Wood heating up to 10 times cheaper than using electricity
Electricity heating can be 10 times more expensive than wood heating systems, according to an investigation.Consumer information magazine Konsument revealed wood chip heating costs 1.99 Eurocents per kilowatt hour (kWh), while electricity-powered heaters can cause expenses of up to 18 Eurocents per kWh.The monthly magazine stressed extra costs for transportation and storage of wood chips or pellets must be considered as well.The publication also reports that electricity prices jumped by 12 per cent between 2007 and 2010, while gas became 15 per cent more expensive in the same period. It added heating oil costs 18 per cent more nowadays than three years ago.Konsument stressed that comparably low carbon dioxide emissions were another advantage of using wood to heat family homes. Mirko Bernhard of the Association for Consumer Information (VKI), which publishes the magazine, explained today (Weds) coal heating causes 26 times more emission than wood pellet heating.Earlier this week, the Austrian Energy Agency announced that people had to cough up 5.8 per cent more on household energy last month than in the same month of 2009.The authority also said gas, electricity and car fuel which is also considered by its price index became just 0.6 per cent more expensive from October to November of 2010.Wolfgang Anzengruber, head of leading power provider Verbund, recently told the Kurier newspaper he does not expect energy prices to decline in the foreseeable future. “I dont see chances for any changes at the moment. Energy trading prices were low recently, but are currently edging up again,” he said.Verbund, in which the Republic of Austria holds a 51 per cent interest, produced almost 24,000 gigawatt hours of electricity last year.