Oil man cameth

BrotherBart said:

glenlloyd said:

Can't say I have the disadvantage of heating oil but my house is a bear to heat with natural gas. I've never heated it higher than 62F during the day and 54-56F at night. Even then it's cold and IMO there's nothing worse than blowing dry air, I detest forced air heating.

This will be the first year for wood heating in the house, I've done it for three years in the garage. The house is particularly problematic because it's old and because it's solid masonry exterior walls, no framing. There's a brick exterior and a combo brick and tile inner wall and in the winter it's like a freezer and in the summer it's like an over. I'm hoping that the new Olympic will help to resolve these issues.

I replaced the 40yo Lennox furnace in 2008 but that barely made a difference in the expense, in fact the bills didn't change at all. So much for more comfort for less expense. And the attic is insulated to R48 too, but walls...well there's nothing.

I am confident that wood heating will be a good alternative.

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If gas won't heat that joint I am afraid you are gonna have a bear of a job heating it with wood. The heat loss in that place must be phenomenal. If it gets to 55 in this house we are going to a hotel.

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I read that, I hope correctly, is where he set the temps due to cost. At least I hope that's the case. If it's not that make my home look like an air tight drum.

HollowHill said:

Delivered 322.3 gallons of oil - $1176.07 :-/ Sure hope the Progress is on schedule, need that thing soonest! Then need to figure out how to operate it

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Quit 'yer whinin!

Try this on for size. 322.3 gallons would cost me $1879.00. $5.83 per gallon delivered. 63% more.

Frostbit said:

HollowHill said:

Delivered 322.3 gallons of oil - $1176.07 :-/ Sure hope the Progress is on schedule, need that thing soonest! Then need to figure out how to operate it

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Quit 'yer whinin!

Try this on for size. 322.3 gallons would cost me $1879.00. $5.83 per gallon delivered. 63% more.

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YEP! not to mention it gets WAY WAY WAY colder here. The temps that some of these people light up makes me smile. Heck I just stopped wearing shorts when it hits 20.

Screw the Oilman. Last year, Dec. 7th, our 57 year old York Shipley Oil Boiler sh*t the bed. Gone was the furnace, our days of radiant floor heat and our $300 monthly checks to him. Ripped out the central AC unit and installed an air forced heat pump. Not a fan of that thing either during the winter. This is why and how I found this place...oh and Rose, a 450 lb., 2.9 cu. ft. of pleasant warm love.

pen said:

glenlloyd said:

Can't say I have the disadvantage of heating oil but my house is a bear to heat with natural gas. I've never heated it higher than 62F during the day and 54-56F at night. Even then it's cold and IMO there's nothing worse than blowing dry air, I detest forced air heating.

This will be the first year for wood heating in the house, I've done it for three years in the garage. The house is particularly problematic because it's old and because it's solid masonry exterior walls, no framing. There's a brick exterior and a combo brick and tile inner wall and in the winter it's like a freezer and in the summer it's like an over. I'm hoping that the new Olympic will help to resolve these issues.

I replaced the 40yo Lennox furnace in 2008 but that barely made a difference in the expense, in fact the bills didn't change at all. So much for more comfort for less expense. And the attic is insulated to R48 too, but walls...well there's nothing.

I am confident that wood heating will be a good alternative.

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Are your walls plaster over the block? If so, I'd be looking at adding something over them to help a bit.

I have a cabin of the same construction except that the attic has R-bat-guano in it. Our cabin would literally take a day of 2 old stoves cranking near cherry red to get that place liveable w/out being intoxicated (and even then it was tough). We decided to simply put wood paneling up on the walls on the inside downstairs and put pine upstairs and we couldn't believe the difference. We can heat the place up to liveable in the dead of winter in about 5 hours now.

