as much energy per gallon as fuel oil. Knowing these facts can help you make the best-informed decision for your home.

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