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We are taking another somewhat green step...and save some money in the process. We are buying a wood pellet stove. Pellets are 100% recycled...and although there are emissions in the production of pellets, burning produces far less CO/CO2 than burning oil. We are reducing our carbon footprint...and equally as important...our use of fossil fuels.
The stove costs $1800 including (bought factory direct)...$500 for installation...and $900 for pellets (3 tons, delivered). So $3200 initial investment.
We used 3.5 tanks of oil last winter ( 962.5 gal). At $5.00 a gal this winter...we would spend over $4800 on oil.
We estimate the stove will reduce our oil consumption by 75%. Even if it is by half we will pay off the stove in 1-2 seasons.
alexei, what make of pellet stove are you buying? I've been looking at Harmon and Quadfire.
Howdy...
I think we are settling on a Napoleon. They are very popular in Europe and are being introduced here in the State. It's made in Canada. We wanted to go USA made for lots of reasons...but unfortunately this stove just won us over with it's quality.
check out their website...napoleonfireplaces.com. If you shop around you can find the NPS40 for under $2K...just over 2K with shipping/vent/accessories.
Are you in NY? I am buying mine factory direct from a guy near Albany. I can pass on his info if you like :-)
I found pellets (Ligonite) for $268/ton...most are going for 300-325 a ton.
When we move back to Southern Calif our life will be more green, a lot more green.
Where we live now...
.... There are no recycling bins. (We were shocked when we moved to Texas. I don't know if it's like that all over Texas or just our town). Coming from Calif we were so used to our "Blue Bin".
.... Where we are in Texas, From fall to spring you need the heater on and from spring to fall you need the air on. Where we lived in Calif you hardly needed either.
.... Plus when we move back to Calif we are buying a hybrid. We can't buy the one we want here because of our location (no one would know how to repair it, if needed).
But we do conserve the best we can now, it just will be so much easier once we move back.
From a purely selfish standpoint (I am sick and tired of changing the toilet paper roll out); I bought mega rolls of toilet paper. This will reduce the number of cardboard tp rolls used.
Composting
Riding our bicycles for errands
Drive a sub-compact
Got rid of second car which was going largely unused
Grow some of our own produce
Raised our thermostat for A/C and made it colder for winter
Buy things at second hand stores
Trade books and clothing with friends
Eat mostly vegetarian
Support my local farmers and community market
Volunteer time for a community newsletter
We recycle EVERYTHING we THINK we can. If it can't be recycled they either chuck it at the site of leave it for us to deal with. We do toss the obvious stuff... but I have three trash cans and two bins that we use for our recycling- our trash is so minimal now. I have also purchased canvas totes for $1/ea for my groceries. My cleaning fluids- window, dish, laundry, dishwasher... ALL are eco friendly. I have switched all of my bulbs over... we do most of our short jogs in my hubby's car- because it gets better mileage... and we PLAN our daily commutes now in terms of where we will be and what we need in THAT area- cuts down on gas. I have gone from filling up once a week to 1.5 to 2 weeks. I live in the sticks so there is no getting around the car... but we try to do what we can with it. Our next purchase is a hybrid.
We only have the house phone-no cells here. We dont need any additional stress. In this house-1932-we use all CFL's and long life bulbs.We have recently switched over to a pellet stove in the living room- saving us quite abit in fuel costs & knocking down the Kill-a-watts by 133 from the last bill. Last year we spent, trying to keep this place warm,$2000.00,oil & propane-not to mention the light bill,and still I was chilly. Since we are remodeling the entire house anyways & just built the addition last year, we are applying "Radiant Barrier", everywhere. For now- our calculations are based on using 4 ton of pellets {1500 sq. ft}, at $215 per ton. Throw in some extra for the little log propane stove, calculating spending $ 1200.00. And thats with it not completely buttoned up yet. We are now in the process of insulating the cellar thats never been done. We have just found out,since we will stop using the oil all together next year,that oil furnaces can be changed over and made into a pellet furnace. Thats good news for us-since we were going to take it out completely,and invest in multi-fuel in the cellar so we will hold off on removing it. Just popping in registers now for our bedroom upstairs and allow the heat to drift up-invested in electric mattress pads that heat the beds up-then can shut them off when you climb in- and what a huge difference! It doesn't matter what the temp is upstairs now- but usually its around 62-64. We're sleeping so much better now,all thru the night- with no cold frigid bed, no cold feet. We tried the "Rice Socks" but that wasnt doing the trick.We start gutting our bedroom remodel in April, and the attic crawl space gets more insulation at the same time,and by next winter it should be so much better. The pellet stove "Napolean" does a decent job, the heat disperses much more evenly thruout the adjoining rooms, with ceiling & floor fans. I am definitley a fan of zone heating now-and it is possible we will switch the log propane to another pellet-not sure yet. We needed to buy a car anyways-so bought a "Toyota Yaris" hatchback-consistently getting 40- 42 m.p.g. We're about to build our 1st "Solar Air Collector Heater" within this next month,planning on building 3 more soon to follow attaching them to the south & southwest side of the house.Estimated projected cost of building all of them is around $250 and they are big. Additional sunspace collectors are on the drawing board. We have 3 rain barrels strategcially placed,more to set-up next summer. Solar lights{some} more in the future, and solar panels on the drawing board also. Thermal storage {rock}is to be incorporated as we remodel.The "Power Saver" 1200-or similiar to be installed next spring-as a small generator is needed first.Anything or everything we can dream up will be on the drawing board. For now anyways, I no longer have to buy garbage bags-as I use the 40 lb. -pellet stove bags in the waste baskets, and we organic garden & compost. I've been using a "Neuton" battery operated mower for a portion of the acre lot we have-but would like to see it powered by a sun panel. It does a great job cutting. All the beds are raised beds to conserve water & mulch- a drip irrigation line for the high-bush blueberry orchard if needed.As we are in full sun all day long -we are planting trees in certain spots-and a stockade fence in front, to cut down on the winter winds hitting the house is about 3/4 done.A solar air collector on the garage workshop to be built- and a small greenhouse in the near future.
I combine errands, saving gas.
I try to buy locally if at all possible, I no longer go to Wal-Mart or any other big box store unless absolutely necessary.
I look on labels and buy brands of food that are made either in my state or as close as possible, maybe in neighboring states. This food is generally better.
I buy local produce and honey.
I go to thrift shops, garage sales, and estate sales. I hate to have to buy anything new. It is such a waste.
I buy books from the same places or from book sales and exchange them online.
I make homemade gifts.
Organic cleaning products.
Baking soda can be used to brush teeth, as a deodorant/antiperspirant, and to wash your hair, and many other things.
I keep a lot of canvas bags and try not to use those awful plastic ones. The ones I do get I use for trash bags and I don't buy regular trash bags.
I hate all things plastic and try to eliminate them from my life. Foil or brown paper bags instead of plastic ziplocs. Glass or metal refrigerator dishes instead of plastic. Empty glass jars w/ metal lids are great for taking lunches or just storing leftovers or anything else.
Unplug things when not in use (microwave, coffee pot, computer, TV, etc.)
I don't subscribe to cable.
Donate things I no longer want.
I pay bills online. Saves stamps.
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