A lot of people consider switching to cheap firewood Perth in Western Australia as a source of heat; either wood pellets or cordwood wood for a pellet stove or for a wood stove. This is one of the best ways you can save money.

Dollars per joule

The biggest challenge of analysing the cost of firewood heat is that pellets are sold by the ton or bag, cordwood is sold by the cord, fuel oil by the gallon, natural gas by the therm  and electricity is sold by the kilowatt per hour.

All these are confusing units but you can still make sense of them by converting them to a common measure. To do that, you should take into account the number of giga-joules of heat that are there in ton, cord, gallon or KWH of fuel. You should also factor in the efficiency of the boiler, stove or heater you are using. You can get a true picture of what you can save by switching from one fuel to another when you work that out.

Wood compared to other fuels

We can accurately compare and see the type of fuel that is cheapest by calculating the cost of heating fuel. We can calculate this by using the approach of dollars per useful joule. In most parts of the world, cordwood is the cheapest heating fuel. However, the prices of wood fuel have been stable for a long time while natural gas and oil tend to jump around. Fuel oil and electricity are expensive as compared to cordwood in most parts of the world. This means that cheap firewood Perth in WA is one of the best solutions for people who want to save on heating.

However, it is crucial to remember that we haven’t talked about fireplaces which are very inefficient. Before you switch to firewood, it is crucial to consider having high-efficiency pellet stoves and wood stoves that give you more heat and less soot in the chimney.

Hidden costs of firewood heat

We are living in days when natural gas is cheap but wood is still a good bet when it comes to cost-effectiveness. However, before switching over to firewood, you should realise that there are some hidden costs associated with wood. You should also recognise that there will be some intensive labour involved in preparing the wood. You have to cut the firewood, split it into pieces, load it on a truck and season it. You will also need to clean out the ashes from time to time. If you choose to buy your wood, you will pay for the firewood delivery services.

If you want to prepare cheap firewood Perth in Western Australia on your own then you will need wood cutting tools and some training to cut and split the wood. You also need to consider carrying the firewood around the house which involves getting dirty. Generally, pellet stoves and wood pellets are less messy and labour-intensive but the pellets are more expensive. When using wood to heat your home, you will give it a bit of attention such as checking the fire and adding fuel as necessary.