As a result of the steady increase in the cost of energy carriers, the demand for economical heating naturally increases among the owners of private houses. The fact that the vast majority of dwellings were built in the Soviet era and in the early 1990s also plays a role. Then people did not think about how much this or that energy source costs and how to heat the house, having low incomes. Now it is important for the owner of a country cottage to figure out which heating is cheaper before organizing one at home.

Before determining the cheapest way to heat, we list all the energy sources available to residents of the Russian Federation:

• various types of solid fuels - firewood, briquettes (eurofirewood), pellets and coal;
• diesel fuel (solar oil);
• used oils;
• main gas;
• liquefied gas;
• electricity.

To figure out which heating is the cheapest, you need to find out how much each energy carrier can release heat and how much it will result in, and then compare the data obtained. To determine the most economical heating will help the table, which contains the results of the calculations:

The table shows 2 types of firewood commonly available for sale - freshly cut and dry. This will help you understand how profitable it is to heat a stove or boiler with dry wood.

Analysis of calculation results

The performed calculations show that the most economical heating for private houses in the Russian Federation is still provided by natural gas, this energy carrier remains unrivaled. Consider the fact that gas-using equipment is relatively inexpensive and at the same time is quite efficient and comfortable to use.

When using condensing boilers, efficiency can be increased by another 5-6% compared to conventional gas heat generators. True, condensing equipment will cost a lot (30-50% more expensive depending on the model).

The problem with gas in the Russian Federation is the high cost of connecting to existing pipelines. In order to economically heat a home, you will have to pay from 50 thousand rubles. (in remote regions) up to 1 million rubles. (In the Moscow region) for joining a gas pipeline.

After learning how much the connection costs, many homeowners are thinking about how and with what to heat their house without gas. There are other energy carriers from the table, which are listed in ascending order of cost:

1. Firewood dried and wet. According to column No. 9, it is noticeable that burning good dry wood is much more profitable than fresh, albeit purchased inexpensively. Wood-burning heating equipment is quite affordable for a wide range of users.
2. Burning briquettes, pellets and coal can also be attributed to cheap ways of heating a private house without gas, their cost is about the same. One clarification: automatic pellet and coal boilers are more expensive than conventional ones (1.5-2 times).
3. Electric heating at night rate. Given the minimal cost of equipment and its installation, it is quite possible to heat with electricity cheaply, but only at night. A suitable option for both a country house and an apartment.
4. Used engine oils occupy a middle position between cheap and expensive energy sources. But their burning is associated with certain difficulties, which will be discussed later.
5. Heating with liquefied gas can no longer be attributed to inexpensive methods of heating. Especially if you take into account the cost of a gas tank and its installation (about 300 thousand rubles), and only a summer house can be heated with cylinders.
6. Diesel fuel and electricity at a daily rate are the most expensive energy carriers in the Russian Federation, and it is not possible to obtain economical heating with their help in the short term.

The use of purely electric equipment for round-the-clock heating of the house cannot be called profitable, since the cheap nightly rate is valid for 8 hours a day, and the rest of the time you will have to pay the full rate. So heating with electricity alone will not work out cheaply.

The cheaper it is to heat a house in Ukraine

Due to the sharp increase in natural gas tariffs, the overall picture of the cost of heating in Ukraine looks different. The layout reflects a similar calculation table:

By the way, at the moment, the state provides subsidies to the poor citizens of Ukraine, covering part of the heating costs. This allows many families to use natural gas economically without incurring the cost of refurbishing their home boiler room and switching to wood and coal.

Comparative analysis by other criteria

In addition to the purely economic calculation of the cost of heating, there are other factors that influence the choice of energy carrier. For example, it is difficult for an aged pensioner to chop and carry firewood to the boiler room. Someone does not like the smell of diesel fuel or dirt from coal, and someone does not have the opportunity to store a supply of pellets or briquettes. That is, it is wrong to choose fuel for heating only from the point of view of economy. Additional criteria need to be taken into account:

• comfort during operation;
• the possibility of warehousing;
• frequency and cost of maintenance.

Nuances of operation

It is most convenient to use electricity for heating, although it is difficult to classify it as an economical energy source. The electric boiler does not need supervision, the system is fully automated. The unit is easy to control remotely, and the boiler room is quiet, clean and free of unpleasant odors. An important point: the heating electrical installation does not need a chimney, which greatly simplifies and reduces the cost of installation.

