Here's a reason to burn wood

[KYrob]

Got my electric bill today. We have been on the budget for a few years now and the rates keep changing, kids getting older and leaving lights and TV's on and so the budget went up each year. The past year it was 150 a month. Not bad at all considering an all electric house and it's 3000 sq ft. But, after installing the insert and only having the heat on for about 30 minutes all winter, the new budget is now 88 dollars a month. Makes cuttin,splittin and stackin all worth it and stay a whole lot warmer as well.

Rob

 

[heatwise]

sounds like our place rob. the kids eat more and game more each year. we managed to keep the furnace off this heating season with the help of the stoves and kept the bills below the $100 level. thats for gas and electric. im not certain but seems 12 years ago a $100 heated this place during the winter. that was before kids and we kept the place cooler . pete

 

[dafattkidd]

Got my electric bill today. We have been on the budget for a few years now and the rates keep changing, kids getting older and leaving lights and TV's on and so the budget went up each year. The past year it was 150 a month. Not bad at all considering an all electric house and it's 3000 sq ft. But, after installing the insert and only having the heat on for about 30 minutes all winter, the new budget is now 88 dollars a month. Makes cuttin,splittin and stackin all worth it and stay a whole lot warmer as well.

Rob

That is incredible. My electric bill is higher than that each month, and I heat with oil. Oil without wood is about $650/month, but with the insert I'm down to about $250/month in oil in the winter months. I still heat a basement apartment with oil. I guess KY electric prices are low because of coal? Long Island utilities are through the roof.

 

[yooperdave]

this last elec/gas bill was $55. i know i can get it lower if we turn off the electronic "stand by" usage devices...cable box, dvd player, vcr player, that sort of junk. and i haven't switched to cfl bulbs yet. so there is room to save even more

 

[midwestcoast]

My elec/gas combo bill is now $65-75 in mid-winter. That's down $250-300/mo from the first winter in this house. Since buying wood the first year all mine is now scrounged. My payback for the insert, liner, 1 season of wood, chainsaw & all looks to be about 3.5 years. Tough to beat that.

 

[Kenster]

We have balanced billing. The electric is averaged for the previous twelve months so our bill hovers around $190 to $200 year round. That's with right at 4000 square feet.
We haven't turned on our two heat pumps at all in the past two years and rarely in five. This house is all electric except for our mid 1940s Chamber cook stove which is propane. Our propane tank lasts at least four years before needing refilling. Our killer, with an all electric house, is two 40 gallon electric water heaters. One feeds two bathrooms and the other feeds the kitchen and laundry room on the other side of the house. I'm seriously considering going to a small tankless water heater for the kitchen/laundry. Changing the tank for the bathrooms is cost prohibitive due to requiring major rewiring, but there is a small booster available that hooks on to a regular hot water tank so that the tank is refilled with instantly heated hot water, rather than being diluted with our cold well water. That should help some and the booster runs on 110v so should be inexpensive.

Burning free wood from our own woods, or scrounged, saves us a small fortune in heating costs. Even here in south Central Texas our winters can get really cold, though not in comparison to many of you.

 

[dafattkidd]

I gotta move

 

[hotprinter]

[quote author="Kenster" date="1300593262"]We have balanced billing. The electric is averaged for the previous twelve months so our bill hovers around $190 to $200 year round. That's with right at 4000 square feet.
We haven't turned on our two heat pumps at all in the past two years and rarely in five. This house is all electric except for our mid 1940s Chamber cook stove which is propane. Our propane tank lasts at least four years before needing refilling. Our killer, with an all electric house, is two 40 gallon electric water heaters. One feeds two bathrooms and the other feeds the kitchen and laundry room on the other side of the house. I'm seriously considering going to a small tankless water heater for the kitchen/laundry. Changing the tank for the bathrooms is cost prohibitive due to requiring major rewiring, but there is a small booster available that hooks on to a regular hot water tank so that the tank is refilled with instantly heated hot water, rather than being diluted with our cold well water. That should help some and the booster runs on 110v so should be inexpensive.

REPLY:
Check into a propane tankless since you already have propane appliances.

 

[Elderthewelder]

My electric bill on the budget plan is $46 a month, I run a little electric space heater in the lower level room that the insert wont heat
my NG bill last month was $87, that is way higher than norm as we had a couple week cold snap come thru and the wife ran the NG furnace during the day while i was at work
I run my hot water, dryer, range, furnace, and BBQ off NG and bill is usually around $50 - $60 a month

 

[HotCoals]

I gotta move

I hear ya!
I have a all e-house also...2500sq.ft.
Heat pump or e-furnace has not been on this season..and still get around $150.00 e-bills!
15 cents/KWH...including transportation and taxes.

So I guess I avg around 1000 kwh's.

 

[jackofalltrades]

It will take me more than most people to see a return on the cost of my heater because I could heat down here for no more than 600 a year. I would have the wood if it cost me 600 more a year to use it over electric so that is not the issue. However; I do plan on being here for years to come and expect electricity to continue to rise in price so in a few short years I will be in the free money.

 

[Fsappo]

I gotta move

I did. Long Island is an armpit unless you're filthy rich. Come to Syracuse. Lake front goin cheap these days. Heres more to make you want to move

1500 square foot ranch in a very "good" neighborhood, built in pool, two sheds, nice little place. $2200 per year in taxes total. Same thing in a "good" neighborhood on LI...maybe 4-5x more.

 

[dafattkidd]

I gotta move

I did. Long Island is an armpit unless you're filthy rich. Come to Syracuse. Lake front goin cheap these days. Heres more to make you want to move

1500 square foot ranch in a very "good" neighborhood, built in pool, two sheds, nice little place. $2200 per year in taxes total. Same thing in a "good" neighborhood on LI...maybe 4-5x more.

Frank,

Sounds like you made a good move. I'm paying 4x that in taxes, and the utilities are brutal. If I do move I need to stay near a beach though. I live on the North Shore now and we walk to the beach regularly. In summer we go to south shore. I've been surfing since I was a kid and I don't want to live any where that I can't do that. We'll see what happens. The truth is if I don't get a different job soon, I'm gonna have to seriously consider something. We'll see what happens.