December 2012 Coal Consumption

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Mon. Dec. 31, 2012 8:29 am

I'm at just about 1,300 lbs. even for December. There have been only 904 heating degree days in my region of Ohio this December. That is well below the December historical average of 1,100 HDD's for this area.

GA cracker · Post by **GA cracker** » Mon. Dec. 31, 2012 8:35 am

About 1000 lbs. Dec electric bill down $100.00
C.

Wiz · Post by **Wiz** » Mon. Dec. 31, 2012 9:15 am

Next year I might keep a better track on monthly coal usage them I'm doing now

It's rewarding enough not to see the oil truck pulling up in my driveway.

SMITTY · Post by **SMITTY** » Mon. Dec. 31, 2012 9:21 am

Don't know about this month, but in 30 days of burning I did one bag over a pallet: 2,440 lbs.

This house puts me in the poorhouse every season just to keep warm.

If I had to rely on oil, I'd freeze to death.

SteveZee · Post by **SteveZee** » Mon. Dec. 31, 2012 9:40 am

SMITTY wrote:Don't know about this month, but in 30 days of burning I did one bag over a pallet: 2,440 lbs.

This house puts me in the poorhouse every season just to keep warm. If I had to rely on oil, I'd freeze to death.

I think I've used at least that much too Smitty. I've been burning since mid October and just eyeballing, it looks like about a 1/3rd of my 6 ton pile.

Hope I'm wrong (and it's less) but I always hope that and maybe I'm right on what I budgeted for.

hcarlow · Post by **hcarlow** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 1:17 pm

We had 1165 hdd days for Dec. in my area and I used 1360 lbs. for that month

Post by **Rob R.** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 1:44 pm

I forgot to note where I left off at the end of November. Looks like about 3 tons have "left the building" since October 1st.

LiftedAWDAstro · Post by **LiftedAWDAstro** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 1:48 pm

For December I burned 2140 lbs. for a total cost of $267.50. Oil would have been 200 gallons maybe more keeping the house at 72 like I do now.

tinmanKC10 · Post by **tinmanKC10** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 5:40 pm

I burned 2700 lbs for Dec 2012, my demand varys because of me heating my 30x56 shop in addition to my house. Total sq ft heating is 5680. Temps have been pretty much the same most of the month, last few nights got down to single digits and I was burning just over 100lbs a day.

Post by **Lightning** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 6:01 pm

GA cracker wrote:About 1000 lbs. Dec electric bill down $100.00
C.

Electric down because of a DHW coil?

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 6:32 pm

The best I can figure is that when our house was all electric 18% of our annual KWH's consumed were due to our electric hot water tank, and 58% of our annual KWH's consumed were from heating our home with an electric resistance boiler. That totals to 76% of our former annual electricity usage.

DHW and home heating are 100% from coal now. We've gone down from using about 27,000 KWH per year to using about 6,500 KWH per year.

Post by **Lightning** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 6:49 pm

lsayre wrote:We've gone down from using about 27,000 KWH per year to using about 6,500 KWH per year.

OMG!!!

At $.135 per KW thats $303.75 per month!! $3645.00 for the year!!

I'm saving $90.00 on electric so far per month with my water coils

plumber · Post by **plumber** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 7:13 pm

1542 lbs for December and 10,504 for 2012.

lsayre · Post by **lsayre** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 7:19 pm

plumber wrote:1542 lbs for December and 10,504 for 2012.

I had to go back and add up exclusively our 2012 usage. It came to 10,546 lbs, or almost exactly what you used. I go year round with my boiler as it heats our DHW.

Post by **Lightning** » Wed. Jan. 02, 2013 9:28 pm

I just added my numbers up. Wow the results tell interesting tales

Total pounds for December 1260. Averaged 42 pounds per day.
I calculated 1124 heated degrees (I subtracted actual daily mean temp for each day from indoor temp of 72)
I used 1.121 pounds per heated degree...

My November was 1.097 pounds per heated degree. So, I'm thinking the harder I push the furnace, the less efficient it becomes. Must be a slightly higher percentage of heat is going up the chimney than before? Or does it take more energy per degree to maintain 72 in the house when its colder out? (Have fun with that one hahahaha)

A colder month may tell a different story

Question.. What if I turn the thermostat down a couple degrees for a few hours when nobody is home?
Does that throw the whole thing outta whack??
And where does heat generated from light bulbs and TVs and computers fit into this mess :surrender: