Who here is a prepper or semi-prepared?

steveinaz

exalted512 wrote: »

is your pellet stove vented outside? How long does a 40 pound bag last?

My particular model doesn't require a fresh-air intake vent, but vents exhaust through my existing chimney via a stainless tube liner. Lots of variables on burn rate, but generally if you were running the stove all day (say 12hrs), you'd go through 1 bag or a little more. House size, outside temp, and insulation value will all play a part---and of course how hot you have the stove running. We generally run ours for inside temp of 70-71 degrees.

Keep in mind during the week, we only run the stove from about 4:30pm to around
9:00pm; M-F because we both work. I burn about 1/3 of a 40lb bag each work evening.

I don't think any of the Harman stoves require a fresh air vent.

tonyb

What are you suppose to do the other 12 hours of the day....freeze ? lol

So to keep your house at 70 degrees for 24 hours cost how much in pellets....about 10 bucks ?

steveinaz

tonyb wrote: »

What are you suppose to do the other 12 hours of the day....freeze ? lol

So to keep your house at 70 degrees for 24 hours cost how much in pellets....about 10 bucks ?

Well, mathematically yes---but does your gas furmance run 24/7? Of course not. Your homes insulation will have the stove shutting itself off when you reach the desired temp.

exalted512

$10/day seems to be on the expensive side.

tonyb

steveinaz wrote: »

tonyb wrote: »

What are you suppose to do the other 12 hours of the day....freeze ? lol

So to keep your house at 70 degrees for 24 hours cost how much in pellets....about 10 bucks ?

Well, mathematically yes---but does your gas furmance run 24/7? Of course not. Your homes insulation will have the stove shutting itself off when you reach the desired temp.

So in a typical day, what your saying is the stove runs about 12 hours total ? Makes sense then.

exalted512

tonyb wrote: »

So in a typical day, what your saying is the stove runs about 12 hours total ? Makes sense then.

ah, maybe i misread what he said.

afterburnt

I have a pallet of KFC wet naps. I am gonna be rich!

steveinaz

Correct---lets call it a weekend day. On a Saturday, I might go through 1 bag, if it's very cold outside; generally the average would be less, because we don't get that cold for long here.

Last year we went thru 1 ton of pellets (50bags) at a cost of $250/ton/pallet. Now, Illinois--you'd probably double that consumption, so let's call it $500/winter to heat your house.

Again there's tons of variables; stove size/rating, house square footage, insulation quality of your home, outdoor temps, how hot you run the stove, etc, etc. My stove is rated for up to 3600 sqft, and our house is 2400 sqft.

tonyb

afterburnt wrote: »

I have a pallet of KFC wet naps. I am gonna be rich!

Doubt it, if you frequent KFC that much, most likely you'll be dead soon.

afterburnt

Never touch the stuff but word on the street is them naps will be the currecy in the post apacalypse

steveinaz

It will be hard to back-into the numbers for our situation, because Southern Arizona winters are wierd. One day it can be 17 degrees, and next week it can be 70 degrees. Worst case scenario, lets say you used 1 bag a day, you're home all day, every day of the month--that would still only be $150/month--and you'd have to have a pretty poorly insulated house to need to burn that much fuel.

motorhead43026

Do you have thousands of pounds of pellets stored for the end of days?

steveinaz

motorhead43026 wrote: »

Do you have thousands of pounds of pellets stored for the end of days?

Umm no, for heat. Propane here is expensive. Now if we were back in town on natural gas, our gas bill averged about $185/month in the winter months, running the thermostat at 72 degrees. My wife gets cold easy, I'm generally comfortable at 68 degrees.

Storing pellets is a must, as I haven't seen a pellet tree yet out here.

motorhead43026

In Texas I think they burn cow chips.

txcoastal1

motorhead43026 wrote: »

In Texas I think they burn cow chips.

Hey now....offended

exalted512

steveinaz wrote: »

Correct---lets call it a weekend day. On a Saturday, I might go through 1 bag, if it's very cold outside; generally the average would be less, because we don't get that cold for long here.

Last year we went thru 1 ton of pellets (50bags) at a cost of $250/ton/pallet. Now, Illinois--you'd probably double that consumption, so let's call it $500/winter to heat your house.

Again there's tons of variables; stove size/rating, house square footage, insulation quality of your home, outdoor temps, how hot you run the stove, etc, etc. My stove is rated for up to 3600 sqft, and our house is 2400 sqft.

