what is your home heating

[mikester]

Biasi oil fired boiler with baseboard on the main floor, air handler for forced hot air for the second floor. Another zone on the boiler goes to a 50 gallon water tank for hot water. I usually go through 650-700 gallons a year. I also have an old Glacier Bay insert in my fireplace. This year I had AC put in my main floor. The guy that did the install told me when the stove is being used I should turn the fan only switch on to circulate the warm air through the return since its in the same room as the stove. Should cut down on the oil.

 

[kelpaso1]

Electric furnace.

Are you kidding?? The most expensive way to heat a house in the winter. Wood heat is the cheapest but you have to do alot of work to get it. I cut 4 cords a year in the spring and it is hard work. But it costs me 250 to heat the garage all winter and I only use 2 cords per season. My neighbor uses electricity to heat his home and his bills are 3-500 a month between nov to march. Did I say it's a alot of work? But exercise=money in the bank, instead of paying some large corporation.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

A Bryant natural gas forced air furnace. It's labeled "high efficiency" and probably was for 1991, but it's lower level now...I think it's 80 or 85%. It does a pretty good job and doesn't use too much gas for being a slightly older furnace in an older (1930) house.

We'll probably replace it in the next few years, along with the A/C of the same vintage. For now I'm going to buy one of each of the main electrical components and keep 'em in a box. The ignitor went out last season and the pressure switch was acting up last week, and I'd rather have what I need nearby than having to try to find it the next day!

 

[JimVonBaden]

Are you kidding?? The most expensive way to heat a house in the winter. Wood heat is the cheapest but you have to do alot of work to get it. I cut 4 cords a year in the spring and it is hard work. But it costs me 250 to heat the garage all winter and I only use 2 cords per season. My neighbor uses electricity to heat his home and his bills are 3-500 a month between nov to march. Did I say it's a alot of work? But exercise=money in the bank, instead of paying some large corporation.

My house is two years old, all electric. The hottest part of summer, and the coldest part of winter I have an electric bill no more than $275, in the off seasons around $120.

Electric may not be as efficient, but it isn't that bad if the system is new and efficient, and the house is well insulated.

Jim

 

[stratman977]

Oil Boiler and cast iron radiators. 1880s farmhouse. Use a little over 400 gallon every year with thermostat set on 65.

 

[Architorture]

Electric may not be as efficient, but it isn't that bad if the system is new and efficient, and the house is well insulated.

Jim

Electric is almost always very efficient... Just more expensive depending on your rate

 

[Victorymike18]

we have a 96% eff propane forced air furnace and a pellet/corn furnace tied into the house duct system.
before i added the pellet stove (6 years ago) my propane bill was close to $5400 a year,
this year i'll be spending about $2000 on propane and about $1000 on wood pellets so its been saving me money.

Interested in a little more clarification/detail on this.

So, you have a "regular" forced air system, but you also have a pellet stove that can compliment (or fully heat) the system as well?

That's a really great idea.

Do both systems share the same heat transfer box (not sure if my terminology is correct) or do they operate more independently and the plumbing is just connected?

Do you have to manually control any ducting changes when you go from one to the other, or is it automated (or not necessary)?

 

[RAYJAY]

I have coal fired hot water baseboard heat, in the house I'm happy with it. also have NG boiler sitting next to it the shop i have a coal stoker forced air the house i use 5 ton a year @ 170 a ton for full heating the shop is about 3 to 4 ton @ 170 I also have gas heat in my shop area used to cost me 280 a month just to heat it up when using it with the gas not its all way on 70 deg out there.....

first picture is the house stoker

the second is the shop stoker

 

[stratman977]

Electric is almost always very efficient... Just more expensive depending on your rate

Technically its about the worst for efficiency. If you are getting the power from a coal or gas fired power plant they only run at 30% efficiency. (Due to limitations on the steam turbine cycle). It's way more efficient to burn the coal or gas in your own house for heat than convert the coal to electricity then heat through resistance wires that are 99% efficient on electric.

 

[Victorymike18]

I have a natural gas, Forced Hot Air system which was in the house when we bought it.

I like the system overall, but do have some challenges with a couple of the furthest rooms not heating as well. That's probably more a result of the ducting and return system than the unit itself.

We also had a fireplace insert with blowers installed. This thing is awesome and I love it. Unfortunately it exacerbates the issue with the farthest rooms not getting heat, and I wish there were a way to plumb the hot air into the house ducting...

I've used an infrared thermometer and the bricks (inside) range from 300-500 degrees, and the wood itself is burning around 800 degrees. The pile of glowing embers exceeds 1000 degrees.

 

[mrpowderkeg]

High efficiency Natural gas. Simple and clean.

 

[Wardster]

Closed loop geothermal system by WaterFurnace - one of the best decisions we made when we built the house.

 

[soapii]

Closed loop geothermal - also one of the best decisions we made when building in 2012.

