True Cost Of Burning Pellets

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Sawduster

New Member
Nov 4, 2008
125
Vermont
Early this year when I thought oil was heading toward $6 or $7 a gallon, I was determined to beat the oil companies by buying a pellet stove. Here is the true cost of that decision with all prices including our 6% sales tax.

Harmon P61A-2 Stove $3570
Install and Pipe $1070
Hearth Pad $ 394
5 tons pellets $1150
Shed to store pellets $2150
Thermogard install $ 175
Shop Vac for cleaning $ 85

Time to sift pellets, cleaning the stove and other stove related duties are not counted because they are a "fun" hobby. Total Cost of my decision to burn pellets and this is very close to actual amount is $8594. What is the pay back period with my oil currently priced at $2.50 gal?
 
Why the $175 for the ThermoGuard? i think i paid like $60

Enviro MINI Stove - $2400
Install and Pipe - $700
Hearth Pad - came with stove
2 tons pellets, 1 one the way - $1000
Shed to store pellets - already had one + basement, have to lug them all by hand!
ThermoGuard install $69.99
hot ash Vac for cleaning $200
Wireless remote - $120
 
I paid for a Serviceman to wire the ThermoGuard into my air handler in the basement to help move the air around in the house. I did not have the necessary know how to do it myself. I should also say that I paid $9000 for a new System 2000 Boiler and an air handler to replace a bad furnace three years ago. I thought that my HVAC expenditures were over at that point. I guess I was wrong.
 
A lot of your expenditures are 1 time expenditures. Oil will rebound when the economy does and you will feel better about your decision.
 
Wow, it's gonna take a while if oil stays that low(not likely).
Enviro Empresss with colour upgrade(install, piping and certified) $4325.00
4 tons pellets, 2 different brands of premium $1175.00
When sealing deal I too estimated oil at approx $5.00 a US gallon and gave it 3-4 years for total return on investment not including fuel, my tank was topped up last week and I paid $3.59. As I sit looking at the new numbers my ROI now goes to 5-6 years for the stove installed, roughly this equals about a 15% return.
Considering my investments have lost on average 30% the last 3 months the 15% upside looks pretty good.
The money on the stoves and pellets is spent, I still need to burn some amount of oil and the fill the other day was about $250.00 less than I expected. I refuse to second guess my decision because I firmly believe that it was and will prove to be the right thing to do on a number of levels.
Note: Not a typo above, for some reason we put a U after the O in many of our words. I believe it's that British colony thing.
 
Enviro EF2-1999.99
2 1/2 tons - 575$
hearth pad-350
pipe vent-350
ash vac- using the shop vac with an ash/ drywall filter- 20$
install- i did it myself

Im hoping to make up a lot of the money spent this year... i heat with LP and it was 3.97/g about 4 weeks ago when it was last delivered. so far i burned about 22 bags(counted last night) and still havent used the propane heat.
 
one cost no one seems to be able to put into the equation is that now if I use the furnace and set the thermostat to 72...Im still chilly :(
running the pellet stove the room is easily 78...and needs to be to get the back rooms to high 68 to 70..
so now that Im climitized to sit in a room at 78...going back to 70 would make me chilly all the time :(
 
I guess I'm happy that I'm not the only one who paid a lot for their going pellet decision. There are some intangible benefits that I have not mentioned. I am keeping it far warmer than I ever did with oil. I was always shivering before and not now. I also like the idea of using a renewable resource for heat, and you can't beat the ambiance of a roaring fire in the stove.
 
one cost no one seems to be able to put into the equation is that now if I use the furnace and set the thermostat to 72...Im still chilly :(
running the pellet stove the room is easily 78...and needs to be to get the back rooms to high 68 to 70..
so now that Im climitized to sit in a room at 78...going back to 70 would make me chilly all the time :(
Click to expand...