Good info. If your house 2-story or 1? If 2, how well does it heat the upstairs? How well does it heat the rooms that are furthest away from the stove?

I'll be building a house in the next couple of years and want to see how viable an option this is for us.

motorhead43026 wrote: »

In Texas I think they burn cow chips.

That'd be great! I'm surrounded by those.
-Cody

afterburnt

Is being preheated some kind of courtesy?

steveinaz

Cody--
We have a single level house, extra tall ceilings. Much will depend on how your house circulates air. What you can do to "assist" is to run your central air furnace set at like 68 degrees, and run the pellet stove simultaneously. This will allow your conventional heat to warm far away rooms until the stove has come up to temp; then your furnace thermostat will shut off. This also allows your central air system returns in the house to help re-circulate warm air near the stove, and re-distribute it.

polkfarmboy

The prepping should be taken serious, when the dollar crashes and supermarkets run dry I will be sitting pretty. The only problem for me and my doomsday crew is defending the crops and cattle, everything else is well taken care of. We should have a doomsday polkfest at my familys place?

steveinaz

Here's a good video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qy1uLlQ_uA

mhardy6647

Folks do use wood pellets up here, but mostly as auxiliary heat -- here it is COLD in January and February; over night lows frequently below zero; daytime highs frequently in the teens or less.

There was a bit of pretty severe unpleasantness here a couple of years ago around wood chip supply. As I understand it, Home Despot basically cornered the market by selling pellets much cheaper than any local suppliers could (ca. 3 years ago). The next year, they negotiated contracts with ALL of the regional pellet suppliers and bought 'em out -- essentially eliminating the ability for small local retailers to source pellets to sell. That year, Home Despot, having cornered the market the previous year, jacked the price way up.

One of the local chains (a hardware store/lumber yard called LaValley) put a full-page ad in the local paper about it; basically apologizing for 1) being unable to supply their customers and 2) for the exorbitant prices that their customers were being forced to pay due to Home Despot's shenanigans.

I notice this year every one seems to have pellets for sale, so apparently the above-mentioned nastiness was only transient.

EDIT: OK, not just Home Despot, here's the story (from 2014):
http://www.timesargus.com/article/20141103/BUSINESS03/709239917

I guess the point is that, in the Northeast, a "natural" product (firewood) has an intrinsic supply advantage over a manufactured product (wood pellets), at least from a typically Yankee perspective ;- )

Our son-in-law and daughter's new place has 80 acres of property, mostly wooded. Their goal is ultimately to be largely self-sufficient for firewood. THAT's real New England "self-reliance"! :- )

steveinaz

Agree, whole heartedly--we're just the opposite, wood in S Az is expensive; like $285 for 1/2 chord. If I were in your area I'd wood stove as well.

tonyb

steveinaz wrote: »

Agree, whole heartedly--we're just the opposite, wood in S Az is expensive; like $285 for 1/2 chord. If I were in your area I'd wood stove as well.

Wow, that is expensive. That's double the cost by me, and even here they call them "their little Gold bricks".

afterburnt

How long does that pre cooked bacon last? That alone will give me the will to go on.

lightman1

I'm prepper, he's a prepper, she's a prepper. Wouldn't you like to be a prepper too?
Be a prepper, think like a prepper....
SORRY! Couldn't help myself.

Joey_V

I have the best first aid kit at home.

maximillian

Not a serious prepper, but this is what I did last: I have oil heat so basically have an on-site reserve. When I put an 500 ft^2 addition on I added a second furnace and propane for the addition. Contractor thought I should have gone heat-pump. However, I think a heat pump would use more electricity, and propane would allow me to convert my electric hot water to propane based on demand. I could also install a couple propane fireplaces in the home to heat other portions of it should the oil supply be temporarily unavailable.

The two furnaces still use electricity but I have a generator to handle the little bit required to run the furnaces. At least the fuel sources are from two on-site tanks with different fuels.

If it gets real bad then the problem is other people. When you start losing services then people can become nasty. You could prep all you want, but if the have-nots know you have-some then even with home defenses things are going to get nasty. With the winter storms over the past few years that knocked out electric for a few days ( 1 week in remote areas) there were cases of people's generators being stolen. I can't imagine if electricity gets knocked out for 2-3 weeks or more.

afterburnt

brains will be stolen

tonyb

afterburnt wrote: »

brains will be stolen

That already have for some time now.

Mikey081057

I have been working on my preparation plans A thru G, now I am on Preparation H.