Author Topic: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?  (Read 25899 times)

PMG

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #50 on: February 22, 2015, 08:33:34 PM »
Main heat is propane stove in the living room.  I supplement with an electric radiator space heater.  I don't usually consume half the energy the electric company charges me for in their first tier, so I've been playing a game each month using the electric heater and getting my sunk cost kilowatt hours.  Honesty, with that base tier it is cheaper for me to heat with electric than with propane unless it gets down in the teens and lower, then the electric just can't keep up. 

I like to keep the living room between 58 and 65. It's amazing how much I've aclimated.  I wear warm clothing as well.  Hot tea is good.  I turn the heat down when I'm not home, it's hard to regulate exactly as neither propane or the radiator have a built in thermostat. 

2lazy2retire

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #51 on: February 23, 2015, 06:58:55 AM »
We just got a heat pump and it's a huge savings over propane.

For those throwing around numbers, the only equal comparison is BTU/HDD/sqft

BTU (British thermal unit, the amount of heat, 1 therm = 100,000. bTU)
HDD = heating degree day. (The number of degreesF  below 65F the average temperature is each day)

So we use 900 gallons of propane (.94 therm/gallon) = 84,600,000 BTU per year in a climate averaging 7100 HDD/ year to heat 1600 sqft.
 = 7.4 BTU/HDD/sqft


For comparison in this article MMM has http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/02/06/the-radiant-heat-experiment-did-it-work/

193 therm (19,300,000 BTU)
HDD 2881(jan 16) - 250(oct 15) = 2631
1500 sqft ( 6 zones 250sqft each)
=5 BTU/HDD/sqft

Did you keep the gas furnace as backup?, do not know where you live, but here in PA our HP does not keep up below 26F, so then the propane furnace kicks in. The technology is getting better and some HP's now run quite well to 0F and below. We put our hybrid system in 4 years ago and cut about 40% from out origianl oil only solution





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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #52 on: February 24, 2015, 04:34:19 AM »
... I like to keep the living room between 58 and 65. It's amazing how much I've acclimated.  I wear warm clothing as well...


I've been unable to go that low.  My hands get too cold; even with glove liners on in the house.  (I'm typing with them on right now.)  We've stabilized at turning on the propane gas log when the temp goes down to 65 and turning it back off when it's gone up to 68.  So, that's our tolerance right now.

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #53 on: February 24, 2015, 05:53:21 AM »
It's 14 below zero out this morning here in southern Indiana.

We have geo thermal, its a cozy 75 in here.  Hubby is napping on the couch with no shirt on
covered up with a light blanket.  Our house is good and warm. I pity people with uninsulated
and old inefficient furnaces in this weather, there bills must be killing them.  Our will be
very high because we have an electric heater on in the motorhome.

We have supplemental electric heat but it rarely comes on.  The lady we bought this from
said they put double the loops required for geo thermal and I'm sure that has helped electric
not to run much.

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #54 on: March 03, 2015, 06:17:06 AM »

We just got a heat pump and it's a huge savings over propane.

For those throwing around numbers, the only equal comparison is BTU/HDD/sqft

BTU (British thermal unit, the amount of heat, 1 therm = 100,000. bTU)
HDD = heating degree day. (The number of degreesF  below 65F the average temperature is each day)

So we use 900 gallons of propane (.94 therm/gallon) = 84,600,000 BTU per year in a climate averaging 7100 HDD/ year to heat 1600 sqft.
 = 7.4 BTU/HDD/sqft


For comparison in this article MMM has http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/02/06/the-radiant-heat-experiment-did-it-work/

193 therm (19,300,000 BTU)
HDD 2881(jan 16) - 250(oct 15) = 2631
1500 sqft ( 6 zones 250sqft each)
=5 BTU/HDD/sqft


I am still trying to get my head around your equations and, more basically, your finding that a heat pump is more economical than propane.  Maybe the difference in our approaches is that we DON'T do "whole house" central heating.  I'm still thinking...

