Life here in NEPA...

Damn, has it been cold!

We've had a week straight of sub-freezing temps here at the Chateau de Lieteau, and almost every morning has been in the single digits.  We've weathered the cold with no problems (to date) like frozen pipes or failed furnaces, but it has impacted out fuel oil reserves something fierce.

Luckily, relief is in sight.  Jambo will be delighted to hear that, as soon as our tax refund comes through, we will have our new pellet stove purchased and installed.

This should have been done years ago... but "shoulda" and "woulda" don't heat the house.  We're going to get a super efficient stove that I saw at a local retailer and was very impressed with.  Small, self-contained, and easy to install, it will run about $2,000 out-the-door and can be up and running in a single day.  It doesn't need a chimney (as wood stoves do) and the fuel is conveniently delivered in stacked bags (as opposed to coal, which is delivered in 1-ton truck loads that need to be moved into storage).  After this stove is here, I can buy a winter's worth of fuel for LESS than I'd have paid for a minimum-delivery load of oil... pellets running about $205/ton and a minimum oil delivery running right at $550/150 gallons.  No one I've met that owns one says they've used more than two tons in a winter, so for $410 I have a winter's worth of fuel and the oil can be my back-up.  That's a far cry from the $1,800 I'd need to fill my tanks twice a winter (even with the additional insulation efforts here at the Chateau, we're using about 750 gallons of oil a calendar year... minimum).

Even with the initial outlay of money, this is cheaper than the old way.  We filled the tanks in the summer for about $1,500.  We've used more than half the oil already, so we'd need another $1,500 before the season ends.  That's $3,000 in oil alone, and we still use electric heaters to supplemental the oil.  Now, we buy the stove and two tons of pellets, and we should be oil-electric free for the rest of the winter and on into the future.  Conceivably, we could see a full tank of oil last as long as two years or more.  Does fuel oil have an expiration date?

The stove is very impressive.  I saw it on display and functioning at the retailer.  Roughly speaking, it is about the size of a tall end table.  It is fed from the top of the unit.  A small window lets you actually see the firebox.  The stove does need to be "plugged in" to operate the blower and fuel feeder, but it is a very low-power operation and can be plugged into a small, very affordable generator for emergency short-term operation (ice storms, blizzards, etc).  The display model was operating with its exhaust vent un-attached... and when I placed my hand over the vent, I'd swear the heat coming out (which equals heat lost and wasted) was less than what my dryer vents out!  Amazing, really.  Set at a moderate level of heat, the "hopper" will last up to ten hours, and the unit is rated to heat a space of more than 12,000 square feet... roughly ten times the interior size of my house.  One bag of pellets fills the hopper and costs $4.10 from the retailer... although I've seen prices as low as $3.78 from other sources.  As long as it stays in the bag, it never goes bad, and the fuel is stacked (50 bags to a ton) and wrapped and delivered to your home.

So, for less than $2,500 I'll have the stove and two tons of fuel in less than 30 days... and it will pay for itself in less than one year.  That's a HUGE "done" check on my 2013 resolution list...