Pellet cost vrs other

[zrock]

Couple things that are obvious to me... The cost of propane, oil and Ngas is substantially more in the east than it is here and consequently, the quest for alternative fuels is more pronounced. Talked to my propane supplier yesterday, he stopped by to chat. residential propane here, yesterday was $1.10 tax included. I( still burn corn and pellet mix because we like the ambiance of it but it's really not necessary for survival even with my free corn it's a negative bottom line.

Matter of choice here in SE Michigan, not necessity.

We like it and we do it but certainly not a requirement of staying comfortable.

Yep its what the local market supports.. The cost of gas in my area is ridiculous as we are making up the difference for a few large businesses that shut down. What i would spend in one month just on gas if i was to run my furnace full time compared to ruining my pellets stove what i save in one month pays for my pellets for the year... Thats not including what my hydro would go up as that is quite high up here as well. In 10 years my hydro has went from $40 to $90 every 2 months and everything since i moved here is new and energy efficient.. I use 1/2 the hydro i used 10 years ago but pay double..LOL

 

[SidecarFlip]

Never grasped the concept of hydro electric power. The water moves freely. Only cost I see is the physical plant (building the generation facility) and then maintaining it, the 'fuel' cost is basically free but you still get soaked for using it. I don't quite understand that. Cannot believe the cost to maintain is that high.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Far as gas goes, I make plenty...lol I need to find a way to heat with it.....

 

[johneh]

I have no idea what the price of gas is here
But the price of Hydro is out of this world
It is not only the price per kWh but they
tack on a delivery charge and taxes.

Electricity rates & prices

• Off-peak10.1 ¢/kWh
• Mid-peak14.4 ¢/kWh
• On-peak20.8 ¢/kWh

Off-peak is from 7 pm to 7 am
mid-peak is from 7 am to noon
peak is noon to 7 pm
You people with good pricing stop complaining
My bills run 3 to 4 hundred a month 12 months a year
and they are looking for an increase

 

[zrock]

Never grasped the concept of hydro electric power. The water moves freely. Only cost I see is the physical plant (building the generation facility) and then maintaining it, the 'fuel' cost is basically free but you still get soaked for using it. I don't quite understand that. Cannot believe the cost to maintain is that high.

yeppers.... the rich keep getting richer... I found something interesting in our local area a few years ago with gas.. they soak os for delivery charges 3x the amount of the gas cost as well as several other charges that are for maint and other things they like to baffle us with.. A few years back we had a slide that took out a section of line feeding a remote area of maby 100 homes. The cost of repair was well over 800k and he told me that all those extra fees would not pay for the repair. They would increase the cost of our bill to cover the cost of the repair.. I asked about all the maint and admin fees we pay he said that is to pay their wages and such but the cost of repair is always billed back by the customer... I Laughed and said thats why you have 5 people here on shovels but only one in the hole working the rest are watching no wonder our bill is so high... And boy are they punctual for brakes, i have watched them at 3:00 finish a job... oh its brake time.. drive 15 min back to the shop take their 15min brake, drive back, load up all the equipment and then go home for the day... all that for a starting wage of $39-49 per hour to start

 

[SidecarFlip]

I will say that my local supplier of propane charges an additional 8 cents per gallon over spot price on his propane. I know because the owner of the company an I are good friends and we hunt together. The other nice thing about knowing him is he will tell me when spot price is low so I can fill up if necessary and I have 3 owned 500 gallon bottles so I never get in a bind on gas. Of course a 500 gallon capacity bottle really isn't 500 gallon. Full fill is 85% of capacity. There always has to be 'head space' for expansion and so the dip tube can draw vapor only.

Spot price here was $1.05 thursday so I had his driver fill one. Took 401 gallons to fill it. I paid $1.13 x 401 gallons. Normally, I'll only run 1 bottle and keep the other 2 valved off. Unlike motor fuel, standing propane never goes bad.

I'm always amazed at the price differentials in various parts of the country bit I'd say it depends on how far it has to be transported from the bulk location to the distributor. My dealer does both rail and over the road transport.

 

[SidecarFlip]

...and residential solar isn't a good alternative either because, if the sun don't shine, they don't make any power and around here, the sun don't shine consistently plus the up front cost is very substantial.

 

[bogieb]

Interesting. I would think some increase could be contributed to less hours of daylight and we are all trapped inside for way more hours per day than summer time. We have a pool we heat w/ a heat pump and we run A/C. I did look at a summer bill and last month bill and the kw/hr cost was the same about $ .10 per kw/hr.