The bedrooms upstairs don’t get that warm so my body seems to regulate itself every night when I go from 75 – to 62 while sleeping :)
 
Many people complain here about not being able to get it warm enough upstairs with their pellet stove. I guess that it really depends on the lay out of your house. My upstairs is five degrees warmer with the pellet stove than with oil. It is my basement that I am worried about. I'm afraid that if I don't run the oil heat, my water pipes on the outside wall may freeze.
 
Since my only method of heating was propane purchasing a pellet stove was a no brainer. Even with propane dropping to 2.00/gal it still wouldn't make sense to burn propane. Propane would need to get somewhere around 1.40/gal for me to break even with pellets at $220.0/ton. Enjoy the cheaper oil and NG while you can, it's just a matter of time before the prices go back up!
 
You would need to indicate how many gallons of oil you used previously, and how many you anticipate on using now with the pellet stove, PLUS the price of oil in order to determine a payback period based on the price of oil RIGHT NOW.
 
I used about seven hundred gallons a year and the last time I checked my fuel dealer was charging $2.62 per gallon. I however wasn't serious about figuring out pay back time, because it will be many years if ever in the future.
 
I had a lennox winslow pellet stove installed 2 days ago. We burned on the lowest setting yesterday, and the house remained 68* degrees, I have a 1000 sq. ft. chalet. We turned on the ceiling fan in the living room where the stove is located, and the house went to 71*.(our furnace thermostat is located downstairs in the hallway) We burned about 2/3 a bag of pellets in about 18 hours. Our biggest problem is, it was to hot to sleep upstairs. I had to crack the window open an inch to cool our sleeping area down. This morning the house was 68*. I also close off the 2 downstairs bedroom doors, so am only heating a very small area. My biggest fuel bill last year with natural gas was about 180 bucks. There should be a slight savings with the pellet stove. I now have a back up heat source in case my furnace goes out, I like the looks of the fireplace in the house. If I come in from outdoors, I stand in front of the stove for a couple minutes,,,,,reminds me of growing up,,,,,the memories alone are worth getting this pellet stove,,,,,,,,
 
quadrafire castile;2700.00
pl pipe;360.00
hearth pad;112.00
3 tons pellets;805.00
stored in basement o.oo
total; 4000.00
last years oil [email protected] gal.
dead river oil wanted me to lock [email protected]. this year
iwas looking at $3880.00 roughly for oil,,,,,, who knew


300.oo tax rebate for stove now3700.oo total,,, it just keeps getting better and better
 
Same thing here... Decided all this when they were talking about oild being $6 - $8 gallon. I burned 800 gallons last year.

Hole in the side of my house to build the hearth. Lumber, siding, roofing, flashing, electric, mantle, stone, etc. roughly $1000

Quadrafire Mt. Vernon - $3700
Vent Pipe - roughly $500
Stove Accesories - $200
4 ton of pellets - $1150

Aggravation to do it all myself - $100000

All that plus adding the days I took off work burning vacation days to do it all... Oil is at $2 a gallon around my place now!!! Perfect!!!!!!
 
Sawduster said:
Early this year when I thought oil was heading toward $6 or $7 a gallon, I was determined to beat the oil companies by buying a pellet stove. Here is the true cost of that decision with all prices including our 6% sales tax.

Harmon P61A-2 Stove $3570
Install and Pipe $1070
Hearth Pad $ 394
5 tons pellets $1150
Shed to store pellets $2150
Thermogard install $ 175
Shop Vac for cleaning $ 85

Time to sift pellets, cleaning the stove and other stove related duties are not counted because they are a "fun" hobby. Total Cost of my decision to burn pellets and this is very close to actual amount is $8594. What is the pay back period with my oil currently priced at $2.50 gal?
Click to expand...

Install, hearthpad, and a shed..... They saw your wallet coming. When you looked at the stove did you park your Cadillac as close to the door as possible?

Eric
 
Sawduster said:
I guess I'm happy that I'm not the only one who paid a lot for their going pellet decision. There are some intangible benefits that I have not mentioned. I am keeping it far warmer than I ever did with oil. I was always shivering before and not now. I also like the idea of using a renewable resource for heat, and you can't beat the ambiance of a roaring fire in the stove.
Click to expand...

