Oil vs. Pellets
 

With the cost of home heating oil hovering around $2.00 per gallon and the price of wood pellets still around $250.00 per ton right now in the Lakes Region, it appears oil will be cheaper again this winter to heat your home per BTU than wood pellets.

Why hasn't the price of pellets come down??

Other than the ambiance of the pellet stove, is there any other reason I should even consider burning pellets this winter for heat?? Seems like it would just be throwing dollar bills in the stove...

Thoughts from you pellet burners???.....

Dan

Burning pellets has become a victim of its own success, right? In addition to being silent and not needing power, my wood stove has been filled with free wood for a decade. (Well, subtract my wood processing gear: a $400 Stihl and $450 gas splitter, and it's probably been 7 years free).

I have seen prices of $215-225 for a ton of pellets, but not sure the quality and that still seems to be, at best, breaking even.

Good luck!

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"pure" economics?
 

Agreed....pellets should have come down in price by now. They certainly shot up fast enough when pellet stoves started to get popular. With the number of pellet providers, you'd think there would be more competition or, dare I say it, could there be collusion keeping the prices up?

I have oil heat and my pellet stove has remained cool now for 2 winters. I also recently added a Mitsubishi split heat pump so my options got even more open. It still looks most economical to heat with oil for this winter but I may run the stove a little just to keep it in working order.

I have a wood stove but my brother inlaw has a pellet stove that he raved about for years. He had a two car garage and he use to fill up one side with pallets of pellets.
He hasn't used it in two years because oil has gone down in price and pellets haven't. It's cheaper to burn oil right now than buying pellets or wood.
I only use my wood stove now when it goes below freezing.

Due to our long steep driveway, we can't count on getting oil delivered in the winter. We have our two 275 gal tanks filled in August and then use a combination of burning oil and pellets plus running two heat pumps. After installing the heat pumps our pellet use dropped from 4 ton to about 1.5 ton a year. The pellet stove now just heats the LR, about 40% of the 1st floor. Prior to heat pumps it heated all of the 1st floor plus helping with the 2nd floor.

NH Heating Energy Guide

https://www.nh.gov/osi/energy/energy-nh/fuel-prices/

Interesting to note that an electric air pump cost the same as burning an equivalent btu of pellets!

Heating with oil is only $1 more per mbtu than wood.

How accurate are the costs on this site? My propane cost and costs others are posting here are 1/2 of the listed 2.89 per gallon stated price.

Yup! Here's a better comparator where you enter the exact cost...It blows me away how much less it cost to heat a home with a ductless heat pump!!

https://www.efficiencymaine.com/at-h...st-comparison/

Wow even at my current propane price the ductless heat pump is 70% cheaper!!!!

Keep in mind though not everybody has access to free wood. I'm sure the "average" wood burner doesn't get it free or even split it themselves.

I just finished the room above my 2 car garage as another large bedroom but I didn't put heat in it.
This makes me think that when I do add heat a ductless heat pump is the way to go. Esp since my oil boiler is probably not big enough to handle another zone.

Sounds like a good place for Mother-In-Law (without the heat)... :laugh:

I actually have 3 very young grand kids and 2 more on the way. When they come to visit we put them in there and shut the door. The room is plenty big enough for 3 beds and 2 cribs. Peace and quite after 7pm! That's when we light the outdoor fire pit and the drinks start flowing!:D

Understood--I was just mentioning why/how wood can be a value.

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Dan

I have oil, pellets and the Mitsubishi Split systems. With the app that I have for my solar panels I can see in great detail how much electricity I'm using. I did the math last year and by FAR the heat pumps are the most efficient way to heat. Even with cheap oil. In fact, my three splits systems running full use less electricity than my boiler. Again, that's just to run the boiler. I know its hard to believe but it's correct. However I do have 4 tons of pellets on the way only because my wife and I both love heat quality of the stoves.

Thanks Paul,

Seriously thinking about going the Mitsubishi split system at my main home as an add on to my hot air oil system. Since I already have the duct work in the house I’m hoping the savings for that makes the pay back time worth it. The AC portion is just a bonus! The house is pretty new and very energy efficient...

Dan

Just bought the Dyson Pure Heat+Cool at Costco. Turned it on at the condo and heated in a matter of minutes. Granted it is not that cold today and night. We have considered getting another unit. Will be interesting how the cool will work on hot summer days. I figure with the cool and maybe a fan things will keep us comfortable. I would like the Mitsubishi but do not think it would be allowed in the only area it would work.

Incidently what is the would used in the fire pit. Sure does stink.

I am a retired workaholic and continuing aquaholic.

Its not going to cool anymore than having a fan on you. It can't. You can't make heat disappear into the same air your taking it from.

The Mitsu split would not use the ductwork. There are interior units that you mount in ceiling, on wall, or in-wall.

overly optimistic?
 

Most of those numbers are driven by the efficiency numbers applied (visible when you expand each device type). Where do those numbers come from and are they accurate? Showing a heat pump at 350% efficiency seems a bit optimistic and I've seen 200% for that on other sites.

On the split system, can the indoor unit be placed on a ceiling? The room above my garage has 4' knee walls and slanted from there to the ceiling. I have :confused:doors at both ends without enough space above them for the indoor unit.

They do make cartridge versions that mount in the ceiling and look like a vent. They are more inconspicuous than the larger wall mounted units. They also make cartridges that duct up through the floor. If I recall though the seer rating is less on these than the wall mounted units.