PORTLAND, Maine — A nonprofit group is promoting its new report aimed at giving Maine consumers facts about different home heating options.
Environment Northeast says it has produced heating facts reports outlining the costs of different heating options in Maine and other New England states. They serve as guides to residential heating energy usage, costs and emissions information and will be updated monthly as prices change.
The Maine report includes information and charts on average household usage and costs for different fuels based on home efficiency.
The report says the best way to bring down heating costs is through home weatherization that makes houses more energy-efficient.
We should not be using fossil fuels for heating our home. Cord wood, pellets, and natural gas are all produced on this continent, and doesn’t support terrorism. Buy local. Put Maine back to work.
Why are we buying millions of dollars in foreign oil every year to heat public buildings in a state full of trees? We could put thousands of Mainers back to work heating our buildings with wood instead of oil.
That would cut into LePage’s oil profit share so it’s a no no. A State like Maine could be the frontrunner in solar/wind but fatboy LePage says NO ! He actually has Mainers believing the cost will go up….lol. Fools.
LePage is one big ulterior motive from the time he gets up until the time he goes to bed. Most Mainers are aware of this. The rest are his supporters.
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The fools are the ones who believe that solar/wind will lower costs. In a state chock full of hydropower opportunities why would we even consider solar/wind, the most expensive commercial power known to man? If anyone tells you they want affordable power for Maine and the next words out of their mouth is not clean, cheap, reliable, hydro then you know they don;t really want people to have affordable power in Maine.
AMEN to That Brother!
And those are the Best heating choices by far for local access.
Cord wood ….yes. The others are under the control of the very same people that squeeze us for oil…..Did you know the Republicans want to make it illegal to cut your own wood ? If they don’t want it…it’s because they aren’t making a killing from it.
The Dems are the ones who spent the last 35 years regulating what you can do with your property in Maine.
Exxon-moble does not control wood pellets. They are made in 3 places in Maine that I know of, and I’m sure there are more. Also please point me in the direction of the info to back up your statement of the republicans not letting me cut my own wood.
this report is useless. giving raw numbers for use of different types of fuel is nice, but gives no information about changing over. What is the upfront cost for switching from fuel oil to natural gas? compare that to a change over to pellets.
It shows a nice little chart about money going out of state for fuel but fails to detail why that is, and how a switch away from gas, propane or oil would turn that trend around.
and finally it lists numbers about emissions, but this fails to differentiate between long sequestered carbon from fossil fuels as compared to recently air borne carbon from wood or pellets.
Lots of fluff, pretty pictures, no real substance.
If you are angry about high oil prices and don’t want to spend even more money on fixing up your house then call your Congressional delegation and tell them to repeal The Commodities Modernization Act of 2000 and the Financial Modernization Act of 1999 and get speculators out of the commodities markets.
If I might be provided a moment of sanity I would suggest that everyone look at the Bloom Poweplant (www.bloomenergy.com) . I do not ‘rep’ them or work for them outright. But the potential for this type of electrical powerplant has the potential to get virtually every home and small business, that use’s electricity as their prime energy source, off of the oil train and use what we have in more than abundance, namely water and biogas, coming from woodchip and landfill site’s. I sent this to both Rick Long and Beth Turner as a way to help those of us in Eastern and Northern Maine as a way to get the oil companies off our backs and to develop local electric company’s in the various town’s and region’s. To date, it would seem, no one is interested in saving Mainer’s from outrageous utility bill’s and is determined to keep feeding the oil company’s.
Oh, and for those who say that landfill biogas can’t be used for anything useful, I would suggest you go look at Casella’s Mt Trashmore in Bangor. It’s riddled with collection pipes that take the gas to a central collection point and then piped to UM Bangor, who uses’s it to heat their building’s. And they’ve signed a 20 + yr contract to that effect. If anyone wants to argue cost effectiveness then they can start there. And these utility bill’s are not going to go away on their own ! This is one area where Maine can lead the way and has the resources to make it happen.
How about This as the Maine SOLUTION?
Oil should ABSOLUTELY be better used as fuel for trucks, trains and planes. Oil is
much too valuable to be burned in a stationary building. Oil should be reserved as a
Mobile fuel only.
If you have Natural Gas available, Hook Up as soon as you can.
If you can’t, consider Heat Pump (3 to 1 heat/energy multiplier) or Wood Pellet
systems. Automatic large bin feed Pellet Boilers are available.
Energy Security Products, Main Rd. in Carmel has a nice system.
Check ’em out.
How about setting up to heat with Maine made Wood Pellets?
HALF the price of oil, BTU for BTU.
Think about it, check it out, then Try it.
You’ll see that Pellets are the way to go over oil.
Fuel Cost Comparison
http://pelletheat.org/pellets/compare-fuel-costs/
Fill in your own local fuel pricing to get actual Savings.
Be sure to include all delivery and transmission charges.
Baloney !! If you remember…when the price of oil starts upward the pellet prices go right along with it. Nat Gas is good …at the moment. Once a considerable amount of people convert their equipment at a HUGE cost to them…Nat Gas will also skyrocket. Cord wood is the only choice that frees you from Gov’t kickbacks, and even that is only if you have your own woodlot. Get rid of LePage and all the others like him and concentrate on Solar and Wind. Only a fool would believe the cost will go up as LePuke says….he is getting paid by oil corps to discourage this new technology all at our expense !
Don’t be so myopic. Much of the rest of the nation already uses natural gas to heat. If you think the producers are waiting for the tiny portion of the market that is Maine to convert then you need to be able to look past the Bangor/Brewer bridge. Natural gas is cheap because there is a big supply and it is cheap to produce.
I also find the information incorrect as my brother switched from oil to propane and saved about 10% each year, so if that is wrong, what else is wrong?
As everyone runs to “alternative” heating/power sources keep in mind that pellets use oil to manufacture and therefor will go up along with oil…..Nat Gas will be a bargain until everyone has converted their equipment…then it will cost more than oil once you are committed. Solar and wind power are the best alternatives but Maine’s new dictator has proclaimed that these are not options because your cost will go up…?? It’s amazing how many Mainers believe that ! The only thing going up is Paul LePage’s kickbacks from the oil industry to keep Maine in the Dark Ages and protect their profits. I have solar and wind power at my home and the extra cash I save goes right back into the economy. Just not Maine’s economy. I will buy NOTHING in Maine until LePage is taken out of office. He is a criminal.
The criminals are Baldacci and the Maine Natural Resources Council who foisted the wind scam on Maine. It won’t be loong until Maine will have the skeletons of the useless wind turbines to remind us of the folly of Baldacci. Half the energy (sometimes) at 3 times the price.
Please post the info that backs up your claim that wood pellets are made with oil.
Please consider using the heat that is already in our back yards! Geothermal is the Only sustainable option for heating Maine’s homes. Geothermal heat pumps operate for less $ than Natural Gas or pellets. No need to be on the NG pipeline, no need to stack, store, or clean. Doesn’t rely on the sun to shine or the wind to blow.
We have installed geothermal heating system with PV solar. The home owner has NO heating bill, and NO utility bill. With payback in around 10 years, it is a far better investment than anything on Wall Street. Detailed case study analysis available by contacting info@elcogeothermal.com