Baby It's Cold Outside

Page 4 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Chaotic42

Lifer
Jun 15, 2001
33,932
1,113
126
18th century plantation house with 3 boilers.
And even with our 350kW solar farm it sucks with all the snow and clouds.
When oil topped $4 it was horrific.
I've been talking with friends who live in New York and they pay $2.79 for oil. I'm really glad I don't live somewhere that cold.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,459
12,613
126
www.anyf.ca
Wait, did you say 350KW of solar? As in 350,000 watts? How is that not enough to heat on it's own? You could run a bunch of electric water heaters in the day and then use that to heat the house using rads. That, on top of the wood stove should be enough I would think.

It's my dream to eventually buy land where I can setup a big solar array, though I would probably do like 20-40kw at most. I don't imagine I would need more, though battery storage is what is important too as the days are so short except for the summer months. Then I'd have more power than I know what to do with, so probably just go crazy on the A/C since I can.
 

snoopy7548

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2005
8,126
5,151
146
Propane is currently around $2/gal. up here. For the past six years, it has gone from ~$2.2, to a high of $2.6, and a low of $1.6. I've been averaging roughly one and a half fills per year (I have a 500 gallon underground tank), so my monthly cost over the year is less than $100.

The key is having good insulation and air sealing.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,459
12,613
126
www.anyf.ca
Air sealing alone is super important and was often neglected in older construction. My living room will be like 15C and my basement will be 20C, difference is I insulated the basement myself and air sealed it super well. Heck it's not even done, lot of nooks and crannies I need to tie in properly, and still need to do laundry room and crawlspace. Used acoustic sealant and vapor barrier tape to seal the vapour barrier.

Upstairs, from what I can tell they didn't even use tape at all.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,704
5,456
136
6F but "feels like -8F".

RWD is fun on the ice, lemme tell ya. The trick is to drive backwards & pretend like you have a FWD car.