BUT one fact is that from January 25th to February 25th, in an 1800-square-foot-house, we used up 69 gallons of propane.  At $3 per gallon, that's $229 -- including fees -- worth for the month.  Plus the electric bill was about $60-$70 higher than it is during non-heating season.  (We do run some baseboard heaters some of the time in some rooms.)  That's a total of about $300 in heating cost for the last 4 weeks.

Sound high?  Any ideas?

2lazy2retire

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #55 on: March 03, 2015, 06:53:20 AM »

We just got a heat pump and it's a huge savings over propane.

For those throwing around numbers, the only equal comparison is BTU/HDD/sqft

BTU (British thermal unit, the amount of heat, 1 therm = 100,000. bTU)
HDD = heating degree day. (The number of degreesF  below 65F the average temperature is each day)

So we use 900 gallons of propane (.94 therm/gallon) = 84,600,000 BTU per year in a climate averaging 7100 HDD/ year to heat 1600 sqft.
 = 7.4 BTU/HDD/sqft


For comparison in this article MMM has http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/02/06/the-radiant-heat-experiment-did-it-work/

193 therm (19,300,000 BTU)
HDD 2881(jan 16) - 250(oct 15) = 2631
1500 sqft ( 6 zones 250sqft each)
=5 BTU/HDD/sqft


I am still trying to get my head around your equations and, more basically, your finding that a heat pump is more economical than propane.  Maybe the difference in our approaches is that we DON'T do "whole house" central heating.  I'm still thinking...

BUT one fact is that from January 25th to February 25th, in an 1800-square-foot-house, we used up 69 gallons of propane.  At $3 per gallon, that's $229 -- including fees -- worth for the month.  Plus the electric bill was about $60-$70 higher than it is during non-heating season.  (We do run some baseboard heaters some of the time in some rooms.)  That's a total of about $300 in heating cost for the last 4 weeks.

Sound high?  Any ideas?

So using your number for January at 69 gallons of propane


Propane Gas (LP)   91,500 Btu per Gallon
69 x 91,500( btus's/gallon) =  6,313,500 - total btu's required = $229

Electricity 3,413 Btu per Kilowatt Hour
Straight electric = 6,313,500/3414 =  1849KWH @ .15cents a KWh = $277
HP ( reported at 300% efficient) = 1849KWH*33% = 610KWh @ .15cents a KWh = $91.

Now other factors come into play with HP, ie very low outside temperatures may reduce efficiency, but you get the idea. Also you may be paying more or less per KWh in you area - currently here we are at .11.

« Last Edit: March 03, 2015, 07:03:18 AM by 2lazy2retire »

Kitsune

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #56 on: March 03, 2015, 11:36:17 AM »
We're building a house in the spring, so we've been looking at heating options quite seriously this past while.

The main floor is an open space, so we've settled on a wood stove (instead of a fireplace) for most heating, with electric back-up (we're in Quebec; electricity is cheaper than any other source of power). We're moving to the country and have a wood lot, so the wood won't cost  anything other an fitness points. :)

Heating with wood alone is a nuisance, though, cause you can't ever let the fire go out or else the water pipes freeze and occasionally burst.

Also, a back-up is good when you're in a situation where the wood stove isn't keeping up (-30C for days on end...) or when you're in a physical state where wood heating is difficult (advanced pregnancy, broken leg, what have you). I remember my mom needing to wake up at 2am to put wood in the furnace while 8 months pregnant, and NOPE. Not happening to me.

Also, final point: a well-insulated house with insulated windows that face the sun and not the North wind needs a lot less heating than anything else! Also, zone heating: we can heat the office separately from the rest of the house (we both work from home), so we don't need to heat the entire house all day.

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #57 on: March 03, 2015, 01:21:07 PM »
So using your number for January at 69 gallons of propane


Propane Gas (LP)   91,500 Btu per Gallon
69 x 91,500( btus's/gallon) =  6,313,500 - total btu's required = $229

Electricity 3,413 Btu per Kilowatt Hour
Straight electric = 6,313,500/3414 =  1849KWH @ .15cents a KWh = $277
HP ( reported at 300% efficient) = 1849KWH*33% = 610KWh @ .15cents a KWh = $91.

