What do you use to heat your house?

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: FreshPrince
Is it better to keep the fan "on" at all times or "auto" and have it come on when needed? will it save me on power bill? what about gas bill?

My furnace/AC won't work if I turn it the fan to "ON". Just a fan circulating air around the house. I know some systems will work like this, possibly electric only? I know also the fan speed of my fan is a 2 speed system and it works faster on AC than on the gas furnace. The Fan to "ON" runs the same speed as the AC runs.

Good question. Might or might not be possible. Not sure if it would help or hurt though.

Our old furnace at our previous house allowed the fan to be turned on by itself (had to change a setting on the furnace). Since the furnace was in the basement, I was able to disconnect the cold air return from the rest of the house and feed the furnace with air from the basement (it was dry enough and not too musty down there.) The basement was MUCH cooler than the rest of the house, so this helped cool the house during hot days in the summer. Since I didn't trust myself to remember to turn it back off, I only did this for about 2 days in all of 15 years.

 

[Stifko]

Originally posted by: ranmaniac
So you have storm windows, but what about the rest of the house? Probably need to upgrade the furnace, and make sure it gets serviced.

That is a great point about servicing the furnace. I don't know when it was serviced last. I have to find someone to check it out. I don't want to upgrade the furnace, but replace it with another one that burns a different type of fuel.

As for the windows, almost all of them have storm windows. I also went to homedepot and bought a bunch of 1/2 in thick foam sheets and cut them to size and stuck them in the windows (on the inside). The sheets were 4x8 so I got 3 windows done per sheet. The windows are a little taller than 4 feet, so there is a small gap on top of each window that is uncovered. The foam does cut down on the drafts, especially when the wind is blowing.

 

[DrPizza]

Don't be too quick to discount the idea of replacing the furnace. In the house we rent out, I had to replace the furnace last year. My cost was around $800, since I installed it with the help of my bro-in-law. (Or rather, he installed it with my help.) Had I been smarter, I would have replaced my furnace many years before. It would have paid for itself within 4 months during any winter during the past 15 years. Our tenants were thrilled though; it cut their monthly gas bill by more than half.

 

[Modelworks]

Using a heat pump.
One bedroom apartment, about 1100sq ft.
Utility bill averages 60-80.00 depending on weather.

Previously had a house that only had a fire place for heat.
Froze my ass off.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: BladeVenom

Originally posted by: DrPizza
1 ton of anthracite coal (rice) costs me $220 and contains about 25 *million* btu's of energy.

I checked the first site you listed. "Hardwood 24 million BTU/cord." About the same energy as a ton of coal. Of course prices vary a lot on wood, but I can buy it for half the price you pay for coal.

I hope you realize that when you purchase a cord of wood, it's actually a "face cord", not a true cord. Also, only a few types of hardwood actually have 24 million btu's. (White oak being one of them.) A full cord is 4 feet by 32 feet by 16 inches. (3 face cords.) So, your "half the price" is actually (probably) 1.5 times the price and comes just a little shy on the btu's. But, if you can purchase a cord of wood for $30, then that's definitely the cheapest way to go. check this site out for purchasing firewood

Wait, so does 1 FULL cord (4x4x8ft) equal roughly the heat output of one ton of coal?

 

[Scarpozzi]

Natural Gas....Central Unit. I also have 2 Gas Ranges on the same meter...one for my kitchen and one for my rental apartment.

I've spent $20 a month until last month where it jumped to $43. (we had 2 or 3 cold weeks)

Gas is the best if you ask me. My parents use Fuel-Oil and it used to be much cheaper than it is now. It's definitely a good heating system, but is more costly than Gas these days.

 

[TankGuys]

Geothermal (Ground source heat pump).

Best option out there right now, especially if building a new house. Retro-fitting an existing home is a bit more difficult.

Before we installed the Geo system, we paid ~$2800 / year on propane to heat our house, and we had no A/C. Since installing the Geo system, my heating/cooling bills will total about $850 for the entire YEAR, for both heat AND A/C. Not too shabby

 

[Stifko]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Don't be too quick to discount the idea of replacing the furnace. ...

Thanks but replace it to what? Another gas furnace or oil or coal or what?

 

[TankGuys]

Originally posted by: Stifko

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Don't be too quick to discount the idea of replacing the furnace. ...

Thanks but replace it to what? Another gas furnace or oil or coal or what?

Do you have a lot of land? (1+ acre?) If so, seriously look into Geothermal, as I posted above. The up-front cost is much higher than other options, but even with financing, the monthly payment + operating cost is often *lower* than what you pay now. Plus, it adds a ton of value to your house, and saves much $$ in the long run.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Stifko

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Don't be too quick to discount the idea of replacing the furnace. ...

Thanks but replace it to what? Another gas furnace or oil or coal or what?

Heat pump system (preferably geothermal) with supplemental electric heat or a new gas furnace if that is to costly at present.

