Heat is on to find cheaper fuel

Interest in alternative heating this winter has increased as natural gas prices soar, and some Columbia businesses are noticing the new attention.

Craig Nieder, salesman at The Fireplace Shop at Star Heating and Air Conditioning, said there has been a marked interest in wood heating this season.

“I have talked about it more in one month of time than I did in the whole of last year,” Nieder said.

Advanced Chimney Techniques, which cleans and repairs chimneys, is booked through late December, said Dale Deraps, owner of the business.

“We’re working ourselves to death this instant,” Deraps said, citing that some of his employees even turn in 50- to 60-hour work weeks.

Bart Menning sold 100 cords of firewood by Oct. 15. He has been in the tree service business for 20 years. He said it wasn’t unusual for him to be sold out in October but noticed customers bought more firewood than usual.

“I thought the wood went especially fast this year because of the fuel price scare,” Menning said.

Space heaters are also selling faster than they did last year, according to Ron Hawkins, floor supervisor at Ace Hardware. Hawkins said the hardware store had stocked double the number of heaters in anticipation of increased demand as the weather gets increasingly cooler.

“We are afraid they may be in short supply when it does get cold,” Hawkins said.

Other retailers are also capitalizing on an energy-conscious culture. Heavy-weight blankets and comforters are being marketed with the incentive to stay warm while the thermostat is down.

When looking for a wood fireplace, Nieder said some people are scared away by the price commitment for an efficient system. He said it would not be unusual to spend $3,000 to $5,000 for a complete wood burning heating unit.

At Ace Hardware, Hawkins said people are willing to spend a little more for the high-end space heaters, which can cost $50 rather than $20 for a low-end unit. Hawkins said sometimes the more expensive units are safer. He said ceramic heaters, which do not have a glowing heat element, and oil-filled heaters are selling the quickest.

Columbia Fire Marshall Steven Sapp said individuals that have older space-heating units with a glowing heat element should strongly think about replacing them. He said the concentrated heat source of those models pose a real threat. He cited a case in Columbia about 10 years ago in which a child died after two children who were playing with a heater inadvertently caught the house on fire.

Deraps’ job is to make sure chimneys are free of potential fire hazards and are as efficient as possible.

“We routinely intercept real fire hazards,” Deraps said. “It’s not an if, it’s a when.”

He said this year some people are trying to get old fireplaces ready for the winter.

“The part that we see that is a little scary is that they’re hooking up wood stoves to chimneys they haven’t used since 1985,” Deraps said.

The Columbia Fire Department knows the potential hazards of alternative heating. Sapp said that having chimneys cleaned yearly for creosote and flue problems by a certified chimney sweep could decrease fire hazards, as well as following safety advice with space heaters.

Sapp emphasized the importance of having working smoke alarms in a home.

He said that only 50 percent of the homes the fire department responds to have working smoke detectors.

“You will not get as good a return investment with any other appliance as you would with a fire or smoke alarm,” Sapp said.

Besides a potential fire, carbon monoxide becomes a threat when a heat source involves fuels including wood, propane, natural gas or oil.

Improperly working fireplaces and furnaces can be the causes of increased carbon monoxide in a home.

Carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless and tasteless gas, can infiltrate a home undetected by human senses. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can mimic the symptoms of influenza, making it even harder to detect in the winter months, Sapp said.

Carbon monoxide detectors are available at retail stores.

In Columbia in 2004, there were four deaths caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

“We don’t see carbon monoxide alarms as prevalently as fire alarms,” Sapp said. “And I see that as a tragedy.”