Best of luck! At the very least, you'll be warm near that stove!

pen

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It was plaster directly applied to the masonry, but since the ceiling joists were only 2x4's and sagging under the weight of the plaster I pulled it all down (including walls) and have begun firring the walls to accept 3/4" foil covered insul board and then drywall over the top. It's complicated because you have to anchor the firring into the tile / bricks and the interior walls are very uneven. It's a slow process that's been ongoing for years. I'd like to say that it's done inside but far from it.

I don't care so much about how warm it is in the bedroom in the far end of the house as long as it's decent, but in the main house I'd like to keep it warm without having a furnace blow hot air out on me all the time.

I keep working at getting it more air tight but it's a tough situation...and yes, bats find their way into this place!

The stove will make a significant difference I think.

steve a

Still need to get the boiler replaced (mine died about a month after yours, Stax), and then see about an oil delivery. We got through the rest of last winter with just wood, but I'd rather have both. It'll be nice to have the floor warm in the kitchen, and to know that the plumbing isn't completely dependent upon the wood heat. My original goal was to cut my oil supply in half (average year's consumption is 830 gallons, should be less with new boiler, even if I didn't use wood). Based on last year, I think I could whittle my oil use back even more than that, and still be comfy.

The son of a friend was looking to pick up a little work, and came by yesterday to cut some wood that's been laying on my property. He brought a friend, and between the two of them and my son, they brought in at least a cord, and will be back in the morning to get some more done, get it worked up and stacked. What a relief to get that done! It's nice stuff.

By the time my birch is all delivered, I'll have about five year's worth (I am generously estimating three cords of birch and two of poplar. If I just have to buy oil every two years, I'll be set. I can see there from here, it's just that I'm not quite there yet.

Good on ya, HollowHill. You've been busy this summer. You may want to look at closing off some rooms this winter, since it's just the three of you. It'll be a learning year, but you're well set. And don't fret the learning of the stove; yes, you'll get better with time, but it's going to work. I hope that the hybrid is all you are looking for. Well done!

My 500 gal propane tank will not be getting poked as often this winter that's for sure. It's about 70% and I'm hoping to not have to add any all winter. The only reason it will get used is the dryer and the times we might be away... in which case the thermostat will be set around 55. Without the wood stoves I was planning on about $5000 for the year. It's gonna take a couple of years to pay off my investment but after that yee haaa.

I was thinking of topping off my oil tank this year . . . but seeing as I have 3/4 of a tank of oil left over and heating oil prices are now averaging $3.50 here in Maine (80 cents more than last year at this time) . . . guess I'll hold off . . . and keep burning wood.

TK-421 said:

We were spending $500 every four and a half weeks on propane forced hot air and were still cold in the house. We kicked on our little resolute and burned what would be 4-5 cords/yr and our temps went up to almost comfortable. Our little resolute will soon be replaced with a more appropriate sized stove and again expected burn is 4-5 cords.

We had a yukon eagle oil/wood furnace and burned 4-5 cords and were either comfortable or hot with windows open.

IMHO, if you do it properly wood will always leave your wallet fatter in May.

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That is what it was costing us last winter when we first moved into this house. We were also pretty cold as well. In February I installed the chimney so that I could fire up old Shenadoah wood stove that was left in the basement and that helped a lot. I have since installed the Fireview so things should be much much better this winter. I hope to replace the old stove in the basement with another Fireview in the next month. Our goal is to not buy any more propane since everything else is electric including DHW. As it is now I can light the Fireview at 10:00pm damp it down by 11:00 pm and the house and stove are nice and warm when I get up in the morning. I envy you guys that huge supplies of oak and other hard woods my main supply is beetle killed pine.

BrowningBAR said:

BrotherBart said:

glenlloyd said:

Can't say I have the disadvantage of heating oil but my house is a bear to heat with natural gas. I've never heated it higher than 62F during the day and 54-56F at night. Even then it's cold and IMO there's nothing worse than blowing dry air, I detest forced air heating.

This will be the first year for wood heating in the house, I've done it for three years in the garage. The house is particularly problematic because it's old and because it's solid masonry exterior walls, no framing. There's a brick exterior and a combo brick and tile inner wall and in the winter it's like a freezer and in the summer it's like an over. I'm hoping that the new Olympic will help to resolve these issues.

