With the first snowfall and frosts happening across the state, it’s time for many Mainers to fire up their wood stoves or turn on the heat.
That brings higher costs, as prices have spiked in the past two years for the heating oil many homes here depend on. The price has leveled out somewhat, but average costs are still higher than they were before 2022, and it’s early in the heating season.
Although the state has installed more than 115,000 electricity-run heat pumps since 2019 and intends to more than double that number by 2027 as part of its climate change response goals, at least half the state relies on oil as its primary heat source, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Compared with fluctuating heating oil and gas prices, firewood is currently the cheapest option per unit of heat, data from the Governor’s Energy Office show. Heating with firewood is less than half the cost of using heating oil currently, a spokesperson said last week.
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Here’s how the costs break down right now for different ways to heat your house or homestead. If you’re off the grid, don’t have electric heat pumps or want a backup system for when the power goes out, firewood is still likely to be the most cost-effective option and doesn’t fluctuate as much as oil.
Note that it’s early in the season and prices change, especially for heating oil; the office keeps an online database of average prices that are updated weekly.
The data compares the dollars spent on fuel with the heating unit, or Btus, produced. That actual efficiency will vary based on how weatherized the home is and how efficient the heating system is.
Currently, a cord of seasoned firewood is $15.91 per million Btus, and wood pellets are $23.03.
Heating oil runs $24.44, propane $34.05 and natural gas between $10.38 and $25.14.
The state’s heating assistance program, which serves about 50,000 households in Maine, has said it is likely to get more applications than it can fund again this year. If you’re eligible, apply early.
State rebates will also cover between 40 percent and 80 percent of the cost of installing a heat pump, based on your income. State programs and nonprofit groups can help with weatherizing a home for winter, and “wood banks” — which operate like food banks to offer free heating wood — have started up around the state.
