Pellet stove off for now. How many others

TimfromMA said:

Never tried them personally.

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Problem with Big Box, at least around here, is your never know what pellet they'll have, what they'll deliver and when they'll run out never to restock that season.

Bridgeman said:

I burn pellets because the oil profiteers in New York and middle east have enough of my money. They live like kings (or actually are kings) and we worry about the next fuel bill. They fly in private jets and worry we about air bags killing us. Pellets are just my small way of giving the middle finger. They also control the government in this country so don't sell those stoves. They will figure out how to get that oil price back up. They will start a war or shut a refinery or some other immoral act to get their money. Does anyone really believe that getting rid of Sadam was not about oil?

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You can say that about any conglomerate from those who control food production to software and OS makers. I try to buy quality as cheaply as possible and I try to buy American. I also try to respect and understand all living things. That's as far as I go. Bet you love Monsanto and Microsquish too . . . . . I'd burn some pellets no matter the price of oil. Wife and I like the ambiance on cold, snowy nights. Can't get that from an oil burner.

woodmakesheat said:

If your stove doesn't care, then burn the cheapest pellets you can find. There's still labor involved in burning higher quality/more expensive pellets. I can't square paying more for "quality" pellets while looking at today's low oil prices. I'm burning exclusively HD specials (FSU and Stove Chow) and have zero complaints. Wood makes heat.

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Got a couple of bags of FSU the other day at HD (4.89/bag) and found the St. Croix LOVES them. They are smaller pellets that feed more evenly than the Currans (which are longer pellets) with hardly any ash and clinkers to a minimum (much less than with the Currans - for that stove). Somehow this equates to using less pellets while I am away at work and it is set at #1 (No thermostat installed). I went and picked up enough to get me thru the weekend. Wish I was close enough that they wouldn't charge me an arm and a leg to deliver a ton or two!

My Harman is happy with the Currans (259/ton) but also was happy with Maine's Choice hardwood from Wally World. Actually, the Harman was happiest when I mixed the Currans with the Maine's Choice so I may just have to go get some more MC.

F4jock said:

Problem with Big Box, at least around here, is your never know what pellet they'll have, what they'll deliver and when they'll run out never to restock that season.

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I have the means to haul my own pellets home 1 ton per trip.

I am mixing also at night to help with the upstairs. Kids complaining on cold mornings like today (19).
I have forced air, which sucks IMO. So the stove actually does a better job when I am there to set it.
Nights dont really work out that well, always running down early to crank it.

TimfromMA said:

I have the means to haul my own pellets home 1 ton per trip.

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Ditto, but two years back Lowes had a free delivery thing. Bought what I thought was one kind of pellet, they delivered two tons of another. They burned of course. But . . . . Also supply is undependable. When the warehouse runs out so do they. Doesn't matter when it is in the season. My local Do It has a great supply of Lignetics. They burn well for me and I can count on them having a few spare bags at the end of the season if I need 'em.

TimfromMA said:

All I know is that I've replaced 600 gallons of heating oil with 3 1/2 tons of pellets. I'll use whichever is cheaper.

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Your experience is typical. If you use one of the calculators, you will find that 3 1/2 tons equates to less then 400 gallons of oil, so like others you are only burning 2/3s as many BTUs with pellets as you did when you were heating with oil.

SteveA said:

Your experience is typical. If you use one of the calculators, you will find that 3 1/2 tons equates to less then 400 gallons of oil, so like others you are only burning 2/3s as many BTUs with pellets as you did when you were heating with oil.

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Maybe it's the efficiency of my boiler vs pellet stove. Maybe it's because my pellet stove is only heating the areas I want or maybe its a combo of the 2.

I have posted on this subject before on other threads . . . but I have to say it again.

I just don't see how you can calculate a 'break even' point in the abstract. How many gallons of oil did you average to heat your home for a year? . . . how many tons of pellets do you use on average? Plug in the prices of each and you have your answer . . . not counting that the house may be kept at a higher temp and therefore more comfortable with pellets than with oil and some other factors. I never had my main floor at 73 with oil....but it almost always is with pellets -- at a lower cost for me.

Not really interested in BTUs because too many go up the flue. Look at real numbers and make the best choice for you. Just sayin.

RKS130 said:

Not really interested in BTUs because too many go up the flue. Look at real numbers and make the best choice for you. Just sayin.

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If your not interested in the rudimentary premise of BTUs, the efficiency of individual heating units and the fluctuating costs of each fuel type, then your right--- you'll never figure out your break even point.

