How long until your stove pays for itself?

Lots of variables. It depends on what her net amount was for heating before the stove. Propane and electric see quicker returns than oil as they are more expensive.

How much a year was she paying for propane? Does this include auxiliary uses such as hot water or cooking?

Subtract 850.00 from that number.

Depends on how much propane she used...

I used about $4,000 a yr on LP. Heating the upstairs of my 2,180 sq ft Ranch. My Quad was $4,000 w/ piping and 3 tons the 1st yr... I used ZERO propane the 1st year with it.. And ZERO since... So if it didnt pay for itself the 1st yr, it did by the 1st or 2nd month of the 2nd season...

Now for your Sister.....

For $6,000 roughly... Plus $850 a yr for pellets.. If she was spending $2,500 a yr on LP (Really low for a house her size), then 4 yrs @ $2,500 = $10,000... Her $6,000 stove + 4 yrs of pellets $3,400 (4 x $850) is $9,400. Thats if it heats her entire home..

At that cost, she got the Mt. Vernon Insert, or the Edge 60.... Its a big stove a capable of doing so, if she moves the air around right.. So it could be 4 yrs... It could be 10 yrs - 2 yrs -8 yrs -

Until we know What she was spending.. There is no way of telling.

With what we spent for our stove and the vent kit and all I figure it took us 2 to 2.5 years to break even. We still need propane for the hot water tank, the dryer and the oven. We are much warmer now and pay between $800 and $1000 a year for pellets. It was costing us almost $4000 in propane and we weren't even really warm.
Our house is 2816 sq ft and other then a safe space heater in one area we are heating with pellets. We don't use the furnace anymore unless we go out of town.

I paid $3000 for my stove installed. About 5 tons of pellets a year for a cost of about $1250. My propane bill was over $500 every 24 days keeping my house at 60-62. It would probably double that to have kept it at 68-72 like the pellet stove. It will pay for itself this year. So a year and a half.

WOW! That is alot for natural gas. We don't even have that as an option here but I was always jealous of people with natural gas because I thought it was way cheaper then propane. Maybe I was wrong. I love the pellet stove heat. It warms you to the bone.

P.S. I think we paid about $3900 for stove and vent and all.

Mine will take about 10 years. Half of what I save in electricity for the heat pumps goes toward pellet purchases. Now, when I was heating with wood from my oak trees out back, that's another story. However, if you factor in chiropractic adjustments, heart attacks, bug infestations, possible divorce from all the dirt, getting up twice a night to feed the stoves, chains, sharpening machine, log splitter and chain saw maintenance I think they paid for themselves the day I turned them on. :lol:

I am on propane stove paid off in 3 yrs. 1000 gal. propane before stove now last 2 yrs using 450 gal. Use for cooking dryer and water heater and a fireplace in the den. Furnace ran very seldom. We have vaulted ceiling in living room and kitchen 2100 sq ft house I wanted to replace the fireplace but if we lose electric no heat. Will burn 1 1/4 tons pellets.
We also like the living room and kitchen at 72 degree in stead of 68.

doublewide said:

I made a mistake she has propane (it is in a tank underground,) sorry about the confusion.

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LP was in your Original Post. Its ok. We know Nat Gas is really cheap.

That Edge 60 is a Mt.Vernon with a sleek face.

I have been thinking about this same exact thing lately. I figured out that it will take 2 1/2 years for the stove to pay for itself. We were using LP forced air furnace set for 66*. We run the pellet stove at 75*, if we ran the stove at 66* the stove would pay for itself even faster.

Pellets, stove, and install came to $3,600. So certainly by the end of the second burning season, I had achieved pay back. But I look at it a little differently. I cashed out some un used leave from work when I went to per diem. That paid for most of my investment in the stove. So now I am in year 4. I still have a forth of a tank of oil left my oil fill of Aug 2010. Most of what I used went to make hot water for washing.

We spent just under $3k and our stove paid for itself after just 3 years.

Mine won't pay for itself as I'm on natural gas. But the wife sure loves it! A lot better than the crappy NG fireplace insert that it replaced. Also, I like having pellets as a backup to NG in case it skyrockets in price someday. Or if my furnace takes a dump, I can heat with my pellet stove and take my time and not be in a bind and have to pay top dollar for the repair.
Flynfrfun

tjnamtiw said:

Mine will take about 10 years. Half of what I save in electricity for the heat pumps goes toward pellet purchases. Now, when I was heating with wood from my oak trees out back, that's another story. However, if you factor in chiropractic adjustments, heart attacks, bug infestations, possible divorce from all the dirt, getting up twice a night to feed the stoves, chains, sharpening machine, log splitter and chain saw maintenance I think they paid for themselves the day I turned them on. :lol:

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Just wanted to note that I have been dealing on the wood vs. pellet idea for some time now and I had to thank you for the above post. I laughed off my chair. :lol: This puts things into perspective as we had a wood furnace as a kid for heat and hot water. Not that I'm too old, but it is work no matter what even if if you have it delivered split for you. I have been thinking about the Mt. Vernon vs. Accentra Pellet Inserts (vs. comparable wood inserts) and will probably go with pellet. I am heading to the local dealer tomorrow to try to make a decision.

With respect to the savings and payback, from the research I have done, the wood pellets seem to have a less volatile increase over the years such as oil, etc. which should factor in to your comparison. Safety may be another issue to take into account as well as pellets as a renewable resource.

BrotherBart said:

tjnamtiw said:

Mine will take about 10 years. Half of what I save in electricity for the heat pumps goes toward pellet purchases. Now, when I was heating with wood from my oak trees out back, that's another story. However, if you factor in chiropractic adjustments, heart attacks, bug infestations, possible divorce from all the dirt, getting up twice a night to feed the stoves, chains, sharpening machine, log splitter and chain saw maintenance I think they paid for themselves the day I turned them on. :lol:

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Dang it. You just weren't devoted enough. :lol:

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Yea, I know but I just couldn't resist it! That gets me in trouble all the time on other forums............ When I stop laughing, that means there's no sense living.

Paid $1500.00 for Napoleon NPS40 and pipes, (know someone who sells them). Built Hearth Platform for about $40.00. Installed myself. 1500.00 tax write off for reusable fuel back in 2009. Cut oil use from 1,000 gallons per year to 500 gallons per year. I made money the first year, and save about $800 per year with pellets instead of oil.

flynfrfun said:

Mine won't pay for itself as I'm on natural gas. But the wife sure loves it! A lot better than the crappy NG fireplace insert that it replaced. Also, I like having pellets as a backup to NG in case it skyrockets in price someday. Or if my furnace takes a dump, I can heat with my pellet stove and take my time and not be in a bind and have to pay top dollar for the repair.
Flynfrfun

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Thats where I'm at as well. Natural Gas hasn't always been this cheap though. I've had a pellet stove for 15 years now, this being my 2nd year with the P61A. 10 years ago NG was very expensive. The point for us is that we would never keep the house at 72 degrees like we do if we were heating it solely with NG. A warm and toasty wife makes my life so much easier