1. How does district heat compare with other heating sources?
The comparative fuel analysis for a 10,000 square foot recent new commercial/industrial district heating customer was:

• Natural gas: $27,000/annually
• Electric: $23,000/annually
• District Heat: $17,000/annually

A typical home would cost:

• Natural Gas: $2,700
• Electric: $2,300
• District Heat: $1,700

2. Is it cheaper for me to heat with district heat or gas?
This all depends on the price of gas. If the price of gas is $10.00 per million BTUs you would divide that by the boiler efficiency which is typically 80% or .8. That would give you a cost of $12.50 which is less than the small customer monthly cost of $9/million BTUs. If the price of gas is $8.00 per million BTUs, divided by .8 boiler efficiency equals $10.00. The cost to heat with gas would be $1.00 more per million BTUs than heating with District Heat.

3. Does it cost more to install District Heat than a regular boiler?
This would depend on your retrofit costs. If you are replacing a hot water system, the retrofit costs should be about equal. Other types of systems may cost more to retrofit to district heating.