Total Pellet Usage is Ridiculous!
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ThatJerk
New Member
I just paid $2.71 for a gallon of proPAIN today! Picked up 200 gallons & makes us to 60% in our 500 gal tank. Paid $3.67 a gal on 1/30. 1/20 it was $5.26 a gal but we didn't order any. 12/2013 we paid $1.87 a gal & 12/2012 we paid $0.98 a gal.
We just installed our pellet stove so we'll be tracking our savings closely!
Bioburner
Moderator
$542. That would have gotten about 2 and half tons of pellets here. With the forecast here of seven days of below zero nights an hardly making it to teens in the day that fill of gas would be getting a major venting.
wsar10
Burning Hunk
This is true....
But the LPG folks had there time to shine, its been under $2 for the past 100 years ! LOL
I'm sure the day will come for us pellet guys also.....
wsar10
Burning Hunk
Way better then saying "Total oil Usage is Ridiculous!".... Since most who heat with pellets heat their houses warmer, a generally accepted formula here is "one ton of pellets = 120 gallons of oil" so the only thing "ridiculous" is how much BEER you can buy with the savings
I agree with that !
Although my cast iron radiators heat my house 100 times more even than my Big-E.
If you are going to use 5+ tons this year, then I'd budget for 1 ton less next year, maybe buy 4 tons, and then pick up bags during the season if it looks colder than 4 tons will handle.
wsar10
Burning Hunk
To put this in perspective with numbers:
To get the same BTU heating value of pellets @ $250 a ton the following fuels would have to be priced @ or under the following,
Wood = $275 per cord
Corn = $4.95 per 50lbs
Coal = $370 a ton
Oil = $2.11 a gal.
LPG = $1.50 a gal.
NG = $1.60 per thermal unit
Electricity = 6.5 cents per KWh
Therefore Wood would have to be $276 per cord in order for a ton of pellets @ $250 to be the better deal.
To get the same BTU heating value of pellets @ $250 a ton the following fuels would have to be priced @ or under the following,
Wood = $275 per cord
Corn = $4.95 per 50lbs
Coal = $370 a ton
Oil = $2.11 a gal.
LPG = $1.50 a gal.
NG = $1.60 per thermal unit
Electricity = 6.5 cents per KWh
Therefore Wood would have to be $276 per cord in order for a ton of pellets @ $250 to be the better deal.
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Arti
Feeling the Heat
I have 3 heat sources Pellet as the main heat, Propane as a backup and when it gets warmer a heat pump will take care of things, I have about 2 weeks of pellets left and hoping that the weather becomes more seasonal soon (Heat Pump works above 30 degrees).Arti, hope your not paying extra to burn wood pellets
If the weather doesn't moderate then I guess extra pellets are in the budget.
The heat pump is the most economical but hasn't not seen much use this year. So I might pay extra to heat with pellets.
Bioburner
Moderator
I was hoping your were tapping into a locally grown resource that is cheaper than pellets to feed the Countryside. It was designed for corn. I think the price now is around $150 ton
Arti
Feeling the Heat
I live on a farm however the corn seems to leave a sticky residue on everything and burns hotter so perhaps it would shorten the life of the stove. Also have a St Croix scf 050 sitting in the shed that I may hook up if pellets get to pricey.
It seems to me that the multi fuel stoves are less finicky about pellet quality than the wood pellet stoves.
Bioburner
Moderator
One advantage of the multifuel stoves is the ability to digest higher ash fuel. I am maintaining a Countryside that was installed in 2004 and it eats about 150 bushels a year. Original auger, everything else has worn and been replaced.
wood is free if you do it smart .. if you are in town .. look for tree crews taking down say a huge 5ft diameter Oak
offer crew chief a place to dump wood closeby for free. he saves man hours hauling wood to dump that could be used to take down Oak.
main drawback is you've got to be able to handle HUGE logs .. combined with need to quickly bust down all the wood. since it's in your front yard.
this is where Stihl 084 with four ft bar earns it's keep. 35ton splitter is a requirement.
Since coal is 1/2 that cost for you, it's a no brainer over pellets. Actually, I don't follow your reasoning. It should say 'if I want the same amount of btu's as I get from $250 worth of pellets, how much would I have to pay for the same btu's from other heat sources?' Coal sure wouldn't be $370! The whole concept hurts my head and I'm going to bed thinking about it! Thanks a lot!
