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Engineering economic assessment of residential wood heating in NY
Citation:
Loughlin, Dan AND R. Dodder. Engineering economic assessment of residential wood heating in NY. Presented at Advanced Energy Conference 2012, New York City, NY, October 30 - 31, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
The work presented here demonstrates that fuel costs generally outweigh device costs in determining the least cost heating options for households. The competitiveness of wood heating varies greatly based on device efficiency, the availability of low-cost wood resources. Devices can also differ dramatically with respect to emissions. Determining the viability of whole-house wood heating for a particular situation can be difficult, and consumers would benefit from additional information and tools that would facilitate their consideration of these and other factors.
Description:
We provide insight into the recent resurgence in residential wood heating in New York by: (i) examining the lifetime costs of outdoor wood hydronic heaters (OWHHs) and other whole-house residential wood heat devices,(ii) comparing these lifetime costs with those of competing technologies, and (iii) identifying thresholds at which whole-house residential wood heating is less costly than other options.
