Maybe the OP should have a wood furnace instead of a wood stove. Sometimes we expect too much out of a space heater.
"Savings" on my gas bill this month $14.81 but actually lost over $58 burning wood?!
- Thread starter geoffm24
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
- Status
ecocavalier02
Minister of Fire
if you feel like its a big waste why do you do it then. doesnt feel like a waste when i do it. if i felt that way i wouldnt even do it.Kenster said:
jharkin
Minister of Fire
[quote author="Lighting Up" date="1290755063"
But some here have said NG is dirt cheep, well since when did it go down in price? Utility Co buy NG at different times of the year if they buy it when it's high I have to pay there charge even if the price goes down. In past years before my new stove no matter how I tried to heat this house warmer it still costs me a pretty penny...but what doesn't in NY State.
md[/quote]
I guess it depends on your area. Where I lif e it is cheap. The monthly charge is around $8 and then our price per therm is 80 cents, or around $1.20 with all the delivery charges and taxes.
But some here have said NG is dirt cheep, well since when did it go down in price? Utility Co buy NG at different times of the year if they buy it when it's high I have to pay there charge even if the price goes down. In past years before my new stove no matter how I tried to heat this house warmer it still costs me a pretty penny...but what doesn't in NY State.
md[/quote]
I guess it depends on your area. Where I lif e it is cheap. The monthly charge is around $8 and then our price per therm is 80 cents, or around $1.20 with all the delivery charges and taxes.
jharkin
Minister of Fire
GatorDL55 said:
Pennsylvania (where I'm originally from) is to natural gas as the middle east is to crude oil. There's a sh1t load of it.[/quote]
For now yes. But there are a couple of problems:
#1 This glut of new gas is all the unconventional stuff that they use hydrofracking to get to. The downside is its about as environmentally friendly as the Alberta tar sands and the opponents claim it poisons groundwater. So down the road we might have a choice - warm house or drinkable water.
#2 When you hear it said that we have "100 years of gas" often the important qualifier "at current rates of consumption" is left out. The problem is that consumption is always increasing... and increasing almost exponentially. Due to population growth (more people to need gas) compounded with increased industrial use as gas replaces other fuels like coal and oil.
Just like T Boon has said - NG is the fuel of the future. As demand grows it follows that price will also...
cycloxer
Minister of Fire
I paid $1.54 per therm in Oct-10 from nationalgrid. I used 34 therms for a whopping total bill of $52. This is one of the lowest cost per therms I have paid over the past 5 years. The range has been $1.17 to $3 per therm. So right now I use NG to keep the house at 65 and use the wood stove in the evenings to boost the living room to 70-72. I still get my nice fire, but I am not burning up all of my wood. It's a win-win strategy.
fire_man
Minister of Fire
Lighting Up
Feeling the Heat
cycloxer said:
Yes mine to has gone down but we have a little fee in the delivery charges called Weather Adjustment charge...which means if the Utility Co needs to buy more NG at a higher price they leave the charge of the therm the same but make up the difference in that little fee called Weather Adj charge. What a con...Makes it hard to see what your cost really are.
again just because of that I would pay more to a wood Guy for wood then a Utility Co for NG...IMHO
md
RedGuy
Member
Don2222 said:
Only problem is they inflated all the prices of the other fuels, and lowerd the price of Nat Gas. My last Fuel Oil fill was $2.74/gal, my normal electric rate is $.12/KWH, DTE has a special rate for GEO Thermal of $.07/KWH, and a cord of wood here goes for about $150-200. My last gas bill they charged me $10.16 per MCF minus the fixed customer charges, I don't know how to break that down into therms, and this was durring the summer time.
Just got my electric bill and it is $45 more then the same month last year running all these fans to move the heat.
I'm glad I like the ambience because so far this thing is costing me a fortune!
I'm glad I like the ambience because so far this thing is costing me a fortune!
geoffm24 said:
Just wondering - do you work for the gas company by chance? :lol:
I think your X factor is that you are buying wood. Although that typically still yields a savings to most, you might be the exception.
Either big fans or a lot of em, my bill is higher than a year ago but they raised the rates again, we are so screwed.geoffm24 said:
oldspark said:
I actually did the math on a 20" floor fan with a 1/20th HP motor. It COULD cost up to $15 per month of 24 hour operation. Take 3 fans of that size at 24hr operation and $45 is a possible number.
oldspark said:
Keep in mind that a 1/20hp 20" floor fan would darn near be of industrial strength. Most folks don't run them 24/7 and most don't use 20" fans. A typical 12" oscillating fan would be rated much lower than this.
oldspark said:
I went off of the advertised $.02 per hour of operation of the particular fan I looked up. Nothing too scientific, thats why alot of "could"s were in my above post.
shawneyboy
Minister of Fire
Lots of things wrong with this chart.. my electric is less, and 285 per cord for wood ????? Not in my area. Split and delivered its 175 so like everything else... All depends on where you are, what you use, and how you use it.
Also, who heats with sunflower seeds ?????
Also, who heats with sunflower seeds ?????
Attachments
tiber
Feeling the Heat
I too find it hard to believe the numbers are right, and I also think he is either on a payment plan as a rolling average or they guessdimated his use. I buy oil on a payment plan but I keep track of the delivery. I don't heat full time and I know my wood is basically crap. My stove needs work also (cat, refractory). I'm keeping track and we've saved 15.3% on oil already.
Lets put that in perspective. I'm running on free wood. I spent probably close to $2500 on heat last year. At 15%, that's $375 each season. Since I know there's room for improvement, lets say that by the time I fix all my crap and get seasoned wood, I'll save another 5%. Suddenly that's $500
Lets put that in perspective. I'm running on free wood. I spent probably close to $2500 on heat last year. At 15%, that's $375 each season. Since I know there's room for improvement, lets say that by the time I fix all my crap and get seasoned wood, I'll save another 5%. Suddenly that's $500
Just got my electric bill which was $40 more then last year running all these fans to move the air around. So at this point if the wood was free, the stove was free, my labor was free, and the install was free I'm still losing money over an efficient natural gas furance.
Well, at least the flames are pretty and the stove room is tostier then it would be normally.......
Well, at least the flames are pretty and the stove room is tostier then it would be normally.......
oldspark said:
he was saying even if he got all the hardware and fuel for the stove for free, right now he is not seeing the savings.
when comparing a stove to a high efficiency natural gas furnace, it is hard to justify the stove.
i personally did. even with a NG high efficiency furnace.
why?
because i love to burn stuff. i have been a pyro at heart since i could walk.
if you have a NG furnace and do not have the means to get wood for free, odds are a wood stove is not for you, if you want to save $ with it. however a stove allows you to heat when the power is out, and also to be immune from swings in energy prices(for heating)
to the OP. dont give up just yet. try getting your hands on some dry wood. also cutting your own wood is where the real savings comes in, but you need a saw and a truck to transport the wood, so if you have neither that might not be the best idea to sink all that cash into those items just for wood.
woodchip
Minister of Fire
We stopped using gas because of the recession 2 years ago, we used the open fire for wood (free wood supply) and burned over 4 cords through a winter and it was never really hot indoors. However, our gas bill dropped from £900 a year to £400 a year, and we bought the wood stove with the savings we made. Our house is now warmer, and wood consumption has more than halved. Something tells me our energy bills will be even lower now as we cook on the flat top of the wood burner.......
There is a lot to be said for free wood........ if you are paying top dollar for your wood, the economics suddenly look less rosy.
There is a lot to be said for free wood........ if you are paying top dollar for your wood, the economics suddenly look less rosy.
- Status
Similar threads