--Joe

 

[vekster]

electric heat pump/AC with auxillary heat from oil fired furnace.
1st winter in this house built in 1959.
heat pump seems to run all the time now that it has gotten cold and alread used 1/8 of a tank of oil. Dont really understand when the oil kicks in as it is all controlled by the thermostat.
Dont really care to learn as we had a gas line run in from the street this week.
Now shopping for a high efficiency NG furnace and will keep the heat pump for AC only.

 

[Old Steamer]

Built my house in 1993 and went with a propane furnace. After many years of propane and with propane getting really expensive, in 2011 I switched to a heat pump. I used propane for the backup. About 6 months after swapping, natural gas came down the road I live on and I dropped the propane and went with natural gas backup. I also use gas for hot water.

I'm really pleased with the dual fuel system I have.

 

[rlev11]

I have an 8 year old oil boiler single pipe steam which I had a natural gas conversion burner installed on it 2 years ago when I switched everything over to natural gas. I now run NG for the boiler, seperate 50 gal high efficiency water heater, range, gas dryer, and an outdoor grill. My monthly gas bills range from a low of about $20 in the summer to the highest of $130 in the winter in central PA. I figure my break even point money wise even after purchasing all the NG appliances the will be next year (year 3).

 

[draglink]

old drafty 1861 farmhouse. little to no insulation. converted to electric baseboard back in the 80's. $500-$600 electric bills in Jan/Feb.

supplement woodstove keeps home VERY toasty and cuts back a little on power bill

 

[mrobins297aaa]

Interested in a little more clarification/detail on this.

So, you have a "regular" forced air system, but you also have a pellet stove that can compliment (or fully heat) the system as well?

That's a really great idea.

Do both systems share the same heat transfer box (not sure if my terminology is correct) or do they operate more independently and the plumbing is just connected?

Do you have to manually control any ducting changes when you go from one to the other, or is it automated (or not necessary)?

basically what i have is a regular forced air system with a propane furnace and I also have a corn/pellet furnace with supply and return duct connections.

the pellet furnace supply duct connects to the main system supply duct and at that point i have a 24 volt damper so that i can separate the two systems when needed, that duct (the pellet furnace supply) also has a tee with a 24v damper that allows the pellet furnaces air to be dumped into the basement when the propane furnace is running. the dampers are controlled by a relay that is activated by the eac spade on the propane furnaces control board.
it basically tells the relay that the propane furnace is running and to switch the position of the dampers.(dump damper open and system damper shut)

this allows you to set the propane furnace stat on a desired setting and run the pellet furnace and if the pellet furnace isn't keeping up the propane furnace will come on and the pellet furnace will dump its air in the basement (which is still in the house) until the propane furnace is satisfied.

this is how i run mine, the propane furnace is set to 69 deg and will come on if the pellet furnace doesn't keep the house at least 69.

its worked well for me, this is my 6 year with this setup. its nice to have a backup heat source like 4 years ago when my propane furnace took a **** at time. i just used the pellet furnace for a couple of weeks until i had time to change out the furnace.

also the pellet furnace has its own separate return duct connected a return grille in my dinning roomwall

 

[Mike in Ohio]

I have coal fired hot water baseboard heat, in the house I'm happy with it. also have NG boiler sitting next to it the shop i have a coal stoker forced air the house i use 5 ton a year @ 170 a ton for full heating the shop is about 3 to 4 ton @ 170 I also have gas heat in my shop area used to cost me 280 a month just to heat it up when using it with the gas not its all way on 70 deg out there.....

first picture is the house stoker

the second is the shop stoker

Are you using anthracite coal?

 

[Farmerjonathan]

May I ask how many sq. feet house, ranch or 2 story, and how much wood you go through in a winter? Well insulated?

Over 3,000 square feet. New part 2 story in floor heat. Old part of the house is forced air. So I split it and Y'ed off to a manifold system for the infloor heat, a radiator lays flat over the plenum of the old furnace and I use the blower to blow air through the radiator which puts hot air up in the house. I also heat our hot water all year with it. New part of the house is WELL insulated, old part, NOT INSULATED. 10 big pickup loads of wood per winter. Live on a small farm, have trees and wood anyway. Love the heat, love the no cost.

 

[sselander]

high efficiency natural gas boiler directly vented, hydronic air handler in basement, and attic, ducts, central air.

One nice part of the gas boiler is the capability of running copper pipes to the garage for heat when the time comes. (Only a short run)

Old house had the old standard of baseboards, oil boiler, no central air obviously.

 

[Randy in Maine]

I well insulated my 1200 square foot house and built my new 1100 square foot shop out of SIP panels. Radiant floor heat in 3 zones using a wall mounted propane high efficient boiler + my domestic hot water.

I also have a with a propane fired "woodstove" in the living room for when my wife needs it. Went to a gas kitchen range while I was at it.

