DEAR SUN SPOTS: I read the interesting story about pellet plants in Maine in the Feb. 13 Sun Journal. In it, George Soffron, president of the Maine Pellet Fuels Association, said “a lot of people are thinking about next heating season” (I am one of these people), and his company has started an advertising campaign to promote pellet heat.

In the same story, according to Dutch Dresser, managing director at Maine Energy Systems in Bethel, the company delivers pellets in bulk for $235 a ton. According to Dresser, that translates to a heat equivalent of oil at $1.96 per gallon.

I hope Soffron’s advertising campaign goes well, but I need more specifics about pellets to make an informed decision about them. For example:

* Available heat units per ton in BTUs for soft and hard wood

* Equivalent gallons of No. 2 fuel oil, with oil furnace running at 75 heat unit efficiency

* Heating unit efficiency with pellet stove, boiler

I feel if the public has some reliable data about pellets it will be good advertising for the product.

Perhaps the University of Maine at Orono could help determine the facts about pellets vs. other fuels. Dick Hill comes to mind.

Thank you for considering this inquiry to the column. I bet a lot of people will appreciate this public service. — Edward Gilchrist, Avon

ANSWER: Sun Spots e-mailed Dick Hill, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at UMO, and got the following response.

“All wood — hard or soft — will have an oven-dry energy of 8,200 BTU per pound; at 10 percent moisture, 7,400; at 20 percent moisture, 6,400.

“At $235 per oven dry ton you will pay about $17 per million BTU for pellets. At $17 per million BTU, the cost of oil would be a bit less than $2 per gallon.”

At consumerreports.org, Sun Spots found the following comparison of costs:

“According to the United States Department of Energy, the average cost of a cord of firewood or a ton of wood pellets is $190. But for a true comparison of the costs, you have to look at not just the price of the fuel but also the heating value of the fuel, also measured in BTU, and the efficiency of the heating appliance. Using averages for all three, the Energy Information Administration’s Heating Fuel Comparison Calculator estimates it costs $15.15 to produce 1 million BTU using pellets and $9.09 using solid wood. Those figures are between the costs of coal ($9.06) and natural gas ($12.61) and are well below the costs of oil ($18.53), propane ($24.66), and electric furnaces, baseboards and space heaters ($33.25).”

Wood is a good deal, but it is also labor intensive — especially with a traditional wood stove — and thus impractical for many people. That’s what’s nice about the new pellet stoves — you don’t need to tend them every few hours.

One caveat with wood is your homeowner’s insurance. Sun Spots’ insurer was not happy with her traditional wood stove as the primary heating source, so she had to have electric heat installed.

Another heating option, especially if you are building a new home, is geothermal. It has high initial installation costs, but if you live in your home for decades, it should pay for itself.

As for heating unit efficiency, at pelletstovefires.com it says that all pellet stoves certified by the Environmental Protection Agency are at least 78 percent efficient, with many exceeding that. Manufacturers of the furnaces you are considering can provide exact numbers.

Oil and gas are generally more efficient. At energystar.gov, it says that the new furnaces meeting Energy Star requirements have ratings of 85 to 90 percent or higher. Older furnaces would be less efficient.

Perhaps informed readers will have additional information to offer on this topic.

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