I replaced the 40yo Lennox furnace in 2008 but that barely made a difference in the expense, in fact the bills didn't change at all. So much for more comfort for less expense. And the attic is insulated to R48 too, but walls...well there's nothing.

I am confident that wood heating will be a good alternative.

Click to expand...

If gas won't heat that joint I am afraid you are gonna have a bear of a job heating it with wood. The heat loss in that place must be phenomenal. If it gets to 55 in this house we are going to a hotel.

Click to expand...

I read that, I hope correctly, is where he set the temps due to cost. At least I hope that's the case. If it's not that make my home look like an air tight drum.

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Yes, you read it correctly, it's a financial decision on the thermostat setting. The furnace could heat that house up to 80F without a problem, it's just that my wallet couldn't likely stand the consequences of that.

The house isn't all that breezy, in fact I think it's pretty good for tightness, it's just that masonry is so hard to heat up when it's cold on the other side.

thx

steve

HollowHill said:

Delivered 322.3 gallons of oil - $1176.07 :-/ Sure hope the Progress is on schedule, need that thing soonest! Then need to figure out how to operate it

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Thats why i feel so good about getting another Brand new Englander 30 for $650.00 for my Wood Shop/Basement . Way less than the cost of a single tank of oil . When that oil tank is empty again the englander will still be like brand new. Last time i bought oil ,2002 i paid $1.20 a gallon and still have half of it.

HollowHill said:

My Oslo heats my home said:

HollowHill said:

My Oslo heats my home said:

Just a second, need to do some math here. BRB

Your $1176.07 for oil has estimated to equal about 2.4 years of wood at what I paid this year. I wonder how far the
322 gallons would take you?

times like this is when it feels good to be a wood burner.

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That's about a fifth of my year's supply of oil (heat and hot water), so if it lasted 2 months at this time of year, I'd be lucky.

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When do you estimate your woodstove will be installed? Do you have a supply of dry wood for this season? After seeing that oil bill I hope you can burn this year.

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If all goes as planned, Nov. 2 is install date. Have 10 cord of wood - 2 cord c/s/s since May 2010 and 8 cord c since Nov 2010 and s/s since May/June 2011 (not ideal, I know).

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The first two cords should be in fine shape when the stove arrives. The rest should be at least OK, if not perfect. It will depend on how and where the wood was stacked, and the species of wood.

BrowningBAR said:

joefrompa said:

What is the air-sealing and insulation of your homes? Good Lord! And size for that matter.

For some of you guys, it seems like it would be more cost effective to leave the thermostat at 55 or 60 and simply use small oil-filled radiator heaters for bedrooms.

I did that last winter, plus my stove most of the winter, and used about 150 gallons with poor air-sealing of the home. This year, the house has been insulated in a number of areas, I've had the entire exterior tyvek'd and 3/8" foam-boarded....so we'll see. The house seems to be a notable amount more evenly heated.

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Sometimes it seems like I live in a gigantic 2200 sq ft tent.

How much did it cost you to TyVek the home?

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Hey BrowningBAR,

I re-sided my house which involved ripping off the old asbestos siding, laying a new underlayment of 3/8" foam, then tyveking, taping, and then new vinyl siding, fascias/friezes, some new exterior window trimming, and new gutters. All of that on my 2-story colonial cost me about $15.5k.

To tyvek a house, you need to be intending to put up a new siding. The cost of the tyvek, appropriate fasteners, and tyvek tape would probably be around $300-500 - not super expensive (the tape is the expensive part). It's what you do after that that counts.

If I had a ranch/1-story home, I would probably be willing to do the siding myself. Or at least the foam and tyvek - it's a piece of cake, but you want someone who cares to do it and do it right.

HollowHill said:

Delivered 322.3 gallons of oil - $1176.07 :-/ Sure hope the Progress is on schedule, need that thing soonest! Then need to figure out how to operate it

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heck thats only 3.64 a gal delivered! i just payed 3.85 and i had to pick it up here!

