HEAT LOSS COST CALCULATION VS. INSULATING WITH FIBERGLASS PIPE INSULATION

We've done it before and we are doing it now a third time!  A lot of our customers ask how much money they will save by insulating their home's heating pipes.  We can easily tell our customers that they will in fact save money each winter, however coming up with a dollar amount is difficult.  The amount of variables relating to the question is extremely complex, however below we will show one example of how much money will be saved by installing fiberglass pipe insulation on heating pipes.  

This pipe insulation savings calculation is based on the steam piping for our customer Andrew from Waltham, Massachusetts.  Andrew and his family moved into an older home and had the seller remove the asbestos insulation from the steam heating pipes.  2016 will be his first winter in the home and he is wondering how much money he will save in energy reduction by adding 1" thick insulation.
*Please keep in mind that each scenario is different so your savings amount may be much higher or less than this scenario.

Thermal Image showing temperature difference between insulated and non-insulated piping

DOLLAR SAVINGS FROM FIBERGLASS PIPE INSULATION EXAMPLE:

Fuel Type: Oil
Fuel Cost: Andrew filled up his tank with 152 gallons for $470 = $3.09/gallon
Pipe Size: 2-1/2"
Pipe Length: 100ft (approx)
Pipe Temperature: 245 F
Basement Temperature: 60 F
Running Hours: 1500hrs (10 hrs/day Nov-Mar)

RESULTS:

SURFACE TEMPERATURE:

No Insulation:  Pipe Surface Temp: 245 F

1" Thickness:  Insulation Surface Temp: 82 F

* These results are always mind boggling.  By adding only 1 inch of fiberglass pipe insulation, the surface temperature drops 163 F.  These numbers alone show how much heat the pipe insulation is retaining.

HEAT LOSS BTU/HR:

No Insulation: 35,495 btu/hr loss

1" Thickness:  4,564 btu/hr loss

* The heat loss for this heating system drops a staggering 87% by simply adding only 1 inch of fiberglass pipe insulation.

FUEL COST FOR LOSS:

No Insulation: $1,483 per heating season

1" Thickness: $191 per heating season ($1,292 saving/season)

*This is the cost for the heat loss (not total heating costs).  By adding 1" thick pipe insulation the loss would be reduced by $1,292.

ACTUAL COST OF INSULATING PIPING:

100t of 2-1/2 x 1 fiberglass pipe insulation costs  $236.61 with shipping costs of $75 to Massachusetts. So the total cost of insulating the 100 feet of piping is around $312.  In this scenario, the cost of insulating the pipe is negligible compared to the amount of heat loss from the bare piping.

OTHER EXAMPLES WE RAN IN THE PAST:
Jeff M's Scenario
Dan F's Scenario