Which would you rather have? -- $1,200.00 of Oil or Wood Pellets

[mepellet]

Somethings wrong here-

1200 gallons of oil per year @ 138,000 BTU/gallon = 165,600,000 BTU
3 tons of pellets per year @ 8,000 BTU/pound = 96,000,000 BTU

Yeah there sure is it isn't 1200 gallons of oil it is 1200 dollars of oil.

???

Don2222-
...."A typical 2,000 sqft house uses 1,200 Gallons for winter in this area from Oct 15th thru April 15th (6 months)"....

Read the rest of the post where he is talking about what is being offered. It is 1200 dollars your choice as to what you buy. Oil or pellets.

Then we will talk about differences between central oil heat and small space heaters.

I understand the question. I never gave my answer but it is pellets for sure

I was hoping that my question would get to the difference between central heating vs. space heating. This is a very interesting topic to me. Please discuss the differences!

There is a large difference between central heating hot water baseboard with oil which in turn heats the air with lot's of transfer losses and the pellet stove which heats the air directly. That is why I am really not in favor of pellet boilers. Gas water heater or HP electric water heaters save more money because of the more efficient transfer of energy!!

And heaven help us if we factor in the lovely heat loss up through flue from the water jacket when the boiler is off and mother nature is a bit windy.

At least a lot of the so called "transfer energy loss" gets inside the house shell but the water jacket up the flue can be brutal. Those lovely efficiency ratings aren't exactly telling the entire story. There is a huge difference between combustion efficiency and the output from a heating device.

Exactly why they came up with gross & net boiler IBR ratings...

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Most folks with a oil fired boiler also use it to heat their water, this is basically pouring 200 to 300 gallons of oil a year down the sewer line.

There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.

Lots of factors.

 

[mepellet]

Most folks with a oil fired boiler also use it to heat their water, this is basically pouring 200 to 300 gallons of oil a year down the sewer line.

There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.

Lots of factors.

What do you mean by the following?
There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.
Excuse my ignorance but using pellets in a residential application (pellet stove) is new to me.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Most folks with a oil fired boiler also use it to heat their water, this is basically pouring 200 to 300 gallons of oil a year down the sewer line.

There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.

Lots of factors.

What do you mean by the following?
There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.
Excuse my ignorance but using pellets in a residential application (pellet stove) is new to me.

A lot of the folks that started using pellet stoves also did other things to help cut down on fuel use so comparing a typical house burning 1200 gallons/year is different than a house that starts out only burning 800 gallons a year that switched over to pellets.

Typical houses also vary by where the house is.

Some folks even after switching to pellets continue to make changes to reduce fuel use.

This is true of folks that tinker and you'll soon discover there are a lot of us here that do that.

 

[mepellet]

Most folks with a oil fired boiler also use it to heat their water, this is basically pouring 200 to 300 gallons of oil a year down the sewer line.

There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.

Lots of factors.

What do you mean by the following?
There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.
Excuse my ignorance but using pellets in a residential application (pellet stove) is new to me.

A lot of the folks that started using pellet stoves also did other things to help cut down on fuel use so comparing a typical house burning 1200 gallons/year is different than a house that starts out only burning 800 gallons a year that switched over to pellets.

Typical houses also vary by where the house is.

Some folks even after switching to pellets continue to make changes to reduce fuel use.

This is true of folks that tinker and you'll soon discover there are a lot of us here that do that.

ok I see what you mean. People who go to pellet stoves are usually concious of their energy usage and cost so they tend to be the type that make envelope improvements along with other tinkering. I am very interested to see what I use for pellets this year since it is my first year with the stove. The previous two years we have used about 550 gallons of oil for heat and hot water. I started this season with 5/8 of a tank of oil (170 gallons maybe?) and 129 bags of pellets. I wonder how long that will last me....

 

[IHATEPROPANE]

I feel left out as a former propane heater. Now only for tankless water heater. But for me 1200 bucks gets the 5 ton I need per year or maybe 6 weeks of propane....bet you know my answer!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I feel left out as a former propane heater. Now only for tankless water heater. But for me 1200 bucks gets the 5 ton I need per year or maybe 6 weeks of propane....bet you know my answer!

Yeah, propane all the way????

 

[Don2222]

Most folks with a oil fired boiler also use it to heat their water, this is basically pouring 200 to 300 gallons of oil a year down the sewer line.

There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.

Lots of factors.

What do you mean by the following?
There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.
Excuse my ignorance but using pellets in a residential application (pellet stove) is new to me.

A lot of the folks that started using pellet stoves also did other things to help cut down on fuel use so comparing a typical house burning 1200 gallons/year is different than a house that starts out only burning 800 gallons a year that switched over to pellets.

Typical houses also vary by where the house is.

Some folks even after switching to pellets continue to make changes to reduce fuel use.

This is true of folks that tinker and you'll soon discover there are a lot of us here that do that.

ok I see what you mean. People who go to pellet stoves are usually concious of their energy usage and cost so they tend to be the type that make envelope improvements along with other tinkering. I am very interested to see what I use for pellets this year since it is my first year with the stove. The previous two years we have used about 550 gallons of oil for heat and hot water. I started this season with 5/8 of a tank of oil (170 gallons maybe?) and 129 bags of pellets. I wonder how long that will last me....

We use 200 gallons of oil per year for DHW and 3 tons of pellets per year for heating the house. We never by fuel in the winter, that is like going grocery shopping when you are hungry

 

[mepellet]

Most folks with a oil fired boiler also use it to heat their water, this is basically pouring 200 to 300 gallons of oil a year down the sewer line.

There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.

Lots of factors.

What do you mean by the following?
There is also a difference between what is a typical house and a typical pellet stove house.
Excuse my ignorance but using pellets in a residential application (pellet stove) is new to me.

A lot of the folks that started using pellet stoves also did other things to help cut down on fuel use so comparing a typical house burning 1200 gallons/year is different than a house that starts out only burning 800 gallons a year that switched over to pellets.

Typical houses also vary by where the house is.

Some folks even after switching to pellets continue to make changes to reduce fuel use.

This is true of folks that tinker and you'll soon discover there are a lot of us here that do that.

ok I see what you mean. People who go to pellet stoves are usually concious of their energy usage and cost so they tend to be the type that make envelope improvements along with other tinkering. I am very interested to see what I use for pellets this year since it is my first year with the stove. The previous two years we have used about 550 gallons of oil for heat and hot water. I started this season with 5/8 of a tank of oil (170 gallons maybe?) and 129 bags of pellets. I wonder how long that will last me....

W use 200 gallons of oil per year for DHW and 3 tons of pellets per year for heating the house. We never by fuel in the winter, that is like going grocery shopping when you are hungry

Haha how true it is! Somehow I always come out of the supermarket with twice the number of bags if I have an empty stomach....

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

We use 200 gallons of oil per year for DHW and 3 tons of pellets per year for heating the house. We never by fuel in the winter, that is like going grocery shopping when you are hungry

Haha how true it is! Somehow I always come out of the supermarket with twice the number of bags if I have an empty stomach....

I'm always hungry, it must be hibernating season.