Question for pellet furnace users

[mithesaint]

I'm considering making the jump to a pellet furnace. I have a lead on both a Harman pf 100 and a Fahrenheit 50.

I burn 4-5 tons in my stove right now. How much will that go up if I switch to a furnace? I'm leaning towards the Harman but had read that its a pellet pig. I only pay $1.85 for propane so $1400 of pellets gets dangerously close to propane prices.

How many tons do the furnaces go through? I realize all the variables involved, just looking for a range.

 

[Ejectr]

I have a PF100 and love it. I keep the wall controller (thermostat) on 70 day and night. From October to May I have averaged 4 - 5 tons. 2200 square foot home. Not the tightest as far as air leaks are concerned but no drafts, either. Slowly making inside storms for all the windows. Should improve that. Better insulation around the duct work in the basement would also improve that.

That's pretty cheap for propane and all the convenience it brings you. I wouldn't even consider pellets with that price. Five tons of Okanagans is $1445 for me, but my other option is oil and the savings over oil is worth the work of dealing with pellets.

 

[imacman]

..... I only pay $1.85 for propane so $1400 of pellets gets dangerously close to propane prices......

Have you put the prices for both fuels into a BTU calculator? If I read it right, the pellets would have to be over $300/ton for the propane to even be close in price/btu, even at $1.85.

(broken link removed to http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/energy/energy-use/resources/making-decisions/comparison-charts)

(broken link removed to http://pelletheat.org/pellets/compare-fuel-costs/)

 

[mithesaint]

Have you put the prices for both fuels into a BTU calculator? If I read it right, the pellets would have to be over $300/ton for the propane to even be close in price/btu, even at $1.85.

(broken link removed to http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/energy/energy-use/resources/making-decisions/comparison-charts)

(broken link removed to http://pelletheat.org/pellets/compare-fuel-costs/)

Agreed, but I'm looking at it from a "total cost" point of view since the pellet furnace will likely burn more pellets than my stove, or so I've read.

4.5 tons of pellets in my stove costs me $900 to heat my house. 7 tons of pellets (no idea if that is realistic or not) costs $1400 to heat my house. My first year with propane cost between $1500-2000, I don't remember exact numbers. It's worth a few hundred bucks to not have to haul pellets into the basement, not to mention the cost of a pellet furnace and the install. The payback period is starting to look really long with a furnace.

Any other furnace owners out there? How many tons a year?

 

[Markus38]

I'm considering making the jump to a pellet furnace. I have a lead on both a Harman pf 100 and a Fahrenheit 50.

I burn 4-5 tons in my stove right now. How much will that go up if I switch to a furnace? I'm leaning towards the Harman but had read that its a pellet pig. I only pay $1.85 for propane so $1400 of pellets gets dangerously close to propane prices.

How many tons do the furnaces go through? I realize all the variables involved, just looking for a range.

how much propain do you burn with the 4-5 tons? Propain puts out 91,500 btu per gal so if you multiply the number of gallons by 91,500 then divide that number by the pellet BTU (~8000) and the divide by the lbs/ton (2000) that should give you an estimate on the amount of additional tons of pellets. If you wanted to account for efficiencies then divide the additional tons by 0.80 to 0.90 (0.80 if the difference in efficiencies is 20%. 0.90 if it's 10%).

 

[mithesaint]

how much propain do you burn with the 4-5 tons? Propain puts out 91,500 btu per gal so if you multiply the number of gallons by 91,500 then divide that number by the pellet BTU (~8000) and the divide by the lbs/ton (2000) that should give you an estimate on the amount of additional tons of pellets. If you wanted to account for efficiencies then divide the additional tons by 0.80 to 0.90 (0.80 if the difference in efficiencies is 20%. 0.90 if it's 10%).

Not much. I do have to fire off the propane occasionally if it's really cold AND windy (20 degrees or less and 30 mph winds) but it's pretty much all the pellets right now.

 

[RCCARPS]

Seems like a jump to a boiler will yield little or no daily cost savings. Beside the lower maintenance associated with a boiler vs stove (cleanings/fillings) and centralized heating, what benefits do you gain? Plus your may still need to keep propane as a backup for insurance purposes.

With the cost of a pellet boiler plus install your ROI may be insanely long since you are almost 100% pellets now.

 

[scottvwgti]

Another thing to consider, is house re-sale. Granted you may not be thinking of selling your house now, but if you were, I'd think a pellet furnace would probably limit the people who would be interested in buying the house. Now, a house with a propane furnace and pellet stove to help offset the cost of heating the house? I'd find that a plus! Just my $0.02.

