Fuel Comparison Calculator

Use an online calculator to compare prices of pellet fuel to electricity, hardwood, natural gas, LP gas/propane, coal and fuel oil. Or view the chart below to determine the net heating value.

Fuel	Gross heating value	Efficiency of burner	Net heating value
#2 Fuel Oil	139,000 Btu’s / gallon	83%	115,370 Btu’s / gallon
Kerosene	132,000 Btu’s / gallon	83%	109,560 Btu’s / gallon
Electricity	3413 Btu’s / kWh	98%	3345 Btu’s / kWh
LPG [Propane]	92,000 Btu’s / gallon	79%	72,680 Btu’s / gallon
Natural Gas	1,000,000 Btu’s / 1000 cu ft	80%	800,000 Btu’s / 1000 cu ft
Wood Pellets	8,500 Btu’s / pound	83%	7,055 Btu’s / pound
Seasoned wood*	20,000,000 Btu’s / cord	77%	15,400,000 Btu’s / cord
Coal	25,000,000 Btu’s / ton	77%	19,250,000 Btu’s / ton


		*Seasoned wood can vary a great deal in Btu content depending on the species burned.

	During the heating season, the average home uses between 50 & 150 million Btu’s of energy. Using the above efficiency and net Btu figures with current pricing of available fuels, the chart below shows what one could expect to pay to heat a typical home assuming consumption of 100,000,000 Btu’s using fuel prices on 9/1/08.

Fuel	Fuel required for 1 million Btu’s	Average cost/unit	Total cost per 100 million Btu’s
#2 Fuel Oil	8.68 gallons	$3.75/gallon	$3255.00
Kerosene	9.13 gallons	$4.40/gallon	$4017.00
Electricity	299 kWh	$0.16/kWh	$4784.00
LPG (Propane)	13.76 gallons	$4.40/gallon	$6054.00
Natural gas	1,250 cubic feet	$18.00/1000 cu ft	$2250.00
Wood pellets	118 pounds [3 bags]	$0.15/pound [$300/ton]	$1770.00
Seasoned wood	.065 cord	$275.00/cord	$1786.00
Coal	103 pounds	$350.00/ton	$1802.50


	One 40 pound bag of wood pellets at a cost of $6.00 is equivalent to 2.44 gallons of #2 heating oil at a cost of $9.15 [$3.75/gallon]. If heating oil and pellet prices maintain current levels, savings of over 34% in home heating costs would be realized by burning wood pellets instead of #2 heating oil.