I hope to add to this body of knowledge. Seems like a few folks on this forum like numbers, graphs and charts...
Basically I tested out a Heat Pump vs Heating with wood in a 1200 sqft split level in VA. House is well insulated and a Lopi Revere is in the family room downstairs. I keep the thermostat at 70F. I've got marginal wood, some dry poplar 15% moisture and some hickory and red oak 20-25% moisture. Picked today to test because it was overcast and around 30F throughout the day from 9am to 7pm it was 28 to 30F according to weather.com and 30-32F according to my own measurements. Did the HP test first from 9am to 2pm, heat pump has been running all night, so the whole house was pretty much the same temperature.
Heat Pump 9am to 2pm
1) heat Pump cycled on and off 7 times. When it was on, it used 4kWh, when it was off the house used about .7kWh
2) From 9am to 2pm, I used 15kWh, all rooms were around 69 to 70F
3) Outside temp according to my measurements was between 31F and 32F
4) Electricity cost: $1.65 ($.11/kWh)
Wood Heating from 2pm to 7pm
1) started from pretty much a cold stove, 3 pieces of hickory/red oak at 20-25% moisture, a handful of chopped poplar to get things going.
2) Turned off Heat Pump and just heated with insert
3) Ended up using 2 loads of wood, approx 2.3cuft of mixed wood.
4) At 7pm stovetop was around 475F, and seemed to be locked in for another hour or so. Probably could have heated the house for another 2hrs
5) If I burned 24/7 I would probably have less wood usage
6) If I had really dry wood, I probably would have used less wood.
7) The room with the insert ranged from 70-75F, other rooms ranged from 67-69F.
8) Electrical was around .7kWh during the time, ended up measuring, 4kWh usage
9) Total Cost: Electricity:$.44 Wood: probably around 5 splits would have done the trick, if they were dry maybe less.
So.... For me... are 5 splits of wood worth $1.21 (not including all the equipment, hand splitting, and scrounging/stacking etc...)? …. So far...........
yes.... wife is happy.
Kitchen is on the ground level
Lodge is where the insert is.
Laundry 3 is a heat probe attached to ducts
Basically I tested out a Heat Pump vs Heating with wood in a 1200 sqft split level in VA. House is well insulated and a Lopi Revere is in the family room downstairs. I keep the thermostat at 70F. I've got marginal wood, some dry poplar 15% moisture and some hickory and red oak 20-25% moisture. Picked today to test because it was overcast and around 30F throughout the day from 9am to 7pm it was 28 to 30F according to weather.com and 30-32F according to my own measurements. Did the HP test first from 9am to 2pm, heat pump has been running all night, so the whole house was pretty much the same temperature.
Heat Pump 9am to 2pm
1) heat Pump cycled on and off 7 times. When it was on, it used 4kWh, when it was off the house used about .7kWh
2) From 9am to 2pm, I used 15kWh, all rooms were around 69 to 70F
3) Outside temp according to my measurements was between 31F and 32F
4) Electricity cost: $1.65 ($.11/kWh)
Wood Heating from 2pm to 7pm
1) started from pretty much a cold stove, 3 pieces of hickory/red oak at 20-25% moisture, a handful of chopped poplar to get things going.
2) Turned off Heat Pump and just heated with insert
3) Ended up using 2 loads of wood, approx 2.3cuft of mixed wood.
4) At 7pm stovetop was around 475F, and seemed to be locked in for another hour or so. Probably could have heated the house for another 2hrs
5) If I burned 24/7 I would probably have less wood usage
6) If I had really dry wood, I probably would have used less wood.
7) The room with the insert ranged from 70-75F, other rooms ranged from 67-69F.
8) Electrical was around .7kWh during the time, ended up measuring, 4kWh usage
9) Total Cost: Electricity:$.44 Wood: probably around 5 splits would have done the trick, if they were dry maybe less.
So.... For me... are 5 splits of wood worth $1.21 (not including all the equipment, hand splitting, and scrounging/stacking etc...)? …. So far...........
yes.... wife is happy.
Kitchen is on the ground level
Lodge is where the insert is.
Laundry 3 is a heat probe attached to ducts