Get your house checked out for air leaks too, get rid of any single pane glass, and insulate.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: TankGuys

Originally posted by: Stifko

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Don't be too quick to discount the idea of replacing the furnace. ...

Thanks but replace it to what? Another gas furnace or oil or coal or what?

Do you have a lot of land? (1+ acre?) If so, seriously look into Geothermal, as I posted above. The up-front cost is much higher than other options, but even with financing, the monthly payment + operating cost is often *lower* than what you pay now. Plus, it adds a ton of value to your house, and saves much $$ in the long run.

Even if he doesn't have a lot of land he could install a vertical system, costs a bit more though.

 

[Stifko]

Originally posted by: TankGuys

Originally posted by: Stifko

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Don't be too quick to discount the idea of replacing the furnace. ...

Thanks but replace it to what? Another gas furnace or oil or coal or what?

Do you have a lot of land? (1+ acre?) If so, seriously look into Geothermal, as I posted above. The up-front cost is much higher than other options, but even with financing, the monthly payment + operating cost is often *lower* than what you pay now. Plus, it adds a ton of value to your house, and saves much $$ in the long run.

I have some land, but not quite an acre.

I wanna have the house checked out for leaks. What kind of company does that kind of thing?

 

[imported_Section8]

Propane.

 

[markgm]

Natural gas, up in CT, 2450 SQ FT, most my bill is is around $120-$140 for the coldest month of the year, otherwise it's in the $80 range. I also have gas hot water. Usually the service fee is higher than the rest of the bill.

 

[TankGuys]

Originally posted by: K1052

Even if he doesn't have a lot of land he could install a vertical system, costs a bit more though.

Yea, the only bummer is that's pretty do-able for new construction, but on a retro-fit, I think the economics start to be a wash.

@ K1052 - you don't really need a full acre. That gives some extra room, but you don't always need that much. Many installers now do a slinky type arrangement with the ground loops, which makes the land requirement much less.

Either way, I'd SERIOUSLY look into it if I were you. A quote/estimate at least should be free, so you've nothing to lose. If you can get it installed, you'll be glad you did!

 

[markgm]

Originally posted by: Stifko

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Don't be too quick to discount the idea of replacing the furnace. ...

Thanks but replace it to what? Another gas furnace or oil or coal or what?

At that price I'd replace the house. Those prices are close to what some folks mortgages are!

Replace it with a gas furnace that's more efficient is what I'm sure DrPizza means.

 

[Pepsi90919]

fap furiously

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: Stifko

Originally posted by: TankGuys

Originally posted by: Stifko

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Don't be too quick to discount the idea of replacing the furnace. ...

Thanks but replace it to what? Another gas furnace or oil or coal or what?

Do you have a lot of land? (1+ acre?) If so, seriously look into Geothermal, as I posted above. The up-front cost is much higher than other options, but even with financing, the monthly payment + operating cost is often *lower* than what you pay now. Plus, it adds a ton of value to your house, and saves much $$ in the long run.

I have some land, but not quite an acre.

I wanna have the house checked out for leaks. What kind of company does that kind of thing?

"Infrared services/thermal imagining" is what you want. Some will combine this with a "blower door test."

Prices are pretty reasonable for the thermal imaging, around $200.


EDIT: btw-geothermal heat pumps are the great, but cost quite a bit up front ($5K-$10K)

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
fap furiously

how's that working for ya?

 

[Bryophyte]

Woodstove. Free firewood and enough forestland to completely offset the woodsmoke the stove puts out. We'll use our forced-air electric furnace occasionally, but not often enough to really affect the power bill noticably.

 

[reeserock]

Natural Gas for Heat/Hot Water. Bills about $30 in summer $60 - 70 in winter.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Up to 2 month ago I was heating my 2600sf house with natural gas fireplaces & electric baseboard and the combine cost was around $90 to $92 a month during the winter months here in west coast Canada.

It might be wise to turn all gas valves off at the appliances during the summer months and keep an eye on the gas meter reading to see if there is a gas line leak. Also get a pressure test done on the house, and find out where the leakages are.

Sealing air gaps & insulate the attic is the first thing to look into because heat lost through the roof is the greatest in a house due to the stack effect.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Originally posted by: TankGuys
Geothermal (Ground source heat pump).

Best option out there right now, especially if building a new house. Retro-fitting an existing home is a bit more difficult.

Before we installed the Geo system, we paid ~$2800 / year on propane to heat our house, and we had no A/C. Since installing the Geo system, my heating/cooling bills will total about $850 for the entire YEAR, for both heat AND A/C. Not too shabby

Glad that you love your geothermal system.

<-- Mechanical plumber specialize in geothermal heat pumps.

 

[Insomniator]

Fireplace, ~2.5 cords per winter at 160 a piece.

 

[ForumMaster]

well the house has a Diesel based heater that heats water and that hot water is pumped through the floors. unfortunatly, the price of diesel here is too high. we haven't run it ever since diesel rose above 6 NIS a litre. we now use electric blowers and AC.