I came up with some interesting statistics today

[Zackdog]

I have been keeping detailed records of my heating costs by heating season since the '02-'03 season. I also have a home weather station, so I know my actual Heat Degree Days. My home is all electric and the cost / KWH has increased by 37.2% since 2002 and my pellet costs have increased by 42.2% in that same time. What I find interesting, is that I have reduced my total heating cost/HDD by 10.4% over the same time period. My pellet stove is manual and I am now retired, so I am burning the stove more during the day instead of using the electric baseboard heaters. Just found this interesting.

 

[Lousyweather]

Interesting, indeed, Zack!

 

[hearthtools]

just for kicks what is your Electric cost per Klw hour.
here is my rates

.11536 for the first 394 Kwh My base line useage. dont know where that got that number but I have always gone 200% over.
then it jumps for over our baseline usage

.13115 for the next 130% over
then
.24711 for 200% over
and then
.35432 fpr 300% over
and then over 300% base line usage it is .410949

 

[JIM P1]

I sold a Harman Pellet Furnace to a retired school teacher in 2004. He did the same calculation. His was 22%. But, I know pellets in Pa were probably less expensive than where your at.

 

[dac122]

I'm not sure how you're calculating things, but assuming you are calculating things correctly a reduction in your overall heating costs/HDD could be due to some unusual factors such HDD fractional error, increased BTUs in your pellets due to quality, a lowering of your residence's voltage, upgraded (more efficient) appliances, etc.

Just my $.02 for some ideas that may not have been considered.

 

[JIM P1]

I really don't understand degree day calculations. I ask about 50 customers every year to keep track of exactly how much they spend in Pellets vs. what they used to heat before the pelllet stove was installed. Or gallons oil averaged over 5 years.

 

[JLF001]

You take 65 and subtract the average temp for the day. It gives you a good idea on how much heat it should have taken to heat your house to 70.

It is also much more accurate at estimating how cold is winter is compared to the norm. Much better than the average temp that some people want to use.

 

[Zackdog]

My electricity comes from a rural co-op. In 2002 the rate was $.0678/KWH and starting in Jan. of 2009 the rate is $.093/KWH. In 2002, I was getting pellets at Wal-Mart for $2.82 /bag with a feed rate of 33.9 hours per bag. I have increased the feed rate on my stove to the point where I currently get 31.3 hours per bag of pellets. I started the season this year with 69 bags of pellets @ $3.70 per bag. As of today, I still have 24 bags left. In a normal March and April, I will use 12 -15 bags, so I will hopefully have about 10 bags left. My weather station calculates the HDD. I tell it the inside temp that I want it to be based on, which I have set at 68*. The HDD is basically that number minus the mean temperature for the day. My coldest day so far this winter was a mean temp of -1.2, so that was 68 minus -1.2=69.2 HDD. Hope this answers a few of the questions.