Since I got my new pellet stove, I have had the 1st floor set between 71-73 degrees. Just for giggles, I brought it down to 67 degrees, which is what we had it set on using propane forced hot air, and I was freezing! I knew that I was always chilly, but now I know that I'm never going back to that. Propane is not seeing the drastic reductions that oil is, but I am very happy that my decision to buy a stove now gives me a choice as to what fuel I will buy, I fell good about it be a renewable source, and I'm not trapped by the propane prices anymore.

My stove has actually reduced my stress level!
 
I always find it interesting to see what people have invested in their stoves. I have been called cheap before, but I like to think of myself as frugal.

Used Englander Stove $790.00 on e-bay
Pipe $199 installed myself
Hearth Pad and redoing the surround etc of the old gas fireplace $133
2 tons pellets $600 (They got me here, next year I will buy in the spring)
Shed to store pellets $0 (Stacked them in the garage)
Thermogard install $0 (Don't need it I have NG)
Shop Vac for cleaning $0 (Already had 2)

Total investment $1,722.00
 
When we bought our stove, we had planned on buying a Harmon. Then we discovered the fiasco with Harmon and their inability to meet the demand. I bought a Lopi Yankee, quite literally it was the only stove available to me at the time I purchased it, and it was still 6wks away from even being delivered to the dealer. Needless to say, negotiating was not an option.
My install was $1100...$450 was labor, the rest was pipe, which I verified pricing for online, and was not that much more than what I could have bought it for. Keep in mind, different installs call for different quanitities of materials. The install was also something I would normally have done myself, but my schedule just didn't have time available in it, and we wanted the stove running.

My advice? Don't base your payback on what you're seeing right now. Energy costs are going to rise dramatically after Jan09, and that will include HHO. Right now might be a good time to hold on to pellets and burn HHO, while it's in the $2.25/gal range, but before the winter's over, you're going to be glad you have the pellets.

Jim
 
Lobstah said:
When we bought our stove, we had planned on buying a Harmon. Then we discovered the fiasco with Harmon and their inability to meet the demand. I bought a Lopi Yankee, quite literally it was the only stove available to me at the time I purchased it, and it was still 6wks away from even being delivered to the dealer. Needless to say, negotiating was not an option.
My install was $1100...$450 was labor, the rest was pipe, which I verified pricing for online, and was not that much more than what I could have bought it for. Keep in mind, different installs call for different quanitities of materials. The install was also something I would normally have done myself, but my schedule just didn't have time available in it, and we wanted the stove running.

My advice? Don't base your payback on what you're seeing right now. Energy costs are going to rise dramatically after Jan09, and that will include HHO. Right now might be a good time to hold on to pellets and burn HHO, while it's in the $2.25/gal range, but before the winter's over, you're going to be glad you have the pellets.

Jim
Click to expand...
Hey Lobstah I like your thought process. I'm currently burning oil, but I'm sure there's going to be a point when I'll pull the plug on my oil furnace and burn pellets. I didn't realize this when I originally (2004) purchased my pellet stove, but I think the biggest advantage of having one is I now can choose what fuel to use to keep my house warm. I guess you can call me a heating hooker, it's all about the $$$'s.
 
St. Croix Revolution - $3395
Pipe - $384.23
Misc. wire, t'stat, screws- $21.26
4 ton pellets-$899.96
Buddy that helped w/ install- PRICELESS!!!!! + $50 AND A FEW COLD ONES
Intangible - 22 yr. old oil furnace that is still a great backup, but would need replacement in a couple more years if used as primary - $Who knows.
Happy Wife - $3.28 gazillion return

Worth it? To me, yes. You be your own judge.
 
My costs are:

800$ for used Quad Castile stove (used 2 seasons)
200$ hearth pad
400$ install and pipes
200-225$/ton of pellets
and plenty of room for 1-2 tons of pellets at a time in the garage

Burning pellets can be cheap.

Chas
 
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