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Thread: Electrical Consumption

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Fulton, NY
    Posts
    1,374

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    Looks like I'm at around $1.47/gal for electric. Power in the woods was only about $.42 of that. Different company and supplier out there. I shoulda payed more attention to bills earlier, because I was being charged over double the going rate for electricity supply at home!
    Tim Whitens
    Willow Creek Farm
    Fulton, NY

    3000 on vacuum, 3hp 3ph Busch pump, 2567 Gast
    30X8 Leader oil-fired evap. w/ steamaway
    Airablo 1000 RO
    6 Alpacas

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Bristol, VT
    Posts
    1,978

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    I thought I would revive this thread to see how people did this year with electrical consumption. This season I am at about $1.10/gal. of syrup produced, so a little better than last season. This year I added the RO and changed my releaser pump to a 3/4 hp 120 V submersible to a 1hp 3 phase motor controlled by a VFD. No major changes beyond that. The Vac. pump ran longer than last season as we went from 3/8 - 4/16 running the pump. Somewhat intermittent during the early part of the season due to extended freeze-ups then 24/7 for almost 3 weeks up until the end. Even with 200 more taps, but more time checking for leaks (Thanks RO!), I was able to run the pump no higher than 50hz and often down to 42hz and maintain 27.5".

    I thought my bill would be higher compared to last year considering the RO addition, but I did add taps and made almost twice as much syrup as last season. The blower on the Evap. ran considerably less and I used less lighting due to less boiling at night.

    All in all I think $1.10/gal syrup produced is pretty reasonable. With more taps next season I should be able to drop that even further.
    About 750 taps on High Vac.
    2.5 x 8 Intens-O-Fire
    Airtech 3 hp LR Pump
    Springtech Elite 500 RO
    14 x 24 Timber Frame SugarHouse
    16 x 22 Sap Shed w/ 1500 gal. + 700 gal. tanks
    www.littlehogbackfarm.com

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Middlebury Center, PA
    Posts
    1,391

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    Mine was $1.30 a gallon, which is not bad I know we have higher rates than most. I actually expected it to be more. A slightly more consistent year would have yielded more syrup and lowered the cost per gallon some. I am actually amazed as to how little my bill went up from say February when all I was doing was keeping my RO room warm to March where we were running everything.
    Jared

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Bristol, VT
    Posts
    1,978

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    My electrical cost per gallon of syrup produced this season was about $1.10 which is down from last season (2018) when it was about $1.50/gal. We got lots of sap in 2018 (record production) with low sugar content and had a nearly 3-month long season so the RO and vacuum pump ran considerably more than this season. This year the season was exactly one month long and the sugar content was considerably higher. We didn't boil until 3/15 but did run the vac. pump some in Feb. and early March. I am using an electric canner now and am running a compressor for the diaphragm pump in the filter press.

    I am hoping to add some more taps for 2020 but no major equipment additions are planned. I am considering a refrigerated bulk tank down the road for keeping late season sap/concentrate cold, which will increase electric consumption, but other than that my usage should stay pretty consistent in the $1.10-$1.50/ gallon range, where it has been.
    About 750 taps on High Vac.
    2.5 x 8 Intens-O-Fire
    Airtech 3 hp LR Pump
    Springtech Elite 500 RO
    14 x 24 Timber Frame SugarHouse
    16 x 22 Sap Shed w/ 1500 gal. + 700 gal. tanks
    www.littlehogbackfarm.com

  5. #15
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    New Hartford, N.Y.
    Posts
    2,093

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    A bulk tank won't add too much to anyone's total usage. Mine holds the cold well and does not run very often.

    Steve
    2014 Upgrades!: 24x40 sugarhouse & 30"x10' Lapierre welded pans, wood fired w/ forced draft, homemade hood & preheater
    400 taps- half on gravity 5/16, half on gravity 3/16
    Airablo R.O. machine - in the house basement!
    Ford F-350 4x4 sap gatherer
    An assortment of barrels, cage tanks & bulk tanks- with one operational for cooling/holding concentrate
    And a few puzzled neighbors...

    http://s606.photobucket.com/albums/t...uckethead1920/

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Eagle lake Maine
    Posts
    280

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    We live near a college and always get a few college kids out for Maine Maple Sunday etc. Invariably I always get questions like,"have you considered switching to wind power or solar?" I'm like," our season is 3 to 4 weeks long, after the vacuum pump and r/o are shut off we use very little electricity." They simply aren't aware that spending 15k to 20k for "alternative energy" will never pay itself back.

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