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Look beyond the home heating prices

Look beyond the home heating prices

Home heating prices vary by region and is also a lot dependant on the type of home, the requirements to be met and budget in hand for installing or redoing the existing system and its future maintenance.
The market does offer a plethora of options to choose from. There is always a DIY up for grabs, which would cost anywhere between $1500-2500 including an efficient thermostat system for $200. Geothermal home heating systems seem to be the most expensive of the lot, costing anywhere between $20,000 to $25,000 just to install it. However, this system has been receiving ` raving reviews, making several Americans to turn their attention towards it.

While we always look at the price of the system as such, do we even bother to work on the maintenance cost just to keep the system running? The following statistics from Energy Information Administration (EIA), will indeed throw some light on this aspect:

Heating Oil $2800
Oil prices have risen so high that oil heat, once competitive with other major home-heating fuels, has become the most expensive to use. Prices are tied to world events, so they can change quickly. Nationally, only about 6 percent of homeowners use oil as their primary home heating source and they are predominantly from the northeast part of the country.

Propane $2200
Although it’s a relatively clean fuel, propane is expensive and has been losing popularity for years. The cost varies a lot by region. In the Midwest, heating a home with propane costs an average of only $1,534.

Electricity $1400
The use of electric heat is on the rise, even in the frosty Northeast. Cost is the main draw, although some homeowners complain that electric heat isn’t as efficient as other fuels. Nationally, about a third of the country rely on electricity as their primary heating source.

Natural Gas $1000
Of the four main fuels used to heat our homes, natural gas is the most popular and now the cheapest, as well. A decade ago, gas cost about 80 percent of an equivalent amount of oil; it now costs less than half of oil, as oil prices have risen and the countries boom in natural gas drilling has kept gas prices low. Nearly half of all homes use natural gas as their primary heating source. Some analysts forecast a huge supply of the fuel will be available for decades to come. However, not everyone believes the supply is so large that natural gas will continue to be a low-cost fuel.

Now that the cost to run your heating system is blatantly revealed, work your math and save up some money!