Pellet boiler for a 3000sqft house

[maple1]

That's pretty good.

Had a buddy who installed a Geo system a couple years ago. The first couple electric bills he got were huge. I think he had something wrong in his setup & his backup must have been kicking in too much. Think it's better now but I don't get a straight answer now when I ask him - which tells me they're still more than he was expecting.

I considered Geo, but I would have been looking at 30k by the time I retrofitted some ductwork. And increased electric bills. I decided to spend less than half that on something that could have zero monthly fuel costs - as long as I'm able enough to go get it. I'll cross the fuel cost bridge when I get to it when I'm not able to do that any more.

 

[moey]

I can only speak for our A/C we have only had it for 2 months. Our electric bill went up about $15 keeping A/C on 72 day/night. Our house is ~2500sq ft. Id estimate that during the hot spell 90s it was a little less then $1 a day to run. Winter will tell more.

 

[bonesy]

That's pretty good.

Had a buddy who installed a Geo system a couple years ago. The first couple electric bills he got were huge. I think he had something wrong in his setup & his backup must have been kicking in too much. Think it's better now but I don't get a straight answer now when I ask him - which tells me they're still more than he was expecting.

I considered Geo, but I would have been looking at 30k by the time I retrofitted some ductwork. And increased electric bills. I decided to spend less than half that on something that could have zero monthly fuel costs - as long as I'm able enough to go get it. I'll cross the fuel cost bridge when I get to it when I'm not able to do that any more.

Some systems are more efficient than others and if not sized properly can also use alot of electric. By my own research and from what I have heard, WaterFurnace is one of the best brands out there. In new home construction, they actually produce a net positive cash flow each month. I have friends that have some other brand and their electric is much more than mine and the electric backup is always running. They live in the same town and built a year or two before me.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Have a friend with a water furnace. After looking at his bills and results id rather put my money in insulation or some passive solar. Just too much up front cost with the Geo for most. Now if you have some land and a friend with a backhoe where you can lay a few hundred feet of trenches that would change the equation. My ideal house would be passive solar super insulated with a wood stove backup.

 

[bonesy]

It is an expensive up front cost but with a new construction we rolled it right into the mortgage and the savings offset the increase in mortgage which is where they come up with the net positive cash flow. There was also the tax credit where we got back about $6k. You do not need a bunch of land to do it. I have 3 vertical dry wells 10 feet out from my house 180 feet down each. Closed loop. You can do it in a pond if you have one, you can do horizontal trenches or if you have a spring or a running water well you can do an open loop.

 

[moey]

Have a friend with a water furnace. After looking at his bills and results id rather put my money in insulation or some passive solar. Just too much up front cost with the Geo for most. Now if you have some land and a friend with a backhoe where you can lay a few hundred feet of trenches that would change the equation. My ideal house would be passive solar super insulated with a wood stove backup.

Yea we have trenches rather then wells. They were about 15k less. Although its a lot of pipe we have 3000ft in the ground.

Our system literally was only a couple thousand more after tax incentives then if we went with a new oil boiler, new HVAC unit, and new ductwork. We needed a new boiler and wanted central A/C so the decision was pretty clear. For new development on a couple acres the cost compared to a conventional system is very close to being the same.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Some installers insist on beefed up insulation levels as part of the contract. Makes it hard to tell
if the payback is coming from the Geo or the insulation.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Our system literally was only a couple thousand more after tax incentives then if we went with a new oil boiler, new HVAC unit, and new ductwork. .

NO way do you want a new oil boiler,who can predict those prices for 20-25 years out.

 

[TheMightyMoe]

My total average from 7/21/2011 until 7/21/2013 for electrical use is $192/mo. That is all year with geothermal for heating and cooling. Also 80gal electric hot water heater, electric range, microwave, etc. No gas bill, no oil bill, no coal bill, only a small pellet bill for my attached garage

I have a lot of energy drawing devices running all the time now. The first winter we moved into our new home (2009), it was about $150 each month for a few months in the winter. But since then I've added plenty of large screen TV's, refrigerators, kegerators, 24x7 lights, etc. And now we have a 2 year old.

Whats a K/W cost you?

 

[bonesy]

Whats a K/W cost you?

If I am reading my bill correctly, right now it says:

$0.08227 per kWh

 

[TheMightyMoe]

Lucky you, we pay near .25 per KWH, your oh so "low" electric bill would be dang near 500-600$ dollars up here. =(

That actually would be more then I pay annually for all our energy requirements. (4 Adults)

Food for thought! Wish we had cheap electric =(

 

[moey]

My total average from 7/21/2011 until 7/21/2013 for electrical use is $192/mo. That is all year with geothermal for heating and cooling. Also 80gal electric hot water heater, electric range, microwave, etc. No gas bill, no oil bill, no coal bill, only a small pellet bill for my attached garage

I have a lot of energy drawing devices running all the time now. The first winter we moved into our new home (2009), it was about $150 each month for a few months in the winter. But since then I've added plenty of large screen TV's, refrigerators, kegerators, 24x7 lights, etc. And now we have a 2 year old.

Id be interested and I suspect others would as well what your baseline bill was say in Sept compared to February.

 

[maple1]

Electricity here is right around $0.16/kwh.

That's bottom line, all in - taking the bill total & dividing by KWH used.

 

[Bioburner]

We have three power plants within 100 miles and I still pay 12cents plus connect fee. Off peak heating is 6 cents. The Italian stove uses half the electricity to run of our American stoves.