Economic Calculation & Comparison:
The rising cost of heating fuel along with the increase of indirect taxation over the fuel have forced the households to pursue more economical solutions for heating which will be more functional and less harmful to the environment.
The solutions currently offered in the market are as follows:
- Oil heating
- Electricity heating with heating storages
- Gas heating
- Pellet burner
- Fireplaces & stoves
- Each of the above options has its advantages & disadvantages considering the ability to install them in a new or existing building.
- For comparison purposes we take a typical house of 180sq.meter in urban areas which we heat them for 8 hours for 4 months (which is the usual Winter in Cyprus). Considering the calorific value of the fuel, the current prices, the efficiency of the heat fuel and the assumption that every 10 sq.meter one (1) kwh is required, total 150 kwh per day, the following table shows:
| Heating Type | Fuel / | Daily Consumption | Unit Cost (euro) | Period Cost | Cost of Equipment / Installation |
| Central Heating | Oil | 20lt | 1.10 | 3300 | 5000-7000 |
| Central Heating | Electricity | 150 Κwh | 0.22 | 4950 | 4000 |
| Central Heating | Gas | 22lt | 0.90 | 2970 | 5000-7000 |
| Pellet Burnet | Wooden Pellet | 32 kg | 0.41 | 1968 | 3000-4000 |
| Fire Stove | Firewood | 40 kg | 0.32 | 1920 | 2000-3000 |
From the above, the most economical solution for heating is the fire stove with the use of firewood which has the lowest cost of installation but of course limited transition of heat to the whole house. Moreover the continuous use of firewood in order to create and maintain high temperature requires the continuous presence of someone to retrofit the system with wood. Consequently the next more economical choice is the heat from a pellet burner which is self retrofitted, produces clean fuel without smoke dusts and can work independently as a reliable heating system.
