Home Heating Alternatives Basics

Many of us just don’t know our home heating alternatives, so that means we aren’t getting a good varied choice when it comes to choosing what is best for us and the environment. With home heating costs rising to an unprecedented high, home heating alternatives are starting to be the focus of many consumers’ priorities when it comes to saving money. What options are out there though?

Wood pellets are a very cheap (less than $5 for 40 pounds) and provide an efficient and environmentally friendly option for those who prefer to use a method that provides very little waste. Wood pellets come from waste materials such as sawdust and ground wood chips, so are recycled already by the time you get them. The cost for the season will vary depending on the size of the stove, obviously a bigger stove will use more pellets, but the average user should expect costs between $1600 and $3000.

Corn is another method of heating which just isn’t given enough thought, although there can be drawbacks. High on the checklist when considering using corn as a heating fuel, is to see if you can burn pure corn and nothing else, or if you have to mix it in with another source i.e. wood pellets, and are sugars from burning the corn going to clog up the system? One advantage is that waste from burnt corn can be used as a fertilizer. Corn is cheaper than pellets as heating fuel.

Another way which is becoming very high on the list of home heating alternatives is to utilize what nature has given us. Solar heating is a method of home heating which is becoming increasingly popular now that installation costs have fallen. The initial cost of purchase and installation can easily outweigh running bills for heating after a few years from purchase; there is no waste, no fumes and no running costs to speak of until the time comes to replace. Managed completely by one of two types of solar heating system, the only choice you need to make is which of the two systems to go for, passive or active. Passive systems utilize the features your building already has, such as windows that bring a large amount of sunlight into your property, the sunlight then hits the ‘thermal mass’ which is a material placed behind it, to store the energy thereby bringing heat. Alternatively active systems usually rely on solar collectors placed on the roof and come in two variations using either liquid (anti-freeze solution) or air.

Geothermal heating has been in use since the Roman times and is basically transferring natural sources of hot water and steam which exist near the earth’s surface, to our homes via a network of tubes using liquid to hold the earth’s heat and bring it up to the surface. Ground source heat pump systems are definitely one of the up-and-coming home heating alternatives and the price for installation is coming down annually. Operated by small amounts of electricity, you’ll be making an initial small electrical outlay to receive 300% more heating energy. An extra special feature of geothermal heating is its ability to use the same technology to cool as well as heat your home.

To summarize, if you want to stick with traditional home heating alternatives then wood, corn or wheat will be the better option for you. However, if you decide to take the plunge into something more economically friendly, then it’s worth looking into geothermal or solar heating systems.