BiggerPockets

Call the electric and gas company and ask them if its typical. Electricity can be much more expensive. Make sure the system is tight and not leaking anywhere. And that the house is not leaking.

GENERALLY gas is much cheaper than electricity.

guy explained it once,,,electricity has to be made from gas or other fossil fuel,,efficency factors in ,,,so there is an extra step in there from gas,hence double profit margins,operating expenses.

Personnally here where it gets 20 below,,,I would NEVER buy an electric heat house!!FWIW

Joe,
Where do you chimney the pellet stove?? ANY smoke issues with it?? In my part of the world,land of corn and more corn,,it would be first choice with pellets as a back up.

How many dollars a COLD month does your stove burn??

BEST cheapest yet I BELIEVE is a gas high efficency furnace. Maybe not the top of the line since they are real expensive,,,but one that is efficent enough to use 2 small pvc pipes to the outside walls to vent /intake.

I grant my house is small,800 square feet, new double pane replacement windows and I set it at 65*(makes alot of dif) but the coldest month of all should have been last month,,,had a few 20 belows in there,,,and gas bill was 106 bucks for 32 days. have the pvc pipe newer furnace.

Those old metal chimney gas wasters are about shot everywhere anyway. Somebody said they are like frigs. in our kitchens,,,if they are 15-20 years old they waste more than they NEED to and replacement makes sense.

A furnace and central air can be had for a very reasonable price,,,IF duct work doesnt need redone!!

To original poster,I would see if gas service is still in the house and convert BACK to a higher efficency gas furnace. Will always be cheaper and add central air so they dont screw up your windows with window air!!!

The pellet stove needs to be vented through a 3"-4" vent. Just like your dryer vent. No need for a chimney. As far as price per month goes I think it would depend on how much the pellets are in your area, the size of the home, and how high or low you have the stove set to. I would estimate that December we used around $75 worth of pellets. Our house is appx. 1200sqft

every tenant i've encountered wants a ALL electric house. because it's 1 bill. haha. It doesn't matter if u tell them gas is cheaper.

on this newest house I'm doing I just made it all electric. easier installs too, no venting needed, etc.

oh yea, I've had some tenants complain recently. I'm in OHIO btw. They complained b/c they had a 280 dollar gas bill for a 1800sqft. house that they heat to 70 degrees... i mean come on.. I said oh wow, thats cheap!

Moneypenny

The pellet stove does about 85% of our heating with the furnace kicking up the other 15%. Sometime I don't get around to filling the pellet stove(my wife doesn't like to mess with that stuff) so the furnace kicks on. If you kept on top of the pellet stove I would say that you could use it as your only source of heat. Always good to have a backup though. As far as price for the winter heating cost, this will be my first year with the pellet stove so I'll have to post something once the winter is over.

Really? Do you have a reference for that?

"As of today electric is in no way cheaper than gas!!! That is as far as I can find!!!!"

Amen, A $300 electric bill and a $64 gas bill does not lie. Same family, same habits. Two houses.

Originally posted by Joe Shively

Moneypenny

The pellet stove does about 85% of our heating with the furnace kicking up the other 15%. Sometime I don't get around to filling the pellet stove(my wife doesn't like to mess with that stuff) so the furnace kicks on. If you kept on top of the pellet stove I would say that you could use it as your only source of heat. Always good to have a backup though. As far as price for the winter heating cost, this will be my first year with the pellet stove so I'll have to post something once the winter is over.

Thanks for the info, Joe. I know someone who is extremely thrifty, and they use a pellet stove to heat their home. So there must be something to that. The only potential problems I can see are if the pellets become difficult to get, the fire hazard, and possible carbon monoxide poisoning. One year in my area, the pellets were hard to get. Perhaps one is better off with a stove that can burn more than one fuel? I've seen those advertised for sale.

moneypenny