Real savings from burning wood.

[cookin2night]

I was talking to my friend who has an Osburn insert and we got to talking about our propane bill. He tells me that he burns whenever he's home and keeps the thermostats at 60. Then he tells me he's paying a monthly bill of 450 for propane. I have two small burners that I burn all day long and my propane bill is 700 a year. We have the same size house and use propane for the same things. He couldn't believe me. I put in more work with my stoves such as cutting splitting stacking scavenging from friends and neighbors. But aside from the cost of time I can't think that I'm spending anywhere near 5400 a year and my house is always at 67 or better. Thoughts?

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[begreen]

Size of house is only one criteria. How much heat the house is leaking is another as well as the ambient temp that it is being heated to. Quality of wood matters too. Poorly seasoned wood is going to put less heat into the area. Maybe there may be a difference in what is hooked up to the propane, like a hot water heater, dryer?

 

[Doc C]

It seems unlikely that he is paying $450 a month even in the summer. If he is then he has a leak!!

My electric bill goes up about $30 a month in the winter. About $10 a month is because the utility company raises the rates in the winter.

The remaining $20 is because the water coming into my hot water heater is a lot colder because I am on a well and it takes more energy to heat the water.

Also in the winter we use the TV a little more, and we use lights a little more.

As far as cost to cut firewood, I figure my time at $20 an hour and my direct expenses. I only burn about 2.5 cords a year so it only cost me between $200 and $300 a year in wood with my labor costs figured in. I could easily not count that since I am cleaning up my property by cutting firewood but the fact is I could be making money instead of cutting wood so I count it.

 

[cookin2night]

It seems unlikely that he is paying $450 a month even in the summer. If he is then he has a leak!!

My electric bill goes up about $30 a month in the winter. About $10 a month is because the utility company raises the rates in the winter.

The remaining $20 is because the water coming into my hot water heater is a lot colder because I am on a well and it takes more energy to heat the water.

Also in the winter we use the TV a little more, and we use lights a little more.

As far as cost to cut firewood, I figure my time at $20 an hour and my direct expenses. I only burn about 2.5 cords a year so it only cost me between $200 and $300 a year in wood with my labor costs figured in. I could easily not count that since I am cleaning up my property by cutting firewood but the fact is I could be making money instead of cutting wood so I count it.

His bill is averaged or over the year.

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[Doc C]

His bill is averaged or over the year.

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That’s nuts! If I had to pay that much a year for propane you better believe I would figure something else out!

 

[cookin2night]

That’s nuts! If I had to pay that much a year for propane you better believe I would figure something else out!

And he keeps it at 60. The house is cold. Except for the stove room and the three rooms around it.

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[cookin2night]

Size of house is only one criteria. How much heat the house is leaking is another as well as the ambient temp that it is being heated to. Quality of wood matters too. Poorly seasoned wood is going to put less heat into the area. Maybe there may be a difference in what is hooked up to the propane, like a hot water heater, dryer?

House around same size and built around same time. Both similar styles, center hall colonial. I'm not sure about his insulation. Mine is top notch. We use our propane for the same thing. Range hot water and baseboard heat. I saw his wood. Looked seasoned though he buys it. He had oak and beech. He said the beech was seasoned more than the oak. I told him to put another burner on the other side of the house... He wants to get geo. I told him much cheaper than geo.

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[begreen]

Does he have teen age kids that like long showers? Low efficiency heat?

 

[Poindexter]

Yup, begreen has a point. Who has more daughters at home? I found daughters use rather a lot of utilities. Sons use some electricity, a lot of internet bandwidth and break stuff, but daughters, egad, when the last one moved I carried two laundry baskets full of hair products out to the Uhaul with a smile on my face.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

That must be one big uninsulated house to use that much propane. Im thrilled to say i use zero natural gas a year. My stove keeps the house in the 70s all winter long and on the really bitter nights when it struggles i can light my wood furnace to compensate. Its a great feeling knowing cold weather wont cost me more money in heating.

 

[Doc C]

That must be one big uninsulated house to use that much propane. Im thrilled to say i use zero natural gas a year. My stove keeps the house in the 70s all winter long and on the really bitter nights when it struggles i can light my wood furnace to compensate. Its a great feeling knowing cold weather wont cost me more money in heating.

