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Choosing Your Fuel
| The fuel you choose will almost certainly be primarily dependent upon two interrelated factors – the availability of fuel in your area and the price of that fuel. Fuel options vary widely and include coal, wood (chunks and pellets), heating oil, natural gas, electric, propane, and corn. Our
Fuel Source Alternatives Comparison, which shows information for most of these fuels, will help you to determine the most cost-effective fuel based upon current prices. |
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Boilers by Type of Fuel
That Each Can Burn
Wood Gun™: Wood with Oil, Gas,
Waste Oil, or Electric backup option
Coal Gun™: Coal with Oil, Gas, or Electric backup
option
Multi-Fuel: Wood, Oil, Coal or Gas in any combination
with Waste Oil backup option
Waste Oil: Waste Oil |
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Fuel Price
Price of a fuel in your area will be directly determined by the availability of that fuel in your area. However, the certainty that a fuel will be easily available should also be considered. In rural areas slab wood from sawmills can be purchased very cost effectively, or a homeowner with a woodlot can cut his own wood. The availability of this fuel source in one form or another is virtually certain in a rural area. Another example of fuel type, corn, as an annual crop, is dependent upon proper environmental conditions in order for it to
always be readily available at a reasonable price. Also, the use of corn as a fuel competes with its use as a feed source. Finally, another increasingly competing use for corn is its use in the manufacture of ethanol. In some areas of North America corn may be a wise choice for a fuel source while it may not be the best choice in other areas. Ease of Handling the Fuel
There are other factors that should also be considered beyond simply the current price of the fuel. One of these factors is ease of handling of the fuel. If ease of handling the fuel is the primary (or the only) consideration, then liquid or particle fuels, or electricity, will meet this need more readily than chunk wood. However, there is a very real and offsetting consideration in this regard – exercise and outdoor activity. Today many people do not get enough exercise nor enough sunlight exposure, particularly in the winter, and choosing to burn wood (or coal if hand-loading is employed) can literally require the operator to use their body and get some much-needed exercise. If moving wood around outside, then this will increase a person’s sunlight exposure. The exercise factor is enhanced if you choose to cut your own firewood rather than buying your fuel (for instance buying slab wood from a sawmill). If particle fuel is being considered, then remember that the particle fuel delivery mechanisms will add additional cost to the boiler. Scrap Material That Can Serve As A Fuel Source
If you have scrap material from a commercial or industrial process, then you may well employ this material as a fuel source. Examples of such fuel sources would include used oil, wood cut-offs, sawdust, or wood shavings. Homeowners would not have enough of this type of fuel source to warrant this consideration (for instance a homeowner who changes their own oil would not have enough used oil in a year to heat their home for more than a day or two), but commercial and industrial concerns would have a continuous supply in enough volume to warrant use of such items as a fuel source for a boiler. Independence of Fuel Supply
Another consideration in fuel choice is independence of supply. An owner with a woodlot will have their own supply of firewood and be independent of any disruptions in fuel supply. This cannot be said for any other fuel source except perhaps a farmer growing his own corn. Space Requirements
A final consideration in choosing a fuel is the volume of storage space available for the fuel. Final Thoughts
Remember that Alternate Heating Systems, Inc. boilers come in a variety of fuel choices and include gas and fuel oil backup options.
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