Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Heating costs comparison - ICF vs Stick Frame

As it turns out, a close family member has a similar size house as this - one story with basement totaling around 2700 SF. This comparison home was built about ten years ago and is in an effectively identical climate, thus making for a good comparison of heating costs which is the measure of efficiency that we really all care about. Both homes set the thermostat to 68F as well.

So the initial numbers look good! Our first noticeably cold billing cycle was 11/11 to 12/11 and my natural gas bill was about $45. This comparison stick frame home had a bill of about $93. Based on measurements from warm months, we can subtract about $15 from each for gas that goes in to the water heater rather than the furnace. So the ICF vs Stick comparison really comes out to $30 vs $78!