Now other factors come into play with HP, ie very low outside temperatures may reduce efficiency, but you get the idea. Also you may be paying more or less per KWh in you area - currently here we are at .11.


Oh, boy.  Look, I DO have a heat pump based central heating system.  And no way was my cost of electricity (say in December) one third of my February cost of propane.  What could I have been doing wrong with the heat pump?

(One thing that comes to mind is that the heat pump heats the WHOLE house -- even if we close the duct vents -- so the heat pump is actually cranking out multiple times the number of BTUs calculated above, which means it costs more to run).

Feedback?

Zikoris

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #58 on: March 03, 2015, 02:35:42 PM »
Absorb heat from the surrounding apartments. Though it doesn't work as well as it used to since we switched apartments last summer - we're next to an elevator shaft now so only have residual heat from one below and one beside.

We don't pay for heating anyways. I always try to get apartments that include utilities.

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #59 on: March 03, 2015, 02:36:14 PM »
So using your number for January at 69 gallons of propane


Propane Gas (LP)   91,500 Btu per Gallon
69 x 91,500( btus's/gallon) =  6,313,500 - total btu's required = $229

Electricity 3,413 Btu per Kilowatt Hour
Straight electric = 6,313,500/3414 =  1849KWH @ .15cents a KWh = $277
HP ( reported at 300% efficient) = 1849KWH*33% = 610KWh @ .15cents a KWh = $91.

Now other factors come into play with HP, ie very low outside temperatures may reduce efficiency, but you get the idea. Also you may be paying more or less per KWh in you area - currently here we are at .11.


Oh, boy.  Look, I DO have a heat pump based central heating system.  And no way was my cost of electricity (say in December) one third of my February cost of propane.  What could I have been doing wrong with the heat pump?

(One thing that comes to mind is that the heat pump heats the WHOLE house -- even if we close the duct vents -- so the heat pump is actually cranking out multiple times the number of BTUs calculated above, which means it costs more to run).

Feedback?

That's plausible. Also, heat pumps become less efficient at lower temperatures.  Have you also double checked that emergency heat (aka heating strips) are not enabled?  Finally check out the unit-  make sure the radiator fins are clean and in good shape, no noises indicating lubrication issues, etc.  is it an old inefficient system?  Maybe it needs more "freon"?

2lazy2retire

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #60 on: March 04, 2015, 06:57:27 AM »
So using your number for January at 69 gallons of propane


Propane Gas (LP)   91,500 Btu per Gallon
69 x 91,500( btus's/gallon) =  6,313,500 - total btu's required = $229

Electricity 3,413 Btu per Kilowatt Hour
Straight electric = 6,313,500/3414 =  1849KWH @ .15cents a KWh = $277
HP ( reported at 300% efficient) = 1849KWH*33% = 610KWh @ .15cents a KWh = $91.

Now other factors come into play with HP, ie very low outside temperatures may reduce efficiency, but you get the idea. Also you may be paying more or less per KWh in you area - currently here we are at .11.


Oh, boy.  Look, I DO have a heat pump based central heating system.  And no way was my cost of electricity (say in December) one third of my February cost of propane.  What could I have been doing wrong with the heat pump?

(One thing that comes to mind is that the heat pump heats the WHOLE house -- even if we close the duct vents -- so the heat pump is actually cranking out multiple times the number of BTUs calculated above, which means it costs more to run).

Feedback?

There are so many factors that "apple to oranges" would be an understatement - December/January, whole house/partial house. With all other factors been equal then the HP would be about 40% the cost of propane. Do you even have any figures/estimate for how much of your December electric bill was HP.

thoughts?
« Last Edit: March 04, 2015, 07:04:19 AM by 2lazy2retire »

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #61 on: March 04, 2015, 01:36:28 PM »
There are so many factors that "apple to oranges" would be an understatement - December/January, whole house/partial house. With all other factors been equal then the HP would be about 40% the cost of propane. Do you even have any figures/estimate for how much of your December electric bill was HP.

thoughts?