Well, my light usage really doesn't change much. I leave for work before sunrise (except like 3 days in summer) - so always use light then. During the summer all shades and drapes are left closed to keep out the solar heat, so lights are turned on when I get home from work. If I'm home, the TV is on whether I am watching or not, inside or out - gives the birds entertainment and gives me some background noise.

My latest electric bill (January) was 316 kWh for 70.95 - which comes out to 22.45 cents per kWh. January bills are always wonky low because somehow my December bills are wonky high (December usage was 461 kWh - they tend to average out though . I used to think it was because they would estimate my usage at Christmas time (instead of an actual meter reader as was usually done). However, they put in a self-reporting meter, which gives the same results. Since I don't "do" Christmas (and every other year am actually gone for a week), there is no reason for that blip up, then the later correction.

But, if you want to look at stove usage, check out the difference between last year and this year. This year I used way more pellets than this year, and the kWh usage shows it.

 

[Lordtimothy200]

I feel for y'all high priced area's. Last year we were running around .07 cents a kwh here in the plains of Nebraska.

 

[rickwai]

Well, my light usage really doesn't change much. I leave for work before sunrise (except like 3 days in summer) - so always use light then. During the summer all shades and drapes are left closed to keep out the solar heat, so lights are turned on when I get home from work. If I'm home, the TV is on whether I am watching or not, inside or out - gives the birds entertainment and gives me some background noise.

My latest electric bill (January) was 316 kWh for 70.95 - which comes out to 22.45 cents per kWh. January bills are always wonky low because somehow my December bills are wonky high (December usage was 461 kWh - they tend to average out though . I used to think it was because they would estimate my usage at Christmas time (instead of an actual meter reader as was usually done). However, they put in a self-reporting meter, which gives the same results. Since I don't "do" Christmas (and every other year am actually gone for a week), there is no reason for that blip up, then the later correction.

But, if you want to look at stove usage, check out the difference between last year and this year. This year I used way more pellets than this year, and the kWh usage shows it.

View attachment 257828

I went from 597 kw Feb 19 to 497 kw this Feb. My lowest was 430 kw last March. I thought I was thrifty! I guess I would be even more thrifty is my rates were that high! My "price to compare" is 5.2 cents. with transmission fee, tax ect. it comes out to 10.2 cents. I was at $53.68 for 497 kwh

 

[Pete Zahria]

Years ago, they said that anything under 400 KWH is very good..
Last bill was 418.... 21¢ / KWH.

Dan

 

[tlc1976]

Mine is about 10c a kWh. Last month using 56 kWh I used $56 worth of power. But along with state tax my bill is $93. Due to all the people here who live here and use power 3 months out of the year but expect year round line functionality, the electric co-op had to add a base fee of $32 a month to everybody's bills. But they do a good job so I can't complain.

My bill is about the same summer or winter. I calculated once that the stove would use $13 a month in power. Then some extra lights due to winter's darkness. But in the summer my dehumidifier runs in the basement which is very necessary. The two much equal each other out.

 

[rickwai]

Years ago, they said that anything under 400 KWH is very good..
Last bill was 418.... 21¢ / KWH.

Dan

I am in central Ohio between Columbus and Dayton. Our cost of living is general is very reasonable and there is plenty of good paying employment here. Electric rates about .10 kwh, gas $2.15/gal, propane $1.25-1.50/gal if you shop. Decent pellets $200 or less/ton if you shop.
I have 2 acres 1600 sq/ft house w/ full basement, inground pool, 36x40 pole barn garage and my property taxes are about $1800.00 per year.
And in a hour or less I can be to Dayton, Columbus or Cincinnati with minimal traffic.

 

[bogieb]

I went from 597 kw Feb 19 to 497 kw this Feb. My lowest was 430 kw last March. I thought I was thrifty! I guess I would be even more thrifty is my rates were that high! My "price to compare" is 5.2 cents. with transmission fee, tax ect. it comes out to 10.2 cents. I was at $53.68 for 497 kwh

Gotta love the transmission fees and taxes that effectively double the price per kWh.

 

[rickwai]

Gotta love the transmission fees and taxes that effectively double the price per kWh.

True, but when you think about the amount of infrastructure involved it is not a bad value. And we have pretty good service, we have lived here for 18 yrs and power has only been out more than 2 hrs 3 times I think.