In addition to the high price, electric heating has another disadvantage. Not every private house has sufficient electrical power or a limit has been set that does not allow the use of energy for heating. And the connection of units with a power of more than 6 kW requires a 3-phase input with a voltage of 380 V.

It is almost as comfortable to operate boilers that burn natural and liquefied gas. But they need a chimney and good ventilation of the furnace room. Burning diesel and used oil is no longer so comfortable, because an odor inevitably appears and periodic replenishment of the fuel container is required. In this regard, a diesel heat generator is similar to a pellet one, but the latter wins due to the absence of odors and dirt.

The champion of inconvenience is the wood and coal boiler, which requires constant attention and exercise. With the most economical way of heating with wood in the boiler room, burning smells and dust mixed with dirt cannot be avoided (this is especially true for coal). An exception is an automatic coal boiler, which operates on the principle of a pellet boiler, but it also needs to periodically replenish the bunker.

Automatic boilers: pellet (right) and coal (left)

About fuel storage

The nuances of warehousing and storage are easier to indicate in the list:

1. The electric and gas heating system of a private house operates from external sources, storage is not needed.
2. For reliable operation of any solid fuel boilers, a supply of fuel is needed, respectively, it is necessary to organize its storage. You will have to make a firewood shed under a canopy or a warehouse in a barn.
3. The stock of diesel fuel and working off also needs to be stored somewhere and, preferably, outside the residential building. It is necessary to buy and install a container of sufficient volume.
4. The most difficult thing is to organize storage with independent heating with liquefied gas as an alternative to natural gas. The cost of an underground gas tank and its installation will quickly make you forget about economical heating at home.

There is another, cheaper way to store liquefied gas - in cylinders. But “thanks” to the frequent replacement and refilling of cylinders, comfort when operating a propane boiler is equated to exercises with wood when loading a solid fuel heat generator.

Equipment service

Electric heating installations practically do not require maintenance (check and cleaning once every 2 years). If it weren’t for the draconian daily tariff, then with the help of electricity it would be possible to organize an “economical smart home” system. More often you will have to service gas boilers, they require annual preventive cleaning of the heat exchanger and chimney. But here you can save money if you clean the unit with your own hands, as described.

Due to the low quality of diesel fuel, diesel heat generators will need to be cleaned as they become dirty, which can happen several times per season. The same applies to waste oil boilers, and the cleaning process is very dirty. Faced with similar problems in the middle of winter, you will think twice if you need economical heating for work.

It is advisable to clean the smoke pipes with the firebox of the boiler on wood and pellets once a week, and the ash pan - daily. When working on damp wood from the combustion chamber, it is important to remove soot and tar more often until they have completely boiled over.

After a comprehensive analysis, we can draw the following conclusions about the choice of economical heating of a private house:

1. Residents of the Russian Federation, whose houses are connected to gas mains, can continue to sleep peacefully - they will not find a more economical way of heating. Unless it is good to warm the dwelling in order to reduce fuel consumption. In the short term, natural gas will remain unrivaled.
2. The cheapest heating without mains gas is the combustion of solid fuels. But for the sake of financial gain, you will have to give up the time and effort spent on loading firewood and maintaining equipment. In this case, it is worth paying attention to the solid propellant itself one of them.
3. If there are financial opportunities, the best option for economical heating is a pellet boiler. If you have little space for storing pellets, then the issue is solved by periodically supplying pellets during the season, although the purchase price will then increase.
4. The best results in terms of efficiency are obtained by a combination of 2-3 energy carriers. For Russia, the most popular pair is solid fuel and electricity at a nightly rate. For Ukraine - electricity at night and natural gas during the day (including subsidies and without exceeding the limit of 3600 kW).
5. To endure dirt and odors in the boiler room is possible only if you get used oil inexpensively. Like diesel fuel, mining is not the best option for a residential building, except to place the equipment in a separate building.
6. Residents of the Russian Federation with incomes above average can afford to heat their homes with liquefied gas, for the sake of comfort. In Ukraine, this method is practically not considered as very uneconomical.

At the moment, when energy prices tend to European ones, the insulation of private houses is becoming increasingly important. This is also a way to get economical heating, because with small heat losses it becomes possible to constantly use an electric boiler with a water heating system or local electric heaters, which is very convenient.