Like someone said previously, the size of your house and how well insulated the house is will determine what you should spend on pellets. If your house in currently insulated sufficiently then you can expect to purchase what you did this year, but if you add insulation to needed areas you will save yourself money in the amount of pellets you need to purchase. You might not save money next year if you add insulation, but you will in the near future.
iceguy4
Minister of Fire
Hey, this value is closer to $00.59 by my calculations. I'm sure that's what you meant.... $ 00.65
wsar10
Burning Hunk
yes your correct, my mistake . These numbers are based off of a "slide" chart that Penn State university created. FWIW the site is http://energy.cas.psu.edu/
wsar10
Burning Hunk
Since coal is 1/2 that cost for you, it's a no brainer over pellets. Actually, I don't follow your reasoning. It should say 'if I want the same amount of btu's as I get from $250 worth of pellets, how much would I have to pay for the same btu's from other heat sources?' Coal sure wouldn't be $370! The whole concept hurts my head and I'm going to bed thinking about it! Thanks a lot!
aww come on....you'll have a better nights sleep because of it !!
Its my understanding that its not necessarily about the BTU, it means if coal can be purchased under $370 per ton than its cheaper to use coal vs pellets @ $250 a ton. So coal would have to be $371 a ton for pellets to be the better VALUE @ $250 a ton.
I changed some wording in the OP.....
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LuvMyPellets
Burning Hunk
3.5 Tons so far at $185 a ton vs the days gone by with oil. Normal was 2 full tanks. This winter would have been easily been 3 tanks. So a little over $600 vs $2400 I have no complaints and I am warmer as we used to keep the house at 67
Wood is not free. There's also no such thing as a free lunch. It saves on a gym membership..and there's nothing like the smell of a 2 stroke in the morning.
I find this site reassuring:
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/time-series/us/36/3/hdd/p12/6/1895-2011
Around here we're about 20% higher than average HDDs this season already, with more cold weather still to come.
My propane top-up delivery last week was pleasantly low at under 200 gallons for the season so far, but then I saw the price! $3.09/gal,I'm glad I was home so many days due to the weather and could run my insert more than usual.
TE
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/time-series/us/36/3/hdd/p12/6/1895-2011
Around here we're about 20% higher than average HDDs this season already, with more cold weather still to come.
My propane top-up delivery last week was pleasantly low at under 200 gallons for the season so far, but then I saw the price! $3.09/gal,I'm glad I was home so many days due to the weather and could run my insert more than usual.
TE
iceguy4
Minister of Fire
Oh no... Its frustrating to discuss this subject with a "wood burner" There seems to be some here who are able to harvest wood for "peanuts" Its been several years since I have burned wood, but I remember having to purchase ....Hi test fuel(anything less is risky) for my saw(stil 361) and my splitter (28 ton) and my truck(obviously reg fuel). This combined with chains, bar oil, 2 cycle oil, chain saw bar's, gloves, gator-aid...and other costs (time being a major contributor) I was un-able to avoid or exaggerate to the LOW side.
I have also in my wood burning career..(off and on I have burned wood 30+ years)... Add 1 new chimney(long time ago...forgot how much $$) 2 chimney fires (second cost me a SS liner $$$ ??) as well as the mess...
iceguy4
Minister of Fire
I also have all the equipment . How many times do your hands touch that wood before it goes into the stove to become"free" heat? Take the time to deal with getting a season worth of wood. Now think hard. Go to work at your normal job for those hours. Now you can buy some pellets and not have ants spilling out of that choice piece of cherry all over the floor. It's the love of the game I questsquests
iceguy4
Minister of Fire
I forgot the "bugs" they all seem to "revive " when brought inside
I just went to the top to make sure this was a pellet forum...as apposed to "boiler forum" Some of the "old time wood burners" look down their noses at pellet burners....Like I did before I "changed"
wsar10
Burning Hunk
This^^^ and the obvious factor of equipment wear and tear especially a truck..........
When I was a kid we burned wood, we had almost 200 acres of ground with %50 being mountain ground. Back than when cutting wood my Dad would EASILY spend $100 a day in diesel and regular fuel and food, drinks, oil to harvest wood from, our land. Not to mention the wear on your body and than again the time. So I agree NOTHING is free !!
Then there is the filth inside the house ugh !! We always used our ashes on our driveway in the winter, and the rest to add to compost for fertilizer.
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