What pellets do you like this year?
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Not sure how a heat pump can be 250% efficient though - you can't produce more than available
The thing is that it's extract not produce. One kilowatt hour of electrical energy can be converted directly to 3412 btus of heat energy or it can be used to extract several times that amount of heat energy from air that's even at temperatures we sense as very cold. Remember that materials have heat energy at all temperatures above absolute zero which is minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit. So cooling air from -10*F to - 20*F there is still extractable energy within the air.
bogieb
Minister of Fire
I don't know how they came to get 18 cents per kwh as an electric rate either since I'm paying 21 cents per kwh with the largest provider in the state (including all fees, taxes delivery charges etc).
Pete Zahria
Minister of Fire
I live in the city.
It's what it cost, to get a therm into the house!
Sure.. the "therm" price is less..
But the bottom line is, you need to take the amount you write the check for,
and divide by the number of therms used..
THAT is how much a therm cost YOU...
Dan
Pete Zahria
Minister of Fire
Obviously you need to calculate using the all-in cost but your all-in cost is significantly outside the norm. As an example, utility set rates (higher than open market) where I am is $0.51 generation, $0.3625 distribution, small amount in taxes and a set fee of $11.75/month. Based on a quick Google search, PA is in the top 10 for LG costs. Your situation seems to be well beyond unique and, in most places, you'd really need to find a deal on pellets for it to be better than LG.
I burn pallets because they're a hell of a lot warmer in our sun room watching TV then turning up the oil furnace. Cost aside wife and I really like the warmth of the pellet stove.
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Pete Zahria
Minister of Fire
I don't understand what you are saying.
I use pellets.
Pellets are cheaper than NG.
I have both.
I pay more for gas than pellets.
I don't have to find a "deal" on pellets.
Everyone has pellets cheaper than NG here..
Pete Zahria
Minister of Fire
Where I am
the gas is .89... distribution is .67 ... customer charge is 21.36.
So yes.. if I used twice as much, the cost would be like 1.80 per therm, because of the fixed cost.
dotman17
Member
dotman17
Member
In most places (you left that out for some reason).... your price is nearly double mine when I already live in a place where NG is on the high side, seems unrealistic for a commodity to have that level of variation. I'm guessing you won't find many people on here that are saving using pellets vs NG but I could be wrong...
Pete Zahria
Minister of Fire
Mt Bob
Minister of Fire
LOL Quite the conversation.Burning North Idaho again this year.245 ton LPG 2.75 gallon,had tank filled was so cheap,but,is still cheaper to burn pellets.
dotman17
Member
Just move out west where electricity is cheap, douglas fir pellets are cheap, and so is natural gas.
dotman17
Member
Our hydroelectric power is cheap but it's still cheaper to go with pellets or gas. I believe gas is cheaper here but pellets are close.
tlc1976
Minister of Fire
Just me, but the way I look at it is the heat is paid for. I don't like surprises in the mail at the end of the month.
Just put another ton of barefoot in the shed yesterday.
Just put another ton of barefoot in the shed yesterday.
dotman17
Member
bogieb
Minister of Fire
We have some of the highest electric (and LP) costs in the nation. The only surprise would be if you paid MORE than we do
bogieb
Minister of Fire
Yes, we understand all types of HH fuels are cheaper over there in WA - you can also get DF's for very cheap compared to us (if we can get them at all). .
batchman
Burning Hunk
Looks to me like those guys have your market cornered, but you should know that the black bag Okanagans are *old*. They've been gone a couple years, that company is now Northern Warmth. Just thought you should know - if you happened to buy them -yike$- they are well past their "sell by" date. I store my pellets outside (well covered) and find they lose 15-20 degrees at my measuring point by the next season. I'm stuck though, as I need to have a ton ready until the ground freezes and I can take delivery.
I will add though that since your M55 is the same burning guts as my Maxx-M, I run low ash pellets and clean the stove once a year or so "just because". Actually one year I only cleaned the exhaust side, so it's "every year or two". Yes, that's why I run low ash pellets - "I know what I'm like".
That's great research, thanks for the facts. Just wish I could get Propane anywhere near that price - my supplier is now $5.05/gallon. Thank goodness it only heats my garage/outbuilding - I barely afford keeping it at 40deg. Their cordwood cost looks wacky though, I've never seen >$300 (seasoned) unless there's a shortage.
Back to the thread topic, I'm running Turmans this year, after mostly Okie Plats (now Northern Warmth Spruce). Lowest ash I've measured, including the DFs I tried. Now I'm only worried somehow the ash is making it through to the vent, we'll see about that.
Cheers,
Jeff
Connecticut Yankee
Burning Hunk
I'm confused, because we just bought some from our stove dealer, and they are from a current shipment. I tried to do some research on the Interwebz, but the results are inconclusive.
As far as I can tell, the Okanagan Pellet Company was formerly owned by Viridis Energy and is now owned by American Biomass Distribution, LLC. From what I can tell, the pellet mill is or was in British Columbia, but the bags I have all say "made in U.S.A." I can, however, find no pellet mill on the pellet-makers' association Web site that says anything about Okanagan or American Biomass.
My stove dealer told me that the Okanagan Douglas fir pellets come from Oregon. The Web site, (broken link removed to http://www.okanaganpellets.com), says that American Biomass LLC, or at least its Okanagan Pellet Company division, is located in Bedford, New Hampshire. That Web site also says that Okanagan is wholly owned by American Biomass, which acquired the operation from Viridis, and that Northern Warmth has nothing to do with Okanagan.
The American Biomass Web site, (broken link removed to http://www.americanbiomass.com), mentions "a wide selection of brands," but the only pellet brands mentioned on that site are Cleanfire and Granules LG. There is no street address or contact name, but Bloomberg gives their address as Goffstown, New Hampshire.
Northern Warmth does sell Dougls fir pellets, and their Web site gives a contact address in Upton, Massachusetts.
So somebody is still making pellets under the Okanagan name, but it seems pretty clear it's not Northern Warmth.
If anyone has information more accurate than this, I'd love to be brought up to date.
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