Fuel oil is down to $1.99 a gallon here, my savings burning pellets is basically 0 now. I hope that starts dropping pellet prices also. There is a good chance I'm turning the oil burner back on.
Denny
Denny
$1.98 fuel. Stove taking a break soon.
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I love my pellet stove, only dislike is temp difference on 2nd floor but that was something I could live with since I was saving $$ vs. Oil. Now since there is no savings I'm going back to oil= even heating.. When oil prices spike again then I'll switch back.
LordmetalZ28
Minister of Fire
Once I burn through these 4 tons I have left im going back to burning ng next year if its cheap. My company hits you with a 100$ or more service and delivery fee if you use more then 2cfms of gas. I cook with it and for hw. I burned pellets primarily all oct, nov, december and my bill went down 15$ a month. Going back to ng soon
Bioburner
Moderator
Crude went up the last two days of trading. Could the ride be over? Was a shutdown of 25% of drilling rigs in December in ND. Well head crude price dropped below $30.
MarkF48
Feeling the Heat
Even with cheaper oil I've not been too inclined to use it rather than pellets, except if the outside temps are up around 35F deg or higher. I have an oil fired forced hot air furnace. If I recall correctly the circulating blower is up around 6-7 amps. The cost of electricity has spiked 37% in MA and having the furnace run frequently would tend to run the monthly electric bill up considerably.
LordmetalZ28
Minister of Fire
Yeah, propain dropped to 1.67 around here. Too bad I pre-paid for 600 gallons at 2.19. Pellets are supplemental, but you never know if your stuck paying 3.50+ in the future...
xSpecBx
Member
Ive been burning oil primarily for a couple months now. Its my first year with the stove so I didnt get the greatest pellet prices (which I knew at the time when I bought them). Oil was at $2.13/gal friday near me so there's no savings with pellets even with the stove doing a pretty job of heat my entire house as long as thw outside temp is not in the single digits.
We just run it now when were watching tv or something to get the room a little warmer but other than that ots not worth it for me. I'll save the pellets for next year
We just run it now when were watching tv or something to get the room a little warmer but other than that ots not worth it for me. I'll save the pellets for next year
MarkF48
Feeling the Heat
Just checked the manual for the furnace. 1/2hp direct drive blower rated at 7 amps (FLA). The Beckett burner indicates it's rated at 5.8 amps.
I think sometime I may take a clampon ammeter to the circuit and see what it actually pulls.
I don't think so. It will hover around 55-60 a barrel for a while. No matter really, gotta have it.....
Cheapest pellets around here this year are sitting at 4.99 a bag and burning 2 bags a day plus power to operate and add 2 space heaters to supplement and I am paying far too much to heat. I want to look into mini splits powered by nat gas. Our old house has vents already but I like the split option instead of a whole house furnace.
This is where we are at in New Hampshire avg. cost per million BTU
I am sticking to pellets
Current Heating Fuel Values - January 12, 2015
Fuel TypePrice/UnitHeat Content
Per Unit (BTU)Price Per Million BTU
(See Note 1)
Fuel Oil (#2)$2.855/Gallon138,690$20.59
Propane$3.193/Gallon91,333$34.96
Kerosene$3.678/Gallon135,000$27.24
Natural Gas 1st Tier (<100 Therms) (see Note 2)$1.461/Therm100,000$14.61
Natural Gas 2nd Tier (>100 Therms) (see Note 2)$1.407/Therm100,000$14.07
Wood (Bulk Delivered Pellets) (see Note 3)$245.66/Ton16,500,000$14.89
Wood (Cord) (see Note 4)$325/Cord20,000,000$16.25
Electricity (see Note 2)$0.1994/kwh3,412$58.44
I am sticking to pellets
Current Heating Fuel Values - January 12, 2015
Fuel TypePrice/UnitHeat Content
Per Unit (BTU)Price Per Million BTU
(See Note 1)
Fuel Oil (#2)$2.855/Gallon138,690$20.59
Propane$3.193/Gallon91,333$34.96
Kerosene$3.678/Gallon135,000$27.24
Natural Gas 1st Tier (<100 Therms) (see Note 2)$1.461/Therm100,000$14.61
Natural Gas 2nd Tier (>100 Therms) (see Note 2)$1.407/Therm100,000$14.07
Wood (Bulk Delivered Pellets) (see Note 3)$245.66/Ton16,500,000$14.89
Wood (Cord) (see Note 4)$325/Cord20,000,000$16.25
Electricity (see Note 2)$0.1994/kwh3,412$58.44
woodmakesheat
Feeling the Heat
Heating oil here is a little higher, and I use 70% more BTU's when I heat with oil - to keep the house cooler BTW. My place delivers near the average of $2.594 too and tank is still 3/4 full. I might use enough to snag 100 gallons to top off my tank while the price is lower. I am saving ~$13/week in gasoline which is nice.
