Switched over to propane about a week ago. Pellets are through the roof here and I pre bought 500 gallons at $1.49 plus we bought a new Bryant plus 95 condensing furnace so right now it's propane for us. 300 a skid compared to $1.49, is a no brainer for us.
How big How big is your tank? Do you have automatic delivery? What’s the cost of propane in your area for people who float with the market?
A rough comparison is: $1.50/gal propane is equal to about $2.25/gal home heating oil, in terms of BTU's. One hundred gals of home heating oil is $225 which contains the about the same number of BTU's as 1 ton of wood pellets. One ton of wood pellets is $300, in your area. Yes, it is cheaper for you to heat with propane. The price of propane in New England ranges from $3.00/gal to $6.00/gal.
I pre bought at $1.45 this fall, 500 gallons and I own 3 tanks plus we just replaced the propane furnace with a +95 furnace. Currently, I have 2 full (85%) tanks and one at 40 %. Not paying 300 a ton for pellets. When the 40% one is at 15%, I'll valve off and switch to a full one and drop it to 80 and reel in the balance of the $1.45 gas because its too much to fill the empty one to 85%. Current price here is $2.45 but that don't apply to me. I do have 4 ton of pellets in the barn that I'll hang on to for next winter
Interestingly I gave all 3 of my renters the same offer and none of them jumped on it, so it's gonna be crying time for them. I do not allow solid fuel heaters in any of my rentals. My insurance carrier won't allow it. I own the tanks on all 3 homes.
That answers my next question about replacement cost after your contract is up. What do you figure your break even price is for propane with pellets at $300/ton? I agree, absolutely no reason to burn pellets if you can take advantage of $1.45 propane. After you are done buying your 500 gallons at $1.45 it would make sense, with full tanks, to evaluate your replacement cost for propane after that point.
Some stoves yes, I believe for the majority the answer is no (it would be in the owner's manual). My P-series Harman's say they can burn up to a 50% mix of corn. My old Hastings manual has directions for burning cherry pits or up to 50% corn. Never tried burning corn since it is not readily available around here. A lot more ash and clinkers, plus corn is corrosive (or so I've heard). But corncob is the resident expert on burning corn as he burns a corn/pellet mix - I believe he gets the corn for free.
O think we all know that until the current administration is no longer in control. energy costs will keep rising. Biden is waging a war on all fossil fuels.
It is.... Corn produces Nitric acid vapor so it's imperative that you purge the unit (season's end) or the unit will corrode as well as the venting. I run mine for at least a week on high fire to liberate the nitric. So far, so good.
