Re: Frugal Heating - Pellet Stoves

What exactly is a "Heat Pump?"

I know Propane, Electric, Natural Gas, Wood, Coal, Oil...  But am unfamiliar
with this new term.  New to me anyhow.  :)

Regards,
Joe - VROC #8013 - '86 VN750 - joe @ yunx .com - 973.571.1456 24/7

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"Steve" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> "Ryan Franzen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>  >Has anyone installed a pellet stove to use as a primary rather than gas?
> > If so, how much cost savings did you experience?
> >
> > Any other comments always welcome!
>
> I just installed my first pellet stove last week so I don't have any firm
> numbers yet.. However I will share some of my throughts and reasoning for
> converting  from wood to pellet.
>
> My house is a 28 year old double wide MH (tin shack), 1200sq/ft., but it
is
> well insulated with storm windows on some of the larger windows. It has a
15
> year old heat pump/AC that works well until the temp gets down below 40,
> then the electric elements kick in.. There is no way I can afford to heat
if
> it is mostly with electric.  I'm located in western Washington state and
> there is no natural gas available and propane is no longer affordable
> (prices are subject to OPEC).
>
> The previous owner  of the house had installed a wood stove and I had used
> it and the heat pump for the past 7 winters. If the temp. was 40 plus I
used
> the heat pump during the day, wood in the evening and let the fire go out
> over night with the heat pump set for about 50 deg. The heat pump would
come
> on occasional towards morning but mostly it would be in the electric mode
> due to the outside temp being too low.
>
> Well I finally got tired of the constant "quest for fire wood". It would
> usually take about two cords of wood to last the winter.. The price of
> cut/split seasoned wood is about $140 a cord but can go higher in the
winter
> (I only have room to stack/store one cord).
>
> Several years ago the lumber companies stopped issuing firewood permits
for
> individuals to collect wood in the clear cuts. I don't have enough
timbered
> land to provide my own.
>
> I started shopping for a pellet stove but the price for a basic stove was
> about $1700, more than I could afford. I found a local one on eBay for
$670
> and another $100 to install it. (double walled vent pipe is very expensive
> but I found some used ).
>
> I shopped around for pellets and found the stove dealers were the most
> expensive while the local ACE hardware normally gets $139/ton but happened
> to have them on sale last week for $129/ton.
>
> Using that price, I roughly calculated that I could heat my house on a
half
> a bag (20 lb) a day using the heat pump in the day time, like I had with
the
> wood stove. So that would be about $1.39/day.
>
> As it turns out, once I got the stove running I have been running it all
day
> and leave it running into the night.. Sometimes I just let it run out of
> fuel since and restart it in the morning. Other times, if it has enough
fuel
> in the hopper, it is still going in the morning.. (sure is nice to get up
to
> a toastie warm house.)
>
> If I had a more modern control system on the stove I could set a thermosat
> or timer to restart the stove in the early morning.. Mine has all manual
> controls, so I'm limited to a static setting when I go to bed at night.
>
> For right now, I'm very happy with this type of heating system as my
primary
> source and will  use the heat pump for back up or convience heat.
>
> I think the cost will work out to be about the same as cut firewood..  I
> really won't know for sure until I finish this winter and get some costs
and
> averages...
>
> It is pretty easy to deal with and at times it puts out more heat than I
> need, even on the lowest setti
>
>