First Heating Bill of the Winter

[teekal]

Well, I got the first heating bill for the burning season this week and it was about a third of a regular winter bill. We did have a bit more of a mild November, but I still have not turned on the electric heat once and we've had a fire going almost straight time.

It sure does motivate a guy to keep going when you see such a tangible positive result!

 

[tigeroak]

Ours runs about 0 total wood. Been that way now for a few years.

 

[Babaganoosh]

It's been milder here too. I got an IS hybrid this year and am burning dry wood this shoulder season vs an old non epa stove and not quite there yet wood last year. My gas bill is about 35% cheaper this year vs last. The coming months will determine how long before I break even on this thing.

 

[AmbDrvr253]

I had oil tanks filled in July. 75 Gallons.....LMAO. Still have 3/4 of a tank left(heats DHW) Used total of 500 gallons last year. Hoping for 400 this year. Stove darn near paid for itself already after 1 year.

 

[teekal]

Ours runs about 0 total wood. Been that way now for a few years.

Ya, I guess I should have clarified... about a third of a regular electric bill. The heating has been all wood so far too!

 

[NewHarmanOwner]

I am happy for everyone, not only are you saving money, but you are also using renewable energy.

I installed solar panels for electricity and running my fireplace insert. So far I haven't run my furnace yet, but I do have gas water heater and gas stove. Last two months my electric and gas bill has been less than $10, mostly it's cost for delivery.

 

[D8Chumley]

I had oil tanks filled in July. 75 Gallons.....LMAO. Still have 3/4 of a tank left(heats DHW) Used total of 500 gallons last year. Hoping for 400 this year. Stove darn near paid for itself already after 1 year.

I bought 75 gallons that I plan on lasting the whole season. I have a skid tank for my pick-up and go get my own from a local supplier. I only run the furnace when it's in the single digits so the baseboard pipes in the bedrooms don't freeze against the block walls. We have electric hot water so hopefully it works out like it did last year.

 

[Haven]

I bought 75 gallons that I plan on lasting the whole season. I have a skid tank for my pick-up and go get my own from a local supplier. I only run the furnace when it's in the single digits so the baseboard pipes in the bedrooms don't freeze against the block walls. We have electric hot water so hopefully it works out like it did last year.

We used Glycol in our lines, to prevent freezing pipes.

 

[Little Digger]

When I first moved here, my electric bill averaged about 950kwh a month during the winter months. Then add the oil burner which ate up about 200 gallons a month, I knew I had to do something. I converted to wood and I'm never going back to oil.

Now my electric bill averages 270kwh a month and remains unchanged through the winter months. Considering I have all electric appliances including the washer and dryer, well pump, hot water heater, kitchen stove, and the various small appliances. That plus I leave 3 lights on 24/7 along with the television and computers. Cost of fuel to heat is ZERO

When I first started heating with wood, I was averaging 3 cord a year. The usage has also dropped since I have been insulating and sealing my place properly. The last couple of years my use has dropped to 2 cord per season. My goal is to be able to heat my place with one cord of wood per year and get my electricity usage down to 200kwh per month. After that I may convert to solar or wind generated power and go off grid completely.

 

[BrotherBart]

If I could only have a 950KWH a month electric bill in this place in winter, my stoves would have pot plants on them. Base load here with no heat or A/C running is 550KWH a month. With energy star everything and just two old retired people.

 

[HisTreeNut]

We had a chimney warmer [fireplace, no stove] when we moved into our current house. Our primary heat was electric hot water baseboard heat, circa 1980's [Warm but by no means energy efficient at all]. Our current electric bill is also about 2/3's less than last year's bill at this time.
We are also significantly milder than we were last year which makes a huge difference obviously. That being said, the difference in the bills for this month has paid for 1/4 of the wood we bought for this year. If my calculations are correct and if our bills stay approximately where they are, we will save enough this year to pay for the wood we bought & about half of our stove/installation. Not bad in my book, if I do say so myself.

 

[NewHarmanOwner]

After that I may convert to solar or wind generated power and go off grid completely.

Unless you have banks of batteries, you will need to tie to the electric company's line. That's the only way to be off the grid completely. You can generate electricity, but that electricity has to be stored somewhere.

 

[Little Digger]

If I could only have a 950KWH a month electric bill in this place in winter, my stoves would have pot plants on them. Base load here with no heat or A/C running is 550KWH a month. With energy star everything and just two old retired people.

That sure is a lot by comparison!