 

[Markus38]

2X on the ROI would be every long.

The only real benefit would be a equal distribution of heat through your house. And the pellet mess would be in a non-living place.

And to answer your original question your pellet usage would only increase a little since your stove and the furnace efficiencies are about the same.

 

[Ejectr]

Another thing to consider, is house re-sale. Granted you may not be thinking of selling your house now, but if you were, I'd think a pellet furnace would probably limit the people who would be interested in buying the house. Now, a house with a propane furnace and pellet stove to help offset the cost of heating the house? I'd find that a plus! Just my $0.02.

Most people that have pellet furnaces have a primary furnace of another nature to begin with. They have either paralleled the pellet furnace to the existing one, or installed it separately.

The choice of having a money saving heating source that is a central heating source, as well as the money gobbling central heating source the house was built with only serves to increase resale value and be more attractive to perspective buyers.

 

[moey]

wow 1.85 for propane not around me

 

[KROCK5115]

how much propain do you burn with the 4-5 tons? Propain puts out 91,500 btu per gal so if you multiply the number of gallons by 91,500 then divide that number by the pellet BTU (~8000) and the divide by the lbs/ton (2000) that should give you an estimate on the amount of additional tons of pellets. If you wanted to account for efficiencies then divide the additional tons by 0.80 to 0.90 (0.80 if the difference in efficiencies is 20%. 0.90 if it's 10%).

2X on the ROI would be every long.

The only real benefit would be a equal distribution of heat through your house. And the pellet mess would be in a non-living place.

And to answer your original question your pellet usage would only increase a little since your stove and the furnace efficiencies are about the same.

Hi...I noticed in your profile you have a Pellet Boiler: Windhager BioWIN260, Can you provide so some feed back on it and what size of home and addons you are heating? Also if you can share some costing info. That would bed great...thx...Ken

 

[exoilburner]

I'm considering making the jump to a pellet furnace. I have a lead on both a Harman pf 100 and a Fahrenheit 50.

I burn 4-5 tons in my stove right now. How much will that go up if I switch to a furnace? I'm leaning towards the Harman but had read that its a pellet pig. I only pay $1.85 for propane so $1400 of pellets gets dangerously close to propane prices.

How many tons do the furnaces go through? I realize all the variables involved, just looking for a range.

My PF100 pellet furnace uses 6-7 tons per season heating 2400 sq ft at 70df day and 63df at night. My heating season is from mid Sept. to mid June.

 

[Markus38]

Hi...I noticed in your profile you have a Pellet Boiler: Windhager BioWIN260, Can you provide so some feed back on it and what size of home and addons you are heating? Also if you can share some costing info. That would bed great...thx...Ken

I have a 2800 sq ft home with 2X6 walls and cathedral ceilings throughout.

11-12 winter: 1100 gal of oil and 100 gal of propane (stove in FR). Temp was 58-64 in house except for FR and son’s BR they were at 68 when occupied.

12-13 winter: XXV installed and used 6.5 tons of pellets and 470 gal of oil. We used fans to blow the heat from the FR to the rest of the house, temp was 68-72 in the main part or the house.

13-14 winter: Started using BioWIN 10/21. Current pellet rate has been 40-60 lbs /day with the house set at 68. I have only been using it for 3 weeks so I do not have that much experience using it.

The BioWIN is great. I love it. I was going to start a thread about the setup when I get the time. In short I have a 119 gal Turbomax (Thremo 2000) and a 4 ton pellet hopper. Currently it heats 6 zone with one being DHW. I may add a zone to heat 600 sq ft of the basement. The unit is quiet. The only time it really makes noise is when it transports the pellets from the hopper. It is completely automatic. I only have to fill the 4 ton hopper ~ 3x a year and empty an ash bin every 3 tons. The BioWIN also automatically knocks the ash off the heat exchanger and clinkers from the burn pot. Then augers it all into the ash bin. There is a youtube video showing the features:

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I definitely would recommend a BioWIN to everyone. The unit with automatic pellet transport is I believe 9500 USD. I gutted all my old circulators, added a SS chimney and the plumbing with labor ran me about 6K. The TurboMax was $3800. bulk bin $2200. With oil at $4/gal and pellets at $220/ton I expect to get pay back in 7 yrs including all of these features. I will publish exact numbers after the heating season. You could also buy the unit without the automatic pellet feeder and hand load the pellets into the boilers hopper. Then get the bulk storage and conveyer later. Also the turbomax was an extra that one could do without, I needed to get it to qualify for a grant.