Sad day!

I think most insurance companies like to see a primary heat source that doesn't need babysitting. May want to check into that.

 

There are a few threads going now regarding pellet furnaces and different options. Couple other questions though.

1. Any issues with your insurance company if you don't have a "conventional" heat source in the home?
2. Do you ever leave the house for any length of time in the winter where having a gas furnace or something that could run unattended for 3,4,5 days or more would be necessary?

Last I knew, NG was still cheaper than pellets. That may have changed over the past few weeks due to the cold snap, but NG isn't available in my neighborhood so I don't keep on on prices.

 

Good point.

PP, here's a fuel cost calculator. Plug in the costs for both (I'd use $225 for rough # for pellets), and see what it says. Also, you should probably get the efficiency # for the replacement gas unit you'd buy so you're comparing on equal terms....new ones are pretty darn efficient.

http://pelletheat.org/pellets/compare-fuel-costs/

 

I forgot about that site. I ran it through figuring on $200/ton, which is what I paid this year, and that comes to $15.24 per million BTU. At about .855/therm (Detroit, MI area average price for November 2013, latest I could find), NG with a 90% efficient furnace comes to $9.27 per million BTU.

With oil at $3.89/gallon (which is about what it costs around here), I'd be at $35.24/million BTU running my oil furnace. Pellets would have to get to over $450/ton before it would be cheaper for me to burn oil than pellets.

Of course, always subject to change one minute to the next. This year NG might be cheaper, next year pellets might be cheaper. If NG was available on my road I'd hook up to it in a second and get rid of the oil burning monster in my basement (which has only burned maybe a pint of oil this year).

I'm all about saving money and burning the least amount of fossil fuel possible, but I don't know that I'd spend more money burning pellets if NG was available and cheaper. I've never been "shocked" by a gas bill though. Most all of my winter heating bill is prepaid by October 1 and sitting on pallets in my barn.

(edit - sorry for veering off the original topic of your thread Pete)

 

mmmmm. beer!

 

Did you say beer Pete??

 

He said it beerfore.

 

Look carefully, things in pellet burning are changing all the time. Consider how often you have to add pellets, and the cleaning issues. There is one advertising around here that does bulk delivering and say it is as easy to have as other furnaces. As to cost, please work the numbers. Natural gas usually is equal or cheaper, but I have no idea about your area. Ive seen it where pellets cost average $170 or $250 per ton depending on the locality. Then there is storage. How much space do you have. I have NG running right by the end of my street, but can't access it because of the type of line it is. If I could, I certainly would. But, I still would keep the pellet stove. My son bought a big used Englander that takes several bags at one time. He only loads his stove every three or four days. That is the main heat. If it gets severely cold, he gets the wood stove in the basement going. They never complain about being cold.

 

Welcome to the world of pellets!!

 

Easy enough to check the cost.
NG usually wins out over other fuels, hands down.
That is if you are buying your firewood & adding in all the costs of burning wood.
Michigan had reasonable low NG prices. ($9.40/1000 cubic feet = 1,015,000 BTU)
Worked out for me to be close to $200 worth of NG to equal
1 cord of birch, when used for heating the house. (which is close to 1 month of heat)

If you figure 1 million BTU for $10 of Natural Gas, you'll be close.
Cord of ash 22 million BTU. * (less water & burned near 75% efficiency, ~~ 15 million usable)
New NG furnace will be more efficient & save on NG.
So there you go.

 

What does a million BTU of pellets cost ?
They are drier & more efficient than burning cord wood.

That would be an interesting cost/BTU calculation , Pellets vs NG ?

Edit:
$160 for equal BTU for NG (@$10/1,000 cubic ft)
= 1 ton of pellets.

Looked up pelets at Lowes your area, $188/ton ( not include your fuel cost to go get them)

NG Cheaper !

Cost of 1 ton of pellets in your area ?
+ fuel cost to get them home.
then you still have to handle them, load them in the hopper.

Found this :

Link
Properties

• Wood pellets are dense by nature and have low moisture content. This means that they have higher energy content, by weight, than other biomass fuels. For example, 1 lb. of wood pellets with a typical moisture content of 6 percent generates 7,750 BTU of heat energy.

Heat Output

• In terms of heat output, 1 ton of wood pellets are equivalent to 120 gallons of heating oil, 16,000 cubic feet of natural gas or 4,775 kilowatt hours of electricity. Heating with wood pellets is cheaper than heating with fossil fuels, with the possible exception of natural gas.

Cost

• The average home requires an average of 100 million BTU of energy for a heating season. According to the Forest Products Laboratory, this can be achieved at an annual cost of $882 using premium wood pellets,
  based on a cost of $120 per ton.