Some of the things I did was to turn the hot water heater down to where the water is between 120 degrees for the low, and 130 degrees for the high. In my opinion it's not necessary to have the water hot enough to scald your hand if used alone. For the refrigerator, I have that turned up to about 36/38 degrees. I don't see that it is necessary to have water in the refrigerator that is so cold there is ice crystals floating in it or where you get brain freeze from taking a long drink. All of my lights were incandescent's and CFL's and now it's mostly LED's. I still make two pots of coffee daily (12 cups each) Cook on an electric stove and also use the microwave (1100 watts) I also use the toaster, crock pot, and electric mixer.Then there are the stereo's , computers (2, one of which is for the security system) and printer, the main television has a 36" screen. One is a 24" and another is an 18". An alarm clock and then there are my electric tools, table and circular saws, jig saw and saws all, drills and screw guns, 2 compressors for my nail guns, a small electric pruning saw, grinders and so on. I have a largish fan I might run during the summer as well as two ceiling fans which I rarely ever use and of course I do have the electric well pump, electric washer and dryer, and hair dryers. All of my light bulbs are 60 watt. (6 in the garage, 1 in the pump house, 16 in the house and two on the porch soon to be increased to 4) There are 3 lights I leave on 24/7 along with the 36" LCD television and I'm sure I may have omitted a few things, but that is what my electric usage consists of.

I'm sure my bill would be less if I would actually turn off those 3 lights the television and at least one computer, but it's been a habit I've had for decades.

The two appliances, the hot water heater and the refrigerator, once I turned them to acceptable levels, that cut my electric bills significantly. Also with the refrigerator, I periodically vacuum out the coils, and have the refrigerator pulled at least 6 inches away from the wall so it can breath. Once I removed the oil burner completely, that dropped my bill even more. When it was still connected, even if it wasn't running, it was still drawing electricity. Things I only use on occasion I do tend to unplug since quite a few will draw electricity even when not in use.

I also do full loads of laundry, not partial loads. With the dryer, I have that on the medium heat setting rather than high and still run it for about 50 minutes per load. Sometimes longer if there are several towels in the load or a comforter. I take showers, not baths, and I wash my dishes by hand.

So while my electric bill is relatively low, it's not as though I'm really conserving. I've just changed a few things.

I do need to make a correction on my electric usage. My average usage is 286kwh a month and falling, not the previously stated 270kwh a month.

 

[Little Digger]

Unless you have banks of batteries, you will need to tie to the electric company's line. That's the only way to be off the grid completely. You can generate electricity, but that electricity has to be stored somewhere.

I do realize that, and have been looking into it but I'm not ready to make the conversion yet. I want to be free of the electrical outages and surges that seem to be more prevalent during this time of year and mid summer. Even the electric company is now trying to sell some sort of insurance so that if an appliance fails due to that, they will replace it. (when pigs fly)

 

[NewHarmanOwner]

I do realize that, and have been looking into it but I'm not ready to make the conversion yet. I want to be free of the electrical outages and surges that seem to be more prevalent during this time of year and mid summer. Even the electric company is now trying to sell some sort of insurance so that if an appliance fails due to that, they will replace it. (when pigs fly)

I looked into battery system myself, but the current cost just doesn't justify having them. My payoff on the solar tie to the grid is around 5-6 years, but with the battery system, it's another 5 more years, and the battery system only last 7 years before efficiency drops off the cliff. Maybe when the cost come down and the durability increase significantly.

 

[mwhitnee]

Filled my oil tank a couple months ago in my new house. I bought it right around this time last year. 2400 sq ft.

Last year I knew that the oil bill was going to be astronomical as the old owner said over 3K for a season, so last season I used the smoke dragon that was in the house and burned 4 cords or so, using 1 3/4 tanks of oil. What a process that was trying to find wood!

So far it has been mild and the needle on my tank has barely moved. New stove, new wood, realistically I'm hoping to use one tank of oil all season. I have my wood and Envi blocks ready. I'm not big into analyzing numbers but I'm sure I will save a lot of money this year. I'm really wondering when it gets really cold how my BK King will be consuming wood with just a clay liner.

I have so many numbers to consider this year. I have around 6k into the stove, tree felling, and Envi blocks. But I have 6 cords of wood ($1500) and a brand new kick ass stove. I traded in my barn stove for a program that saved me $1000 on my new one, then sold the one I was using for $350. This year was obviously a building year for me.

Side note, I always thought that the heating zones in the house were separated poorly as the 2nd floor thermostat was in the master bedroom. Upon closer inspection it is actually separated into 1st/2nd floor (correctly) which was a huge load off my shoulders.

I wish I could get my electric bill down but the well pump and cellar dehumidifier are killing me. I have a lot of can lights I use often- I should probably switch to LEDs.

 

[blades]

194 watts electric ($25.xx) and 11 therms gas ($6.5x) ( Stove, Dryer, Hot water) + $26 for transportation charges and such( which are precentages) meters are fixed rates in that mix. mostly cfls and leds at this point in rooms used. NG furnace ain't been fired yet. They have been jackin the transport and such charges up. Hard to stay ahead of them any more.

 

[Wood Duck]

My wood stove saves a couple of hundred $ per month, year-round, because our electric bill is averaged over the year. This is in a house with all electric heat, and a wood stove in the basement where it can't really heat all the rooms effectively. With a well-placed wood stove I could save even more.