Just too many situation-specific variables and not enough data.  I am going to have the heat pump checked out.  Possibly make the whole issue moot by installing a wood stove in our living room fireplace for approx. $1700 installed.  This winter is almost over, so I've got 9 or 10 months to check this out further.

Cheers!

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #62 on: March 18, 2016, 01:22:58 PM »
I love living in the Vancouver lower mainland, especially after seeing all your costs of heating. I live in a 17 year old townhouse, that is nothing special when it comes to insulation, or windows. I don't have a heat pump and I don't even have gas plumbed. All my heating comes from electric baseboard heaters, my hotwater tank is electric and my stove is all electric. I keep my temp at 16 deg C during the day and 18  when I'm home.

Here is my last bill

Current monthly payment amount: $81.00
Monthly payments to date: $789.00
Cost of energy to date: $665.94
Annual adjustment date: June 2016

I bought this place last June and I kept the monthly bill payment from the last owner (lived by them self). I live with my wife and two cats, cook 90% of my meals at home and bake bread twice a week.

hedgefund10

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #63 on: March 18, 2016, 08:08:38 PM »
Freeze. Electric Heat. My Electric Bills are as follows.

Nov: $41
Dec: $45
Jan: $50
Feb $70


LeRainDrop

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #64 on: March 18, 2016, 08:31:32 PM »
Bought a condo that faces south.  Open curtains/blinds when I leave for work in the morning to let the sunlight do the job; close them when I return from work at night to stay insulated.  Supplement with electric heat overnight if needed.

Abe

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #65 on: March 18, 2016, 09:22:09 PM »
We have a 1400 sqft, 3-bedroom condo in Chicago. The thermostat is set for 58 while we are away, then 68 while at home. We pay around $93/month average in the winter for natural gas, or 7.5 BTU/HDD/sqft. $30 of this is a fixed delivery charge, and 10% tax. Average daily temperatures ranged from 15-41F. We close the doors to two rooms we normally don't use. Our bedroom stupidly has a large sliding glass door, but we added a second polycarbonate door inside of it to decrease sound & improve insulation. The main living area is heated well during the day from the large south-facing windows.

One thing I've been doing is keeping the tub drain closed during showers to keep the hot water within the house, then draining it in the evening once the temperature has equilibrated. That way we aren't wasting the heat. 

hedgefund10

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #66 on: March 19, 2016, 07:19:30 AM »
We have a 1400 sqft, 3-bedroom condo in Chicago. The thermostat is set for 58 while we are away, then 68 while at home. We pay around $93/month average in the winter for natural gas, or 7.5 BTU/HDD/sqft. $30 of this is a fixed delivery charge, and 10% tax. Average daily temperatures ranged from 15-41F. We close the doors to two rooms we normally don't use. Our bedroom stupidly has a large sliding glass door, but we added a second polycarbonate door inside of it to decrease sound & improve insulation. The main living area is heated well during the day from the large south-facing windows.

One thing I've been doing is keeping the tub drain closed during showers to keep the hot water within the house, then draining it in the evening once the temperature has equilibrated. That way we aren't wasting the heat.

Interesting idea with the tub, how much of an impact do you think it really has?

dragoncar

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #67 on: March 19, 2016, 10:10:17 AM »
We have a 1400 sqft, 3-bedroom condo in Chicago. The thermostat is set for 58 while we are away, then 68 while at home. We pay around $93/month average in the winter for natural gas, or 7.5 BTU/HDD/sqft. $30 of this is a fixed delivery charge, and 10% tax. Average daily temperatures ranged from 15-41F. We close the doors to two rooms we normally don't use. Our bedroom stupidly has a large sliding glass door, but we added a second polycarbonate door inside of it to decrease sound & improve insulation. The main living area is heated well during the day from the large south-facing windows.

