Are We There Yet? (Half Way Point?)

Im hoping, We guesstimated 3 ton and we have one ton left. Will see, though I doubt it. Game plan for next winter will be order 4 ton over the spring to summer.

Candlemas day aka when the whistle pig gets pulled from its hole in the ground on 2/2 is the half way mark.

SmokeyTheBear said:

Candlemas day aka when the whistle pig gets pulled from its hole in the ground on 2/2 is the half way mark.

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I like to shoot (and eat) whistle pigs. If done right are real tasty and drop like a lead weight with a 17 HMR.

On a more mundane note, it will depend on geographic location and the accuracy of weather prediction whether your fuel supply will outlast the cold weather or if you have to fire up the oil furnace.

SidecarFlip said:

I like to shoot (and eat) whistle pigs. If done right are real tasty and drop like a lead weight with a 17 HMR.

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I have a recycle pile for those critters. The don't last very long before the local fox, coyote, fisher, .... get to them. Damn things try to do in the garden.

With the major moderation of the temps around here, the pile has been holding up very well. Haven't used but half tank of gas in snowblower. Had a car go thru the ice and the idiots were promptly arrested as they were burglarizing the shacks. If this weather trend holds may have to pull ice shacks way early. Coyotes are singing and looking for love.

Bioburner said:

With the major moderation of the temps around here, the pile has been holding up very well. Haven't used but half tank of gas in snowblower. Had a car go thru the ice and the idiots were promptly arrested as they were burglarizing the shacks. If this weather trend holds may have to pull ice shacks way early. Coyotes are singing and looking for love.

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The great American pastime in Minnesota.. Ice shanty fishing.... Not for me. I can't wrap myself around watching a rod tip wiggle...... Thinking about 'Grumpy Old Men'..............

Coyotes are another issue. No snow pack here or I'd be out there with an electronic call and my snow camo on.

Only reason I want winter to end is because that means I'm that much closer to installing my wood insert this summer. I wish cooling the house was this much fun!

It is (around here). We open the windows and the little creatures bypass the screens and invade the house leaving bumps on my skin that itch.

I bought 5 ton for this winter and by Christmas, I was convinced it wouldn't be enough. I bought another ton because I was worried the price would shoot up or the supply would dry up or both. I have burned 2.75 ton as of today. I think I'll make it. by my guess, we are over half way through winter here western NY.

UpStateNY said:

Any pellet stoves in your Ice Shanty ? If so need pictures.

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Looking at buying a Prairie Dog Pellet stove. Trying to get the owner to get a package with grill, stove and heater.

Estimating, it looks like 1.6 tons and 1.6 cords.

UpStateNY said:

Is the heating season half over? I used half my pellet stash.
Does this mean I should have enough pellets for the rest of the heating season?

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Looking back, 1/2 my pellets used last season occurred on Jan 21. But I'm a bit further south though.

Checked the last three years calendars in the basement, where I mark each bag that I dump into the stove, and if I divided the total bags burned for each year, the halfway point was 1/19, 1/21 and 1/20. So yea, I'd say I have reached the halfway point. I have burned 80 bags so far so I am on track to burn just over three tons. That will leave me with close to one ton of extras. Perfect. Right where I like to be.

Checked inventory yesterday and reconciled with my tracker/forecast. Was two bags off. Puts me about 5 - 7% behind last year's use, and finishing with 1/2 - 1 ton left over. Perfect, but next week turns cold again, so glad the extra inventory is there.

I'm at 58 bags left of the 110 I bought, I suspect it will be close so I have to decide whether to risk running out or get some more. I'm a "recreational user" so I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much.

For general estimating purposes, mid to late January is about halfway through meteorological winter. If you want to be more analytical (and who doesn't?), the Intellicast weather site has a section with historical average temperatures.

http://www.intellicast.com/Local/History.aspx?location=USMA0349

That link is for my town but if you put in your zip code, your local data will come up. Browse to the date when you started up your stove and make note of the average high and low. Jump ahead to the spring and find the approximate dates where the highs and lows are similar. That should give you a good idea of your heating season. Of course averages are just that but it's fun to tinker and predict.

I'm 40% of the way through my 5 ton stash. That's more than I expected but I think it will come out about right.

Harvey Schneider said:

I'm 40% of the way through my 5 ton stash. That's more than I expected but I think it will come out about right.

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When one considers that November is the cloudiest month and December has the shortest daylight hours I say I can see the light at the end of the tunnel

jp0469 said:

Browse to the date when you started up your stove and make note of the average high and low. Jump ahead to the spring and find the approximate dates where the highs and lows are similar. That should give you a good idea of your heating season. Of course averages are just that but it's fun to tinker and predict.

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Apparently I'm not geeky enough (with pellet stoves anyway), I have no idea what date I started the Harman. I am sure I could figure out when I started the St. Croix since the date for picking it up is on my calendar though.

Guess to join the club at a higher level, I'll have to step up my game with my information gathering.

mepellet said:

Checked the last three years calendars in the basement, where I mark each bag that I dump into the stove, and if I divided the total bags burned for each year, the halfway point was 1/19, 1/21 and 1/20. So yea, I'd say I have reached the halfway point. I have burned 80 bags so far so I am on track to burn just over three tons. That will leave me with close to one ton of extras. Perfect. Right where I like to be.

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I'm about the exact same mepellet - just put in bag #85 of the 210 I started with, which included 30 bags of Crabbe's left over from last season.

Burning La Crete's has kept our drafty farmhouse as warm as any winter that I've burned pellets, but having to clean the ash out as frequently as I have to keep the stove running optimally has been a PITA.

I likely won't get LC's again next year - I don't mind paying extra for the better heat output of quality pellets, but having to clean the stove out daily is a deal breaker.

DMKNLD said:

I'm about the exact same mepellet - just put in bag #85 of the 210 I started with, which included 30 bags of Crabbe's left over from last season.

Burning La Crete's has kept our drafty farmhouse as warm as any winter that I've burned pellets, but having to clean the ash out as frequently as I have to keep the stove running optimally has been a PITA.

I likely won't get LC's again next year - I don't mind paying extra for the better heat output of quality pellets, but having to clean the stove out daily is a deal breaker.

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Funny. I started with exactly 210 bags also.

To date, Ive burned just shy of 1.5 tons. I have 5 tons left.

I think Im set.