My biggest electricity bill last winter was almost $700, with a couple other low-$600s. I also averaged $60/mo from Oct-April on propane for the gas fireplace. Looks like my average winter electric bills will be closer to $200-250/mo now, plus the only remaining propane appliance is the gas range, which uses next to nothing.
$700/month to $200/month +$500 /month in your pocket. ......KEEP Burning wood!!!! That’s just Elect bill savings That’d pay for a new saw & hyd splitter & then some.
I'm planning to flash and insulate the windows on the windward side of the house this spring...I still can't believe the builder left them completely exposed to the elements like that.
Going from about 120-150 a month to 60ish, is a slower drop but who’s complaining when he keeps his family warm and house REALLY dry? Not even joking its a huge difference. Last year was a $300 between two payment periods and I was almost unable to pay it.
I remember you telling us how the wood stove has really dropped your humidity making it a much nicer climate for you. Good stuff! Even if the savings arent that significant the humidity difference as well as you and your family's comfort through the winter months is hard to put a price on.
My family who just started burning wood on Pender Island BC has electric heat in a 90s house of $400 per month, this is to heat a 3600 sq ft house, ocean front! When I got there before Christmas they had most of the lights off and the house was cold. I got them in a pattern of using the wood stove that came with the house. After a day or two of the stove running 23/7 I had them nice and cozy. I told them to be lazy and keep the fire going all the time so they dont have to cut kindling...
We’re rollong through wood as well. Been burning all locust the last few weeks. We’ve been single digit temps at night and in the teens most days. We’re heating our “new” house which is an 1830 log cabin. It’s about 1500 sq ft. The house itself is pretty insulated being it’s got 8” of Les in the outside. But the kitchen addition and older doors let a lot of cold in. We’ve been pushing the stove hard to keep temps up. This is our only heat, so need to keep up in these cold temps.
Our electric bills are about $85 in the summer, but due to having sheep, the winter ones were $280-$350 in the winter just to keep the stock tanks from forming ice. This year we went to smaller stock tanks and figured out just how much water it takes to satisfy each group of sheep. By the time they drink their water down, there is nothing to keep deiced. Now we are running about $100 a month in electrical costs, just because it goes up a wee bit in the winter months anyway. Point is, little things can net big returns. Glad things are really improving for you. At $700 a month, your own nuclear power plant would have been cheaper to own and operate. (LOL)
I thought I was taking it pretty easy on the wood supply until the single digit and below-zero temps hit us. I am loading the OWB twice and sometimes three times a day and loading it much heavier than normal. We keep the house between 66° and 72° and it's comfortable enough. My wife was complaining today that the basement was too warm (74° with in-slab radiant) and she was gonna go upstairs to cool off. I've gone through about 2-1/2 cords since October 1 and I am worried I may run out and have to start burning next winter's wood if the cold sticks around a lot longer.
We went out of state to the inlaws over Christmas, so no fire in the pot bellied stove while we were gone. So I fired up the back up propane boiler to heat our floors while we were away, and in 11 days, from Dec 20th to today Dec 31st, we burned through 25% of our propane...100 gallons! Granted some was to get the concrete slab up to temperature, but still... I was going to burn some wood this week and save some money on burning coal, but could not pull myself to do it, and told Katie to buy more coal tonight while she is out and about. It is cold!
