That's great!I have a wood insert. Only need about three chord a year. Electric bill usually ran around $200 a month from December to march. When the insert was installed the electric dropped to $65 the next month
The only thing I can think of with burning wood and oil, is something was causing a negative draft in the house.That's great!
I never thought I'd pull my wood stove out.
Pisser for me was I was burning a lot of wood, and still burning oil big time.
A "normal" winter day here takes about 5 gallons of oil, if the boiler is the only heat. At $4/gallon a few years ago.......you get the idea.
I think in February this year, we were below Zero 10 or 15 days!! Seems like the local weather guy said our average temp for the month was 8 degrees!! That's f#ckin' COLD!!
The cold is a great cottonmouth repellent!
Stove is twenty years old, but was only used 3 times before we got it. Past two years it gets fired up around the end of october, and goes through till March Daren - actually the boiler is in the cellar, and the woodstove was first floor. Pellet stove is in the same spot where the woodstove was. No draft issues - they are on separate chimneys, too.
Okay, noted. However, if you had a multi-fuel stove, wouldn't you have the same problem you are wrestling with: the pellets are just too wet?
bmblank, was that a retrofit or was your home built with it?
It's not so much a draft issue your having, I believe you have make up air problem. You have multiple things burning up the air in your home, its creates a negative air pressure within your home. The negative pressure turns your house vacuum drawing cold air through every nook and cranny of the shell causing the an air temperature drop. Most common place air will draw from is the seals within windows (you'll see condensation building up on the glass near where the sashes meet). It can also mess with the fuel/air mixture on a oil/gas appliance which you guys know can make it burn inefficiently. Kitchen vents and bathroom vents also contribute to the problem.
