Pellet Usage this far for 2015-16?

[Phoenix Hatchling]

It is a warm one...at least for the east coast this year. I for one certainly don't mind a break from the last two years as far as temps go. I wouldn't mind a little snow however, just to remind me that it is in fact winter! Having said that, I am enjoying oil being @ $2, and it is certainly less expensive to heat than with pellets this year. But again, we don't have the heating demand as other years. So...what usage has everyone had to date with pellets? Splitting the heating load 50/50 with the oil, I have gone through 32 bags of Vermonts. This time last year, we would be through nearly two tons. As I write, it is 50 degrees outside, with no heat being called for.

 

[Ranger72]

It's been so warm I've only gone through about a half ton.

 

[jackman]

75 bags here in Oregon which is about average.

 

[bogieb]

A bit over 2 tons since September. Don't use the 1980's propane boiler as it isn't very efficient and propane still costs a pretty penny for me (150 gals at $500 in Nov. - I go thru ~300 gals a month for heating).

Haven't bothered counting. I know I started out with 5+ tons and I'm down to just over 3 tons. But, I've also bought 5 bags here, 6 bag there, and so on. Also, amount is skewed as the sheetrock between my basement and garage wasn't installed until late November (one side of the wall was in and w/ insulation, but still huge leakage that could be felt from 10 feet away) so I used more during that time than I normally would have.

 

[Cory S]

Hit the 50 bag count today. Primary heat.

 

[corkman]

Im at about 30 bags. I installed a p68 at the beginning of the season but have been running my gas furnace for the most part. Of the 30 I've used about 20 of those were in my basement stove which is a harman advance. My father in law stayed with us for a few weeks so I had to run the stove to keep him warm down there. I have about 2 ton in my stash. Bought most of my pellets off Craigslist in the summer. Paid under $250 for 280 bags.a mix of Okies,newps and Maine woods

 

[scotthershall]

Just hit the one ton mark. Shut the stove down for about 8 hours today since it's fairly warm out. Vacuumed out the stove real good and cleaned the vent pipe with my Sooteater once the rain let up. Since my house is 100% electric (baseboards) I use the stove as primary heat.

 

[ABusWrench]

A little over 2 ton here. It's our main heat. Shut down yesterday( hi 40's) and did a good clean as it's to get rather cold here. Oh joy!

 

[OverlookEGR]

I've used 68 bags some far through Jan 9th. I live near Buffalo and last winter was way colder than this one. Looks like I will have some of my 6.5tons left over for next year. Lol.

 

[Dr.Faustus]

just broke into the second ton. 5 tons left and its already jan 10th. this is phenominal. I dont use anything but pellets for heat and i'm still able to shut the stove off before i go to work and turn it on when i get home. usually long before now i have to leave it on a low burn all day. Today it was in the 50's and it was off most of the day. Its on its lowest setting right now as it was a bit chilly but its a bit warm in here even on 1.

 

[Deromax]

16 bags. Heat pump takes the heating load whenever it's above 15F outside and the winter is very mild so far. As a matter of facts, it's raining as I type this!

 

[jackman]

16 bags. Heat pump takes the heating load whenever it's above 15F outside and the winter is very mild so far. As a matter of facts, it's raining as I type this!

It's interesting, Deromax, that you prefer the heat pump over the pellet stove. The economics between the two in my case still favors the pellet stove by a small amount. For me it works out to $15.08 for pellets and $16.06 for the heat pump per million BTU.

I use the calculator at: http://www.buildinggreen.com/calc/fuel_cost.cfm

Of course there are other considerations. Adjusting the heat pump in my bathrobe is a lot more convenient than getting another pellet bag from the shed and dumping it in the stove.

 

[Deromax]

Hi Jackman! One of the very few financial benefits of living where I am is the electricity is around $0.07 per kW/h. Even baseboard electric is affordable, and millions of homes are using nothing else than that around here. Also, the pellet stove is overpowering my small house when the outside temp is mild, unless I'd run it in ON/OFF mode instead of "modulation" mode.

My heat pump is rated for low climate but I find that below 15F it will defrost-cycle too much, hence the pellet stove! A few nights per year at around -30F are known to happen here!

 

[chken]

Sadly, my stove hasn't burned any pellets since I just bought oil at $1.49 a gallon.

 

[SXIPro]

Sadly, my stove hasn't burned any pellets since I just bought oil at $1.49 a gallon.

I wouldn't be sad at all.

 

[chken]

I wouldn't be sad at all.

I'm not sad, my stove is.