![[Hearth.com] $1.98 fuel. Stove taking a break soon.](/talk/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FHIAMLMl.png&hash=50a1145846672a62a6e66ddff4557c2b "[Hearth.com] $1.98 fuel. Stove taking a break soon.")
I have never used oil even though I have an oil furnace was
installed 36 years ago and has had about 25 gallons through it
new oil tank installed 3 years ago ( insurance Company
made me do it ) Still never had oil in it . primary heat a wood
coal furnace and pellet stove . If price of pellets gets to hi
will remove stove and reinstall my wood stove . wood only costs
me labor ,gas and miss. charges on saw,splitter and truck . Have
my own 210 acre wood lot. Pellet stove was only put in for ease
of use and keeps 24 hr. heat in the summer kitchen of this old
farm house
installed 36 years ago and has had about 25 gallons through it
new oil tank installed 3 years ago ( insurance Company
made me do it ) Still never had oil in it . primary heat a wood
coal furnace and pellet stove . If price of pellets gets to hi
will remove stove and reinstall my wood stove . wood only costs
me labor ,gas and miss. charges on saw,splitter and truck . Have
my own 210 acre wood lot. Pellet stove was only put in for ease
of use and keeps 24 hr. heat in the summer kitchen of this old
farm house
tony58
Member
Looks like there are going to be alot of pellet stoves for sale?Bet there won't be a pellet shortage next season...
Bioburner
Moderator
Just got back from town and gas price went up 6 cents or about 3%. Lets just see what happens here in 30 days.
Holy cow... My ECM blower pulls about 250 watts and thats moving about 1500CFM... around in 2700 sq/ft. If its a older AC motor its pulling what its rated.
MarkF48
Feeling the Heat
Let's see if the gas and oil prices follow as shown in the link below...
http://www.oil-price.net/
Been a slight uptick in price recently.
MarkF48
Feeling the Heat
Older AC motor.
Is your motor running at less than rated RPM's to get the lower amps? I looked a 1/2hp ECM and it shows 6.7amps @ 115vac...
(broken link removed)
Edit... I see, it has a controller for the torque and speed and optimizes its efficiency depending on requirements of airflow.
Last edited:
I was thinking about connecting a rheostat to my furnace and even lower the fan due to noise, but was advised not to because It could burn out my heat exchanger?
You need to keep the temp rise within tolerance otherwise it is bad for the system. The fan prob has 3-4 speeds on it. "May" be able to downsize the nozzle some and lower fan speed depending on where it is now.
Bioburner
Moderator
Just listened to a news piece about oil prices and the Expert predicted that all will be back to same in 12-18 months from when it started the slide. So next Christmas could have a wallet robbing grinch, high fuel prices. Ba-humbug
Old Spartan
Burning Hunk
You should be able to lower the high limit which will turn the burner off at a lower temp.
We u
Definition of an expert ,,,,, X = an unknown quantity ,,,,,,,,, Spurt = A drip under pressure
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