One thing I've been doing is keeping the tub drain closed during showers to keep the hot water within the house, then draining it in the evening once the temperature has equilibrated. That way we aren't wasting the heat.

Interesting idea with the tub, how much of an impact do you think it really has?

Haha I used to do his too, but I'm pretty sure the savings is basically nil.  Actually I just calculated it as 16 cents per shower, but that assumes you take the average 17 gallon shower and not a more mustachian quick shower with cooler wate, and recapture 100% of energy input (gas / electric maybe more).  I'm not sure the extra moisture would be good for the bathroom but if you have low humidity this could be a cheap method of humidification too

Abe

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #68 on: March 19, 2016, 11:52:55 AM »
Yeah i'm sure it's minimal because I use <5 gallons per shower, but makes me feel better and theoretically the savings are >0 cents. The main benefit I've noticed is increasing the humidity in the house. I also keep a bucket to collect the cold water and use it to flush the toilet.

hedgefund10

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #69 on: March 19, 2016, 03:05:22 PM »
Yeah i'm sure it's minimal because I use <5 gallons per shower, but makes me feel better and theoretically the savings are >0 cents. The main benefit I've noticed is increasing the humidity in the house. I also keep a bucket to collect the cold water and use it to flush the toilet.

I don't pay for water as it is included in my rent. Also the hot water heater uses common area electric which I don't pay for. I leave the bathroom door open when I take showers and have some small benefit in heating. I'll try saving the water and see if that makes a difference.

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #70 on: March 20, 2016, 06:41:03 AM »
Interesting, but I guess not unexpected that the US, with so many climate zones has so many different types of heating. I have gas central heating, which is very common.

In the uk, we usually follow this model top down.
  • Gas central heating, if house has mains gas
  • Oil central heating, if you have space for an outdoor tank
  • Electric heating - sometimes storage heaters
  • An open fire with coal
Some people supplement with woodburners, but these are officially banned where I live for air quality purposes. (You are only allowed to burn smokeless coal).

NaturallyHappier

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #71 on: March 20, 2016, 05:52:00 PM »
We heat with a electric geothermal heat pump that is powered by solar PV.  It is completely free!

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #72 on: March 20, 2016, 06:26:03 PM »
You guys are tough. I keep my 'stat at 62 when I'm home. I'm going to see if I can go lower.

NDQ

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #73 on: March 21, 2016, 07:34:55 AM »
1500 sq ft two stories.  Heat with centrally located first floor wood stove.  Go through 3.5-4 cords/yr.  Main living areas stays at 68-75 most nearly every day from Sept-March here in Northern MA.

Natural Gas back up.  Usually use it 10-15 times/yr, but only used it once this season.

Main thing is sealing air leaks in foundation, sill plates, attic and around doors and windows.  Second would be attic insulation, third is anywhere else that you can insulate.

For windows where the view doesn't matter, take a spray bottle and hit it with a thin film of water.  Then adhere bublble plastic, bubble side facing glass, to it.  Water's cohesive properlties hold it on.  Beasuty is you can easily remove the bubble plastic, then put back on again with water.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2016, 07:42:12 AM by Vic99 »

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #74 on: March 21, 2016, 07:39:02 AM »
I close the hallway windows in my building. The idiots upstairs keep opening them in winter for no reason.

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #75 on: March 21, 2016, 10:38:51 AM »
Electric heating, 7-8 separate programmable thermostats.

Night and daytime at work 16'C except bedroom night at 18'C
Rest of the time 21'C; maybe 22'C when I have guests and I know they get cold easily

I also program them to start when I get home; not before. I have found that 16'C going up quickly is just fine when I come in from -20'C. Also in the morning I just heat the bedroom/bathroom and don't have time to get cold just grabbing a quick breakfast.

