I just received my electric bill from the first month of using my OWB and it's double of what it usually is. It probably doesn't help by having a heater in the hen house either, but do these pumps and blowers suck that much energy? I have two Wilo Star 30's pumping to the house and to the barn. In the barn is a single zone Taco 007. The Wilo Star's pump continuous and the fan on the boiler only kicks in when it needs to. I am sucking down the wood, twice as fast as I thought I would, but the consumption of the electricity is killer....You think it's the heat in the hen house or the OWB system? Looking for clues.
The Electric Bill
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If your henhouse heater is electric, that is probably a big part of the jump- electric space heat gets expensive fast if used in any quantity.
The Wilos running 24/7 will add up some, too.
Those Star 30s are listed as using 173 watts.
to get to costs, you need to take that and convert to kilowatt hours, which goes like this:
173 watts per circulator X 2 circulators = 346 watts for both
X 24 hours a day if they are running continuously
= 8.3 kilowatt hours used during 24 hours.
If you're on Central VT Public Service for electricity (since they serve much of southern VT) your rate, if I have it right, is $0.12294 per kWh
If I've got the assumptions right, then you're using about $1.02 per day just to run those two Wilos 24/7- more if your electric rate is higher than what I mentioned above.
If there is some way you can set the circulators up to be dormant most of the time, except when heat needs to be moved, and have them be "pulsed" on for a short while every so often to keep water moving, that will start saving you some $$
good luck; hope the above is helpful
The Wilos running 24/7 will add up some, too.
Those Star 30s are listed as using 173 watts.
to get to costs, you need to take that and convert to kilowatt hours, which goes like this:
173 watts per circulator X 2 circulators = 346 watts for both
X 24 hours a day if they are running continuously
= 8.3 kilowatt hours used during 24 hours.
If you're on Central VT Public Service for electricity (since they serve much of southern VT) your rate, if I have it right, is $0.12294 per kWh
If I've got the assumptions right, then you're using about $1.02 per day just to run those two Wilos 24/7- more if your electric rate is higher than what I mentioned above.
If there is some way you can set the circulators up to be dormant most of the time, except when heat needs to be moved, and have them be "pulsed" on for a short while every so often to keep water moving, that will start saving you some $$
good luck; hope the above is helpful
My electric bill went from $80 to $100 as a result of running my EKO 40 with two 007's. However, I attribute this more to my furnace than the EKO. When I run "less than perfect" water temps through my water-to-air HX my furnance spends more time running than I like.
My EKO 25 combined with a new air handler/elec. backup replaced an old electric furnace which was never used. Instead, I heated with the woodstove and baseboard electric in the bedrooms.
Since installing the EKO, air handler, and sidearm for DHW my electric bill has dropped by 45-50% over the past two months. I attribute the reduction to not using the baseboard electric and not using electricity to heat DHW. I am circulating 24/7 with a Taco 1400-10 and pushing through the water to air HX with a Taco 007.
I did not use the old elec. furnace because of the cost - about $400 per month during the winter.
I have also not used any propane for space heating, normally I use 200 gals. per winter.
The blower on an older furnace can eat a lot of electricity - in my case, 11 amps! I replaced that hog with the new air handler which has a variable speed DC blower, and uses about 1 amp on full speed - much less on low. I circulate the air on low speed 24/7 to keep the ducts warm and the heat in the house an even temp.
Since installing the EKO, air handler, and sidearm for DHW my electric bill has dropped by 45-50% over the past two months. I attribute the reduction to not using the baseboard electric and not using electricity to heat DHW. I am circulating 24/7 with a Taco 1400-10 and pushing through the water to air HX with a Taco 007.
I did not use the old elec. furnace because of the cost - about $400 per month during the winter.
I have also not used any propane for space heating, normally I use 200 gals. per winter.
The blower on an older furnace can eat a lot of electricity - in my case, 11 amps! I replaced that hog with the new air handler which has a variable speed DC blower, and uses about 1 amp on full speed - much less on low. I circulate the air on low speed 24/7 to keep the ducts warm and the heat in the house an even temp.
I figure about $20/mo to run two pumps 24/7. I'm curious about the details of your DC air handler? How is the blower speed selected, manual or auto? What is the DC voltage?Medman said:
when i had my greenwood 100 installed with sidearm my electric bill almost tripled got on hearth.com learned i had my electric water heater still on electric to avoid cold showers then my system would run out of fuel temps would drop electric would kick on the water heater and try to heat my entire system. Now i turned off the electric to water heater electric bill back in line where it should be. hope this may help
We are running the CB 2300 with pump running all the time and fans kicking off and on. We have seen an increase of maybe $10/ month...... sounds like the chicken heaters to me.
mhvfd said:
Most types of chicken can handle the cold surprisingly well as long as the wind doesn't blow through your coop. Just make sure you back the temps down slowly so they have time to adapt. Also, you might replace your space heater with a heat lamp or lower wattage bulb. If they are layers they should have 14-16 hrs of artificial light for the best production.
double is relevant.
is the electric bill double what 50, 100, 200/month ... ?
