Comparing cost of oil and electricity for heat

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

If the space you're heating with the 1,500 watt heater is much smaller than what you would have to heat with oil AND it's a well-insulated space AND it's for a finite period of time, then I would say yes, it would save the money. If, however, you have a leaky space or door open and will run it for a while, no, it would not be a savings. I would add that what you're probably saving, unless you have an incredibly drafty or large area beyond the one room, is negligible given a difference of a degree or two, especially if you open the door to go to the bathroom or have the slightest gap under the door, etc.

That makes total sense, thank you. I think what I'm saving could work out to a full tank of gas for my car each month, so it's worth it.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

That makes total sense, thank you. I think what I'm saving could work out to a full tank of gas for my car each month, so it's worth it.

That's where the subjective part comes in, for sure. If I recall, you've got a small car, so ~$40/tank right now? For that, I'd rather not worry about opening doors or having it chilly when I go to the bathroom, etc. Especially where you can probably make up the difference by programming the thermostat well.

But that's moi!

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[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

That's where the subjective part comes in, for sure. If I recall, you've got a small car, so ~$40/tank right now? For that, I'd rather not worry about opening doors or having it chilly when I go to the bathroom, etc. Especially where you can probably make up the difference by programming the thermostat well. But that's moi! Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

Yes, small car $38 a tank. I was raised in a cold house. My dad worked for the electric company and he policed the lights and heat in the house. When Jimmy Carter asked Americans to lower their thermostat to 65 during the gas crisis, my parents lowered it to 60 because it already was at 65. You acclimate to that. I don't heat the upstairs of my house at all. If the outside temperature is above 25, I open the bedroom window at night (last night, for example). I also like to camp in the winter. Photo below: January, 5 degrees the previous night. Toasty! Tip: Don't leave bird feeder over your tent at night.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Yes, small car $38 a tank. I was raised in a cold house. My dad worked for the electric company and he policed the lights and heat in the house. When Jimmy Carter asked Americans to lower their thermostat to 65 during the gas crisis, my parents lowered it to 60 because it already was at 65. You acclimate to that. I don't heat the upstairs of my house at all. If the outside temperature is above 25, I open the bedroom window at night (last night, for example). I also like to camp in the winter. Photo below: January, 5 degrees the previous night. Toasty! Tip: Don't leave bird feeder over your tent at night.

Soooo it's not about saving money? Color me confused.

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[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Soooo it's not about saving money? Color me confused.

Yes, it's certainly about saving money.

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by SailinAway

Yes, small car $38 a tank. I was raised in a cold house. My dad worked for the electric company and he policed the lights and heat in the house. When Jimmy Carter asked Americans to lower their thermostat to 65 during the gas crisis, my parents lowered it to 60 because it already was at 65. You acclimate to that. I don't heat the upstairs of my house at all. If the outside temperature is above 25, I open the bedroom window at night (last night, for example). I also like to camp in the winter. Photo below: January, 5 degrees the previous night. Toasty! Tip: Don't leave bird feeder over your tent at night.

Awesome! Pretty much the same here. I used to love Deep Freeze and Polar Bear weekends as a Boy Scout. When my Dad offered me the choice of my own unheated bedroom on the third floor, or sharing a room with my kid brother, it took just moments for me to move upstairs

[SailinAway]

Originally Posted by FlyingScot

Awesome! Pretty much the same here. I used to love Deep Freeze and Polar Bear weekends as a Boy Scout. When my Dad offered me the choice of my own unheated bedroom on the third floor, or sharing a room with my kid brother, it took just moments for me to move upstairs

Course, there's no need to suffer in a cold tent these days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouMZE1KI15g Scroll to 8:40.

[upthesaukee]

Two years ago we did not burn any wood and just heated with oil (outside tank = kero). Last year we waited till the last minute to decide to burn some wood and got two cords of "seasoned" wood. Around $800 for the two cords.

This year, we cut and split close to 3 cords with the help of a few friends. Started off hand splitting until one of my neighbors stopped by and let me know I could borrow his gas log splitter. (Who knew he had one??? I didn't )

Wood sat on the driveway from the end of June until mid-September. We did not start to burn wood until mid-December because we were not around Nov to mid-Dec.

We burn from when we get up in the morning around 530 or so and last load goes into the stove between 630-700 usually.

I have a Nest learning thermostat and looking at the history while we were away, with the temp set at 50, the furnace ran around 3.5 - 4.5 hrs daily.

Burning the wood during the day, the furnace is only running around 1.5 to 2.5 hrs daily. Given the fact the wood cost me nothing but my time and effort plus about a gallon of gas for the splitter, I'm feeling pretty good about our savings on the fuel oil cost.

Now if I could just find a way to use swim noodles to make wood splitting easier.

Dave

[John Mercier]

We did that experiment.
One home wood and oil boiler with tankless; other just the oil boiler with tankless. Wood savings over a three year period averaged about 100 gallons.
Home using the wood has since switched to a mini-split... but still uses about 100 gallons annually less than me. Hot water, and the standby, eats up a lot of the usage.