After 5 years in our behemoth of a house I can now report the following on home heating. We have 2800 sq feet and single pane, old windows. Our house was built in two halves, so while it is a normal ranch house, it has two basements, two furnaces, two water heaters. All appliances are electric except furnace and range. We will be moving into our tiny cabin next fall if all goes well, but in the meantime I thought this might be of use to someone - a breakdown of heating costs. We are in Michigan and our winters are cold and snowy. Using two full size propane forced air furnaces, we filled the LP tank about every 5 weeks at a cost of about $500 per fill. Average ambient temperature was around 66 degrees. Using one full size propane forced air furnace and one pellet stove, we filled the LP tank about every 8-9 weeks, at $500 per fill. We used one bag of pellets every 28ish hours, at a cost of $4 per bag. Average ambient temperature was around 68 degrees. Using one pellet stove and no furnace, we filled the propane tank never and used one bag of pellets every 24 hours at $4 per bag. Average ambient temperature was 62 degrees. We ran the EdenPure electric heater in the living areas during daylight hours at an additional cost of around $4 per day. Using one pellet stove and one Ashley woodstove, we used 1 bag of pellets every 36 hours ($4) and an armload of wood in the evenings (cost $0 as it came from our property.) Average ambient temperature 70 degrees. Using only the Ashley woodstove, we use a significant amount of wood - a large plastic tote full during the day, I would estimate about 4 armfuls. We let it go to coals in the evening. Cost is $0 and we have enough wood on the ground to last 5+ more years. Average ambient temperature is around 85 degrees and we have to make use of electric fans to move the air around, adding about $20 per month to our electric bill. (See older post where I almost burned the place down with the pellet stove... agh!) Using only the woodstove, we have no need to put plastic on the windows. It is much dryer in here but I feel we are all healthier because there is good airflow, since the windows arent all plasticked up. I have saved significantly on my electric bill because I can hang clothes to dry near the woodstove instead of using our electric dryer.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 20:35:56 +0000
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