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #76 on: March 21, 2016, 01:16:09 PM »
Wood heat is primary heat for my 1963 built 1700 SF in the higher elevation cascade foothills of WA. I use a modern woodstove that has a thermostat and burns a full day without needing matches to relight. I reload once per day. It's quite impressive and the way of the future for wood heat. My heating cost each year is under 400$ to buy the logs which I process myself and burn. No free wood, just a little bit of sweat equity to prepare the fuel and load the stove. Oh, when it is single digits cold outside I need more heat so crank it up and reload on 12 hour cycles, fits my schedule well.

The backup heat source is individual electric wall heaters in each room. These are actually a pretty great backup source since they are maintenance free, cheap to buy, and are 100% efficient with no duct losses. We try to test them once per year but really they don't get used.

Retrofitting a central heat source is very expensive when the best return on investment is to reduce the 400$ per year cost. Silly.


Abe

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #77 on: March 21, 2016, 04:54:45 PM »
I close the hallway windows in my building. The idiots upstairs keep opening them in winter for no reason.

Funny same thing happens here! But this is Chicago, in the winter. Special level of drunken idiot? I sealed them with caulking and that stopped them.

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #78 on: March 21, 2016, 05:19:54 PM »
Previously while on oil heat, it was setting the thermostat to 64F.  Due to a lack of insulation and old drafty aluminum windows, that realistically meant that some rooms hovered around 61F, and my upstairs housemate needed to run a 1500W space heater all winter.  I haven't figured out how much I was spending per year on oil, but it was at least $1000.

Now, I've got a heat pump on each floor.  It's running at 61F in the basement, 69F on the main floor, and I have no idea what my housemate has set the upstairs to.  Because it's a single zone mini split, the temperature in the living room is around 70F (my wife LOVES it) while the bedrooms are around 64F (which I love).  Haven't had to turn on the oil heat since installing the main floor mini split 2 months ago.  I'm expecting my first electricity bill any day now, at which point I'll average out my oil bills and figure out how much I'm saving.

Insulating/air sealing/replacing windows will likely happen this summer.

Kitsunegari

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #79 on: March 23, 2016, 09:48:25 AM »
Se cailler le cul.
We have a pellet stove, and when it works it's nice and warm in the kitchen/living room area, but it's in an awkward position and the limited air circulation doesn't warm up the bedroom. We often have several degrees of difference between the 2 rooms.
Furthermore, the pellet stove it's a lot of work - cleaning it every other day, bringing the pellets from the basement, receiving and storing hundreds of kilos of pellets. I wouldn't do it again.
So we wear lots of wool, I wear long jones inside the house, we have nice (expensive) duvets, and in the coldest days I snuggle with a hot water bottle.

dreams_and_discoveries

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #80 on: March 24, 2016, 07:10:39 AM »
I leave my heating off in the day and when I'm sleeping.

It's automatically programmed to come on just before I wake up, the off when I leave the house.

In the evenings, if it's cold I turn it on - as I'm never home at a regular time, I don't bother trying to program it.

mbl

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #81 on: March 24, 2016, 07:18:49 AM »
Wood stove in the family room in the basement to heat the entire house.
We cut the wood ourselves so the cost is fuel for the chain saw.
DH and DS split the wood by hand.

We have a propane furnace with the thermostat set to 50.
We live in upstate NY so it gets very cold in winter.

We end up using about 20 - 30 gallons of propane a year as we have a gas kitchen stove.


Gone Fishing

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #82 on: March 24, 2016, 07:38:45 AM »
Around 3-4 cords of pine that grows on my property.  Stove has no problem getting the house up to 70-75 in the evenings.  Fully loaded and damped down, the temp usually drops slowly to around 65 by morning.  If we are having a cold snap, it might get down to 60 or high 50's, but can be brought back up within an hour or so. 

Kitsune

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #83 on: March 24, 2016, 08:56:34 AM »
Around 3-4 cords of pine that grows on my property.  Stove has no problem getting the house up to 70-75 in the evenings.  Fully loaded and damped down, the temp usually drops slowly to around 65 by morning.  If we are having a cold snap, it might get down to 60 or high 50's, but can be brought back up within an hour or so.