Phoenix Hatchling said:

If your not interested in the rudimentary premise of BTUs, the efficiency of individual heating units and the fluctuating costs of each fuel type, then your right--- you'll never figure out your break even point.

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I'm happy to even come close but no matter the price differential one way or another I'd still burn for the ambiance as much as for the heat.

As far as I can tell, the biggest reason why people's pellet usage differs from predicted oil usage, based upon BTU equivalents, is that the method of heating is different. People with forced air or radiant baseboards are generally heating the whole space or zones, as evenly as possible. That's what their whole house heating system is designed for. A pellet stove is a point source of heat and is heating an area, a room, or several rooms. A lot depends upon the layout of the home. In general, a pellet stove is not likely to be heating as much a volume as the existing home's heating system.

chken said:

As far as I can tell, the biggest reason why people's pellet usage differs from predicted oil usage, based upon BTU equivalents, is that the method of heating is different. People with forced air or radiant baseboards are generally heating the whole space or zones, as evenly as possible. That's what their whole house heating system is designed for. A pellet stove is a point source of heat and is heating an area, a room, or several rooms. A lot depends upon the layout of the home. In general, a pellet stove is not likely to be heating as much a volume as the existing home's heating system.

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That's why sometimes when oil is affordable I don't mind running it a bit in conjunction with a stove. Best of both worlds if you can stand listening to that burner turn on. Did I mention that I think I hate my oil burner and oil filler spout !

On my monthly stove cleaning that takes a little longer than the rest I let the oil heat run for an hour or so even when pricy. It's good to know it works if I need it. It would be lousy if the stove croaked and I then find out the circulator or what ever else doesn't work ..

chken said:

As far as I can tell, the biggest reason why people's pellet usage differs from predicted oil usage, based upon BTU equivalents, is that the method of heating is different. People with forced air or radiant baseboards are generally heating the whole space or zones, as evenly as possible. That's what their whole house heating system is designed for. A pellet stove is a point source of heat and is heating an area, a room, or several rooms. A lot depends upon the layout of the home. In general, a pellet stove is not likely to be heating as much a volume as the existing home's heating system.

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All-in-all IMNTBHO an apples-to-apples comparison is almost impossible due to the many variables, some of which you mentioned. For us I know we save money but we also use oil to heat the bedrooms as in our large ranch there is no way the stove heat makes it to them and even.with a stove back there it wouldn't heat them all. I can say that our oil consumption has dropped between fifty and sixty percent by volume over the last six heating seasons. If I multiply that by the average price of oil when we paid for it I can then tell you what I saved. I also heat my hot water with oil but I have a plan for dealing with that this summer. In the winter since we keep the bedrooms at 68f I figure the hot water is pretty much a free byproduct of that.

chken said:

As far as I can tell, the biggest reason why people's pellet usage differs from predicted oil usage, based upon BTU equivalents, is that the method of heating is different. People with forced air or radiant baseboards are generally heating the whole space or zones, as evenly as possible. That's what their whole house heating system is designed for. A pellet stove is a point source of heat and is heating an area, a room, or several rooms. A lot depends upon the layout of the home. In general, a pellet stove is not likely to be heating as much a volume as the existing home's heating system.

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In my case, I heat even more of my house than I did with propane. Downside is I had to buy 2 stoves so upfront cost was somewhat high plus I run two fans to help get the heat to the bedroom (which is still warmer at 71 degrees than it ever was when I ran propane). electric bill went up about $20/month also.

However, I have not used any propane this winter except for hot water and the cook stove (which I rarely use). I spent over $3k heating ONLY the 950 s/ft of the main floor to 64 degrees from Nov thru Feb of last winter. Even if I manage to go thru 5 tons to heat the main floor AND the basement this year, I will still have saved enough to pay for my St. Croix plus put a couple hundred toward the Harman. My Harman was partially paid last winter, and next winter I expect I will have paid for it thru savings (I didn't finance any of my stoves btw).

Since I'm single without kids, I have nothing but time to mess with the stoves when they need it (and I don't mind the work), and still don't find them to be as much work as when I was married and ran a wood stove.

I am probably the exception rather than the rule though.

Well maybe the panicking pellet pigs will stop stuffing their storage areas with every pellet they can buy and pellet prices will return to normal. It's that old supply and demand thing.

I'll be right back.... Going to get more pellets

DBCOOPER said:

Well maybe the panicking pellet pigs will stop stuffing their storage areas with every pellet they can buy and pellet prices will return to normal. It's that old supply and demand thing.

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Somehow I think that once it is up, it's staying there. Kind of like gasoline prices...shoots up like a rocket and drops like a feather.