F4jock
Minister of Fire
Problem with Big Box, at least around here, is your never know what pellet they'll have, what they'll deliver and when they'll run out never to restock that season.Never tried them personally.
Problem with Big Box, at least around here, is your never know what pellet they'll have, what they'll deliver and when they'll run out never to restock that season.Never tried them personally.
You can say that about any conglomerate from those who control food production to software and OS makers. I try to buy quality as cheaply as possible and I try to buy American. I also try to respect and understand all living things. That's as far as I go. Bet you love Monsanto and Microsquish too . . . . . I'd burn some pellets no matter the price of oil. Wife and I like the ambiance on cold, snowy nights. Can't get that from an oil burner.I burn pellets because the oil profiteers in New York and middle east have enough of my money. They live like kings (or actually are kings) and we worry about the next fuel bill. They fly in private jets and worry we about air bags killing us. Pellets are just my small way of giving the middle finger. They also control the government in this country so don't sell those stoves. They will figure out how to get that oil price back up. They will start a war or shut a refinery or some other immoral act to get their money. Does anyone really believe that getting rid of Sadam was not about oil?
If your stove doesn't care, then burn the cheapest pellets you can find. There's still labor involved in burning higher quality/more expensive pellets. I can't square paying more for "quality" pellets while looking at today's low oil prices. I'm burning exclusively HD specials (FSU and Stove Chow) and have zero complaints. Wood makes heat.
Problem with Big Box, at least around here, is your never know what pellet they'll have, what they'll deliver and when they'll run out never to restock that season.
Ditto, but two years back Lowes had a free delivery thing. Bought what I thought was one kind of pellet, they delivered two tons of another. They burned of course. But . . . . Also supply is undependable. When the warehouse runs out so do they. Doesn't matter when it is in the season. My local Do It has a great supply of Lignetics. They burn well for me and I can count on them having a few spare bags at the end of the season if I need 'em.I have the means to haul my own pellets home 1 ton per trip.
Your experience is typical. If you use one of the calculators, you will find that 3 1/2 tons equates to less then 400 gallons of oil, so like others you are only burning 2/3s as many BTUs with pellets as you did when you were heating with oil.All I know is that I've replaced 600 gallons of heating oil with 3 1/2 tons of pellets. I'll use whichever is cheaper.
Your experience is typical. If you use one of the calculators, you will find that 3 1/2 tons equates to less then 400 gallons of oil, so like others you are only burning 2/3s as many BTUs with pellets as you did when you were heating with oil.
Not really interested in BTUs because too many go up the flue. Look at real numbers and make the best choice for you. Just sayin.
I'm happy to even come close but no matter the price differential one way or another I'd still burn for the ambiance as much as for the heat.If your not interested in the rudimentary premise of BTUs, the efficiency of individual heating units and the fluctuating costs of each fuel type, then your right--- you'll never figure out your break even point.
That's why sometimes when oil is affordable I don't mind running it a bit in conjunction with a stove. Best of both worlds if you can stand listening to that burner turn on. Did I mention that I think I hate my oil burner and oil filler spout !As far as I can tell, the biggest reason why people's pellet usage differs from predicted oil usage, based upon BTU equivalents, is that the method of heating is different. People with forced air or radiant baseboards are generally heating the whole space or zones, as evenly as possible. That's what their whole house heating system is designed for. A pellet stove is a point source of heat and is heating an area, a room, or several rooms. A lot depends upon the layout of the home. In general, a pellet stove is not likely to be heating as much a volume as the existing home's heating system.
All-in-all IMNTBHO an apples-to-apples comparison is almost impossible due to the many variables, some of which you mentioned. For us I know we save money but we also use oil to heat the bedrooms as in our large ranch there is no way the stove heat makes it to them and even.with a stove back there it wouldn't heat them all. I can say that our oil consumption has dropped between fifty and sixty percent by volume over the last six heating seasons. If I multiply that by the average price of oil when we paid for it I can then tell you what I saved. I also heat my hot water with oil but I have a plan for dealing with that this summer. In the winter since we keep the bedrooms at 68f I figure the hot water is pretty much a free byproduct of that.As far as I can tell, the biggest reason why people's pellet usage differs from predicted oil usage, based upon BTU equivalents, is that the method of heating is different. People with forced air or radiant baseboards are generally heating the whole space or zones, as evenly as possible. That's what their whole house heating system is designed for. A pellet stove is a point source of heat and is heating an area, a room, or several rooms. A lot depends upon the layout of the home. In general, a pellet stove is not likely to be heating as much a volume as the existing home's heating system.
As far as I can tell, the biggest reason why people's pellet usage differs from predicted oil usage, based upon BTU equivalents, is that the method of heating is different. People with forced air or radiant baseboards are generally heating the whole space or zones, as evenly as possible. That's what their whole house heating system is designed for. A pellet stove is a point source of heat and is heating an area, a room, or several rooms. A lot depends upon the layout of the home. In general, a pellet stove is not likely to be heating as much a volume as the existing home's heating system.
Well maybe the panicking pellet pigs will stop stuffing their storage areas with every pellet they can buy and pellet prices will return to normal. It's that old supply and demand thing.