This is about our experience. Last year (and probably the next 2 years; we're establishing our woodlot, but we just moved), buying wood to heat our Quebec house cost about 400$ CAD for the winter (so roughly 300$ US). Delivered, split, and stacked, and that amount heated the main floor and bedrooms to a VERY comfortable temperature all winter (full-days on the weekend and the 3 days a week we work from home, and every evening and night). We'll save money doing it ourselves, but not horiffic amounts. Our back-up heat is electric: judging from the difference on our electricity bills, that's maybe abother 2-300$ for the winter.

I was talking about heating costs with colleagues over lunch the other day: most of them seem to think that 1500$ for a winter is reasonable. IN WHAT UNIVERSE.


9-Volt

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #84 on: March 24, 2016, 10:38:21 AM »
Does any one have a heat pump hot water heater? I am looking at the one from these guys http://water.nyle.com/residential/. I like the idea of the separate pump from tank because my tank is already in a heated part of my home. The other benefit of it being separate is if your tank leaks, you don't have to replace the expensive pump. I am buying a watt meter today and going to see how much money my hot water actually costs and see if there is any benefit for me.

dilinger

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #85 on: March 25, 2016, 11:12:26 PM »
Does any one have a heat pump hot water heater? I am looking at the one from these guys http://water.nyle.com/residential/. I like the idea of the separate pump from tank because my tank is already in a heated part of my home. The other benefit of it being separate is if your tank leaks, you don't have to replace the expensive pump. I am buying a watt meter today and going to see how much money my hot water actually costs and see if there is any benefit for me.


Yes.  The US has federal rebates, and lots of local utilities have rebates as well (see also: http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/do-it-yourself-forum!/heat-pump-water-heater/  ).  I don't know how long they typically last, but I've had mine for a year and love it.  Mine has an adapter kit to exhaust the cold air outside, if that's something you're concerned about.  I don't know how well it works; I just let it cool off the basement.

I don't know if BC has rebates, but Vancouver seems like the kind of place that would try and incentivize HPWHs. 

Laserjet3051

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #86 on: March 26, 2016, 09:14:09 AM »
We rent a 2000 ft2 SFH in OC/CA that uses natural gas as a source for central heating. This has been our first winter in this home and we lazily (foolishly) just left the thermostat at 68°F for the first cold month this winter. Thought 68°F would be semi-mustachian until we received our first winter gas bill of ~$140/one month. This includes gas burners for cooking and hot water but the $140 was largely due to the central heating.

Went into full mustachian mode after receiving that bill, shut the heat off for the entire month. Zero heat (though I cant be sure the wife didnt sneak a bit here or there). Granted, this is OC so its not that cold.  But shutting off the heat completely, dropped the bill from $140 to $37!

We just wore sweatpants and socks in the mornings when the internal temp dropped to a low of 64°F.  Easy to adapt to, and a big (75%) savings. Adapting to, and suffering through an AC-free summer here (to keep kwh consumption down) is a completely different story.

gizmonte

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #87 on: March 26, 2016, 10:36:57 AM »
I guess right now I am using free geothermal heat.

I turned off my gas heat on 2/14.  Right now it is 48 degrees (F) in my house.  A couple weeks ago, it got down to 40.  Thanks to wool and down, I have been fine.

I live in Colorado.

jim555

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #88 on: March 26, 2016, 10:53:01 AM »
Keep thermo at 78F.  Heat is included in the maintenance.

Nickels Dimes Quarters

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Re: What Is Your House Heating Strategy?
« Reply #89 on: March 26, 2016, 07:39:58 PM »
We keep the 'stat low, then cope using the following:

Bundle up. Clothing and blankets. Socks!
Bake.
Laundry.
Chores to raise body temp.
Open blinds when the sun is shining.
Block drafts.
Hot foods and drink.

NDQ

 

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