Oil man came the other day - only needed 22 gallons!

How much money in pellets have you burned since your last delivery, and what are you paying for pellets?

-- Mike

Looks good, even on a small scale. If it actually gets cold here in the east we'll really start sticking it to the oil man!

FB, Mike

My oil company solicitously wondered if there "was anything wrong" at our house after they saw the last measly fill-up since we started using our pellet stove.

I hope I am not hijacking this thread but we also just had oil delivered and I was about to post something similar to see how we are doing compared to others here on the forum.

Between 22-Nov and 23-Dec we used 72 gallons of oil at a cost of $158.00. We are burning wood pretty much 24/7 and go through about a cord per month. The wood that we are burning this year cost us an average of $148.00/cord because of some free wood that we have used. So that's $306.00 for one month.
We have a Salt Box Colonial with about 2000 sq. ft. of heated space. Big Moe is in the basement with two ducts blowing heat up to the first floor. The first floor is usually kept between 70-75 degrees, which I would never do on just oil. Our hot water is also from the furnace.

Last years records show that we also used about 75 gals/month during Dec - Feb with only 54 gals in March. The big difference is that last year all the wood was free.

Wouldn't the cost of the next fill up only be relevent for the next period? The $158.00 we just paid for oil replaces what we burned in that last period so that is the cost for that period. No?

I am also not sure as to the relevence of the cost of replacing my wood since I don't have to replace it at all.

I need to learn how to do the quote thing.

Most people will see relatively small economic savings on pellets over oil at present prices. You have to figure in the cost of the stove and installation, plus the electric is used, and the ongoing service, etc.

The rough calculation is just moving the decimal point. For instance
$2.00 a gallon oil - $200 a ton pellets.

There is a savings from using space heat instead of central heat, and that can be quite large - 30% or more in come cases.

Also, there is the #1 point in my opinion, burning a renewable fuel. Another great benefit is that "we" start thinking more about energy and how/where we get our heat from. That is a good thing.

Webmaster said:

Most people will see relatively small economic savings on pellets over oil at present prices. You have to figure in the cost of the stove and installation, plus the electric is used, and the ongoing service, etc.

The rough calculation is just moving the decimal point. For instance
$2.00 a gallon oil - $200 a ton pellets.

There is a savings from using space heat instead of central heat, and that can be quite large - 30% or more in come cases.

Also, there is the #1 point in my opinion, burning a renewable fuel. Another great benefit is that "we" start thinking more about energy and how/where we get our heat from. That is a good thing.

Click to expand...

Slight disagreement here on that subject My house although it was NG FHA always seemed cold and it was set at 70* Once in a while my wife would turn up the T-stat to 72*...... Still with the Pellet stove the heat is set at 78* and it is a steady heat rather than having the heat go on then off..... on then off..... ETC...... Anyone here I'm sure would agree whether it's wood or pellets or coal. Constant steady heat is better that the heat going up and down all day..... And the cost savings is alot more than what the comparison leads you to believe....

I agree that the quality of the heat is superior with a stove. Also my living room, which used to be the coldest room in my house--when I set the oil furnace thermostat to 55--is now the warmest. And the upstairs bedrooms, which used to be the warmest, are now cooler. Given the availability of blankets. That makes sense.

And a small quibble on simply adding the whole cost of the stove to the equation. The stove increases the equity value of your house close to the price you paid for it. This is not a liquid asset, to be sure, but an asset nevertheless.

On the environmental side, however, you have to consider the fossil fuels consumed to transport that biomass fuel to you--an argument for building more pellet plants. Every sawmill/lumber yard should have one. There probably should be a tax incentive for building one.

Oil Truck hasn't been to my house since last March. He was shocked when I only took $89 worth instead of the usual $400. Haven't seen him since. He'd probably be into me for close to a grand by now. I have burned 1.5 tons of pellets so far this season ($350 total) and have another 3 in the barn.

You guys are lucky to have those small amounts of oil delivered. My oil company won't deliver oil to me unless I meet a 100 gallon minimum. Even then they huff and puff and will inevitably schedule people in my area on the same days, so I'm usually waiting 4 days or so for the truck to come out. Granted, I do live in the country.

That said, I normally wait until the tank is at least at 1/3 capacity and it costs me roughly $350-450 to fill up.

The good news is now that I have the wood stove, the oil furnace almost never comes on... just have to bust my butt to get some wood piled up for future years and I'll be all set.

-Kevin

EatenByLimestone said:

I suppose it does depend on the buyer, however your house does get appraised higher by a few thousand if you have a fireplace or woodstove. A good appraisal should tell you what your house should sell for given recent sales of comparable properties.

A second source of heat was a key reason why I put the woodstove in. It's not unheard of for a winter storm to blow in up here and take out power for a while.

Matt

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Is it standard practice for appraisels to add value for a wood stove? I had always heard that appliances, like stoves, do not add to resale value. A built-in fireplace may add value as a fixed asset. Is it more common now to consider the value of an appliance like a stove?

I think most buyers probably couldn't care less about a wood stove. A fireplace...yea, that's a nice feature (for some).
I mean, a small percentage of the population heats with wood. And, as everyone here knows...it aint easy! I didn't care myself until my wife & I looked at our current house. I remember thinking "cool...a wood stove". Of course the seller was all "this stove heats the whole house and we hardly use the furnace, etc..." It just didn't mean much to me back then(5 yrs ago).
It's funny...I come from a wood burning background but never gave it a thought until I was presented with the option. My wife on the other hand grew up with a thermostat and in the beginning, she wanted to rip out the stove and have an open fireplace put in. She (and I) have since then "warmed up" to the stove. I wouldn't have a house without one now.

To stay on topic... I used 180 gallons of oil last year. Way down from my normal 500+

Tough to make blanket statements like that. Where I live (in the country surrounded by thousands of acres of hardwood forests) more than half the homes burn wood. Wood stoves are considered a selling point and all homes that are for sale that have them include this in their advertising. If you live in an urban area or a suburb a gas fireplace would probably be more desirable as a selling point.

Back on topic, my oil tank gauge hasn't budged and my delivery guy has been here twice, a savings of about $900 so far this season.

oil for 2.00 a gallon. Where have you been..............................

Dylan said:

latichever said:

And a small quibble on simply adding the whole cost of the stove to the equation. The stove increases the equity value of your house close to the price you paid for it. This is not a liquid asset, to be sure, but an asset nevertheless.

Click to expand...

Here's my opportunity to disagree, again.

I don't buy into this position AT ALL. While as a seller I might wanna believe your statement, as a buyer the stove will simply be on MY list of items which I'm gonna DISCOUNT in MY offer. I might offer the price of the STOVE as my valuation of the stove, the chimney AND the existing (two cords of) cordwood.

I wouldn't want some seller deciding what furniture or refrigerator I'm gonna use; why would I want a seller to decide HOW I'm gonna heat my house. If I, as a buyer, want a stove, it's just a trip to the dealer, anyway.

Click to expand...

That right Dylan , you tell them ................

If you want to heat your home with cardboard and not what they choose . I'm right with ya man.

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