I just got the December electric bill in the email this evening.  This should be the first bill where the new wood gasification boiler system has been completely operational.  The November billing period was from October 15 to November 14.  Initial system startup was the first week of November.  The bill for that period was $149.60, but the pro-rated savings are uncertain since the previous month’s bill was unusually high (about $182) because it was estimated.  For the billing period November 15 to December 12, the first full month of operation, the electric bill came in at $89.16.  Since there were no other changes to our usage patterns the little over $60 savings appears to be pretty much due to the DHW tank no longer being electrically heated.  Most likely the savings are even more since the $149.60 figure is probably lower than it would have been had we not started firing the boiler when we did.  That sounds about right, because from past experiences when we’ve been away for extended periods I estimated the DHW tank consumed about $60 per month.  Now if I can find some vacuum tube solar collectors cheap I have some numbers to use for cost justification analysis…