I was a little nervous when I changed my stove from the Englander 30 to the Englander 13. I thought it was going to be hard to keep the house warm and I would have to use a little electric. So far that is not the case. It definitely pays to insulate and air seal the house like we did! And it seems like my creosote formation has slowed drastically! I’ll know more once there is enough snow to get on the roof probably in January.

 

[begreen]

Yup, begreen has a point. Who has more daughters at home? I found daughters use rather a lot of utilities. Sons use some electricity, a lot of internet bandwidth and break stuff, but daughters, egad, when the last one moved I carried two laundry baskets full of hair products out to the Uhaul with a smile on my face.

LOL, it depends. I can't judge because I no longer have much hair. I'm in and out of the shower in about 5 minutes. My son has hair down past his shoulders and loves to take long showers. Thick long hair takes more time for washing, rinsing and conditioning. Another difference is that some women shave their legs in the shower. Each to their own needs. I love them too much to worry about it.

 

[Squisher]

I have a teenage daughter at home and atleast a couple times a week I find myself booting her out of the shower. It's fun, makes me feel like my dad. Lol.

We save significant money on natural gas heating with wood. About 300-400/month in the winter. It's a nice bonus. And the savings would be even greater if we ever tried to heat our house as warm with natural gas as we prefer it with wood. 75-80 usually throughout the whole home. I would never even attempt that on natural gas and we have a high efficiency NG forced air furnace to boot.

 

[adrpga498]

Years ago prior to burning wood I used about 900 gallons of fuel oil per year to heat the house. Since I've purchased a Jotul f400 my fuel oil averages 140 gallons per year.

 

[kennyp2339]

Years ago prior to burning wood I used about 900 gallons of fuel oil per year to heat the house. Since I've purchased a Jotul f400 my fuel oil averages 140 gallons per year.

Same boat as you, I went from filling the tank 3 or sometimes 4 times a year to once every year and a half, plus I have a warmer over all home in the fall, winter and spring. I try to say that I save around $1,500 a year easily.

 

[venator260]

You folks must have bigger houses that I am used to or high gas prices.

When I lived in Pittsburgh, we had a 1200 square foot American foursquare with blown in insulation in the walls, about 6 inches in the attic, and a stairwell to the attic with just a door blocking it that must have been rather inefficient. Gas cooking and hot water as well as forced air heat. We kept the thermostat at 68-72 and I kept the forced air vent open to the basement (not enough supply vents, furnace would short cycle of that wasn't open). Our highest leveled gas bill was 82.00. I did some air sealing (smelled the neighbors woodstove while I was doing laundry) and shaved a few dollars off of that.

I'm not sure that I would pay 400 a month even if I chose to heat my current home (1400 square feet poorly insulated) totally with the electric baseboards.

 

[Allagash350]

That’s crazy regardless. Based on his usage even if he added a stove I would have to imagine he would still be spending at least 250 a month.

I have only had my castine a few weeks but already the savings have started, furnace is only on to warm the house up when we get home or wake up. If I do a late night reload the House is still 68 or 70 in the morning. My wife is loving it. Filled the oil tank in October and we still have a half tank but I imagine I would have refilled it by now.
Going to be pretty cold this week so we will see how it keeps up.
Tell your friend to buy his own tank and shop the price.

 

[kennyp2339]

That’s crazy regardless. Based on his usage even if he added a stove I would have to imagine he would still be spending at least 250 a month.

I have only had my castine a few weeks but already the savings have started, furnace is only on to warm the house up when we get home or wake up. If I do a late night reload the House is still 68 or 70 in the morning. My wife is loving it. Filled the oil tank in October and we still have a half tank but I imagine I would have refilled it by now.
Going to be pretty cold this week so we will see how it keeps up.
Tell your friend to buy his own tank and shop the price.

Yes this week will be a good test for a lot of wood burning folks.

 

[nola mike]

I probably save very little if anything burning wood, at least at the main house. And the longer I go with the stove, the more I say screw it and stop trying to heat exclusively with the stove. The "problem" is that the NG is so cheap here, $1/therm, and it isn't a super cold climate. I've already spent enough on my stove this year (~$200) to offset any savings likely. I've been surreptitiously keeping track of a few of my neighbors' gas meters with similar size houses to see what their usage is compared to mine. Best case burning scenario this week: cold, me having days off (so I can reload multiple times/day), and wife out of town (so she doesn't sneakily turn on the heat). Haven't used the gas in over a week.