It would be better to look at the kilowatt usage and not so much the dollar amount.
what is the usage of your coop heater?
I have the similar situation.
this year I added a 250 W and a 500 W heater in the chicken coop.
I also started up my new boiler.
so I added two pumps that run continuously ( 007 and a 011?).
and four 007 pumps that are zone pumps.
my usage increased over last year by 1,180 kw.
that's about $130/month.
I too am trying to figure out what happened.
is the electric bill double what 50, 100, 200/month ... ?
It would be better to look at the kilowatt usage and not so much the dollar amount.
what is the usage of your coop heater?
I have the similar situation.
this year I added a 250 W and a 500 W heater in the chicken coop.
I also started up my new boiler.
so I added two pumps that run continuously ( 007 and a 011?).
and four 007 pumps that are zone pumps.
my usage increased over last year by 1,180 kw.
that's about $130/month.
I too am trying to figure out what happened.
I can't recall the KWHours but my bill is usually $200+ per month. This effin thing was $400. The space heater was an oil type and I've been told to shut'er off. The chickens live in a garden shed and no wind whips thru. Bear in mind it is 10F-16F at night and my biggest concern was water. SO far they drink in the daytime and I just go out and change the water twice a day anyways. I will report back when I get the new bill.
My OWB has dual Wilostar 30's, that run 24/7 with an obvious fan and solenoid situation (gasification). The barn runs a TACO 007 thru a 6 loop radiant slab - with a mixing valve. My Delta T is about 50F Feeding at 120 and returning at 80. The barn is set at 48-50 per the Tstat. The house runs thru an oiler and it is zoned out, house set at 68F. I don't know if I answered the questions but that is what I have at the moment. There is no heater or lamp in the hen house.....as of 3 weeks ago.
My OWB has dual Wilostar 30's, that run 24/7 with an obvious fan and solenoid situation (gasification). The barn runs a TACO 007 thru a 6 loop radiant slab - with a mixing valve. My Delta T is about 50F Feeding at 120 and returning at 80. The barn is set at 48-50 per the Tstat. The house runs thru an oiler and it is zoned out, house set at 68F. I don't know if I answered the questions but that is what I have at the moment. There is no heater or lamp in the hen house.....as of 3 weeks ago.
There are some sort of heaters to go in chicken water dishes to keep them from freezing, but without using too much electricity-
if I remember right, Murray McMurray Hatchery (google it) has them, along with lots of other remarkable stuff and rare breeds of poultry.
I used to fool with chickens, until the local vermin repeatedly decimated them, despite fences (buried below ground) traps, poison, and a Winchester 1897 (my neighbors got a real chuckle watching me out their kitchen window as I went after a mink that was in the midst of killing a chicken, carrying the 1897 and wearing only a hastily-put-on bathrobe and barn boots...) (my neighbor opened the window afterwards and said "didja get it?")(and, yes, I did, although the poor chicken was already a gonner...)
if I remember right, Murray McMurray Hatchery (google it) has them, along with lots of other remarkable stuff and rare breeds of poultry.
I used to fool with chickens, until the local vermin repeatedly decimated them, despite fences (buried below ground) traps, poison, and a Winchester 1897 (my neighbors got a real chuckle watching me out their kitchen window as I went after a mink that was in the midst of killing a chicken, carrying the 1897 and wearing only a hastily-put-on bathrobe and barn boots...) (my neighbor opened the window afterwards and said "didja get it?")(and, yes, I did, although the poor chicken was already a gonner...)
That seem like a big jump.
As for the chickens I do not heat their area at all. When is super cold I do have a few frozen eggs but the hogs appreciate that. I just use a water de-icer that uses 250 watts for up to 25 gallons.
As for the chickens I do not heat their area at all. When is super cold I do have a few frozen eggs but the hogs appreciate that. I just use a water de-icer that uses 250 watts for up to 25 gallons.
are you not concerned about frozen crowns and waddles?
that yould be like you freezing one of your appendages.
I turn the heat lamps on if it gets below zero.
that yould be like you freezing one of your appendages.
I turn the heat lamps on if it gets below zero.
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