$3.34 a gallon today in Nepa. I had to order some because our hot water is still heated with oil. We have a new electric hot water heater but has not been hooked up yet. So many projects for Mr Gamma and so lil time...
Last year we did not have to really use the furnace with the 13......it was a lil chilly in the opposite part of the house but tolerable....I am not a person that chills easily...
I have to wonder what the 30 is gonna do for us this year....
I have a feeling that I won't have to order oil for a long long time, especially since the hot water won't be heated by the oil furnace.
Hollow, I am sure you are gonna love that new stove. I am looking forward to your posts about it and pics dammit... :lol:

2x4 walls with r-19 and tyvek. House is in the shape of a T with 1500 sq ft on the back half all living areas, two floors, front room is 500 sq ft great room with 13' cathedral ceilings. Most likely taking a majority of the heat. Celing fans help. Basement is dirt floor crawl space with no insulation but the cinder block walls. We are blowing insulation on the walls next week. Was supposed to be today but they screwed up the schedule on us. That will help us out alot.

Honestly I think our propane furnace is too small. It ran constantly last winter turning on every 10-15 minutes or so.

It would have cost a fortune to heat last winter. Glad we got the resolute fired up. We went from $500 every four weeks and being cold to 800 for the entire winter being only slightly cold. The larger stove this winter should make things better.

I remember in the late 90's when oil was 99 cents a gallon - before I started burning wood. When that nice warm furnace came on I enjoyed the sound of the blower and actually looked forward to the soothing sound. When oil passed $3/gallon I got a splitting headache every time that GD furnace came on, imagining dollars flying up the flue. That's when I got serious with this wood thing and never looked back. Oil can go back below $1, I'll still burn wood - its too much fun!

GAMMA RAY said:

$3.34 a gallon today in Nepa. I had to order some because our hot water is still heated with oil. We have a new electric hot water heater but has not been hooked up yet. So many projects for Mr Gamma and so lil time...
Last year we did not have to really use the furnace with the 13......it was a lil chilly in the opposite part of the house but tolerable....I am not a person that chills easily...
I have to wonder what the 30 is gonna do for us this year....
I have a feeling that I won't have to order oil for a long long time, especially since the hot water won't be heated by the oil furnace.
Hollow, I am sure you are gonna love that new stove. I am looking forward to your posts about it and pics dammit... :lol:

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Can't wait for pics, either :0


Gamma, I went the electric hot water heater route, and can't be happier. Electric bill went up $40 per month ( 2 showers a day & dishes), but not paying the oil guy is nice I get a strange look from people when I say I used no oil last winter

I got a double laugh out of heating with wood last year. I was talking to my girlfriends dad. He was complaining about having a $500.00 electric bill. He has a heat pump. I said wow! I don't spent $500.00 to heat my house all year. He asked, "How big is your house?" I told him about as big as yours. He then said', "How warm do you keep it?" I said warm enough that you don't want to know how your daughter runs around in it.

karl said:

I got a double laugh out of heating with wood last year. I was talking to my girlfriends dad. He was complaining about having a $500.00 electric bill. He has a heat pump. I said wow! I don't spent $500.00 to heat my house all year. He asked, "How big is your house?" I told him about as big as yours. He then said', "How warm do you keep it?" I said warm enough that you don't want to know how your daughter runs around in it.

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Thats pretty universal with the guys here,keep bumping up the temps so the bride runs around in a thong and bra.

karl said:

I got a double laugh out of heating with wood last year. I was talking to my girlfriends dad. He was complaining about having a $500.00 electric bill. He has a heat pump. I said wow! I don't spent $500.00 to heat my house all year. He asked, "How big is your house?" I told him about as big as yours. He then said', "How warm do you keep it?" I said warm enough that you don't want to know how your daughter runs around in it.

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That's funny, I don't care who you are!

+10000000