$1500 (600 gallons of LPG at $2.50/gallon) last year.

 

[ShaneMSnyder]

Natural gas forced air.

 

[Highbeam]

Technically its about the worst for efficiency. If you are getting the power from a coal or gas fired power plant they only run at 30% efficiency. (Due to limitations on the steam turbine cycle). It's way more efficient to burn the coal or gas in your own house for heat than convert the coal to electricity then heat through resistance wires that are 99% efficient on electric.

False. This is quite possibly the most wrong thing I have ever read.

Electric resistance heat is 100% efficient. Yes, 100%. Every unit of energy that you buy and put into the furnace comes out as heat for the house. Compare this with coal or gas and only a portion of the input energy comes out as heat for the house and the rest goes up the chimney.

It doesn't matter how the electricity was made or how the coal was made. What matters is what it cost you to buy and how much of that purchased energy is converted to usable heat.

Electric resistance heat is often very expensive but depending on your options may be the cheapest one available. In my area, propane costs more to heat with than electric.

I use wood heat from a catalytic Blaze king woodstove for 100% of my heat. If I were to be unable to burn the stove then I have those electric wall heaters in each room for 100% efficient electric heat that costs an arm and a leg.

 

[crewchief888]

3 zone, natural gas, hot water baseboard

and central air

 

[Jackfre]

Moved in 2+ yrs ago. Pulled a 5 yr old horizon LP furnace and 3ton Carrier cooling system. Took all plus ductwork to the dump. Installed two Rinnai Energysaver EX-22 DV wall furnaces on the first floor. Fujitsu dual mshp upstairs. Fujitsu 25seer mshp downstairs. Whole system is all "Net to the Space" with no distribution system looses. Just moved in to the new kitchen, 2baths and laundry remodel. Installed a new Fujitsu 15RLS mshp. I expect that it will do the entire downstairs for cooling and contribute to heating. The other downstairs Fujitsu will come out and go to my daughters house. Hot water is a new Rinnai RL75 tankless water heater

 

[dolfans]

woodstove

This is what i want. Have 2 known problems that i know of 1 is space(furniture and the fireplace chimney). I saw a ad for Tractor Supply and they have some in stock. I liked the 1 in stock but the pipe is on the top so not sure how that will connect. Also they do not install them or know who can. BTW i have a 2002 manufactured house and the wood stove will work. thanks

 

[CNGsaves]

High-efficiency forced air natural gas, plus fireplace with NG insert of fake logs. Biggest complaint is improper ductwork as it's older house that has had multiple systems over the years.

 

[kelpaso1]

This is what i want. Have 2 known problems that i know of 1 is space(furniture and the fireplace chimney). I saw a ad for Tractor Supply and they have some in stock. I liked the 1 in stock but the pipe is on the top so not sure how that will connect. Also they do not install them or know who can. BTW i have a 2002 manufactured house and the wood stove will work. thanks

Plus the stove pipe/ Selkirk chimney and other hardware will cost as much or more than the cost of the stove. But it is worth it if you ask me. $250-300 to heat my home for the whole 6 months in the winter compared to $250-300 per MONTH for 6 months using electricity=$1500-1800. Kinda a no brainer if you can deal with cutting, splitting, lugging wood.

 

[anthony666]

wood fired boiler, 2 wood stoves, wood burning insert, a couple of husqy chainsaws, a splitfire wood splitter, 20 acres of wood lot and a friend who owns an arborist business

back up is electric baseboards .. they have been on one week in 12 years, when i was on vacation

 

[alden]

Oil fired boiler with hot water cast iron radiators in the center of the house, baseboard hot water in the master suite, and underfloor radiant in the kitchen augmented with a freestanding pellet stove.

We pay way too much for heating oil but since there's no Natural Gas pipe out to our house it doesn't make sense financially to spring for any other system.

 

[Jackfre]

Oil fired boiler with hot water cast iron radiators in the center of the house, baseboard hot water in the master suite, and underfloor radiant in the kitchen augmented with a freestanding pellet stove.

We pay way too much for heating oil but since there's no Natural Gas pipe out to our house it doesn't make sense financially to spring for any other system.

Wrong! I have a friend who overlooks Lake Champlain in VT. He has oil fired radiant in his old VT farmhouse. He installed a multi mini-split heat pump system and doesn't turn the oil on until it hits 20*. For the past 5 yrs he figures he has reduced his heating bill by 70%.

So, don't change! Add!

 

[Will S.]

Built this 3000 sq ft place in '96, and installed what was then, a high-efficience oil-fired hot air system, and 3.5T central air (no heat-pump). Also installed 550 gal fuel oil tank to feed it. I use just about 500 gal each winter, to maintain 71 deg inside. A few winters ran us over that, but not a whole lot. I buy a single-drop of 500 gal when the prices are at the lowest, Spring/Summer temporary dip). So it's costing me probably somewhere around $1500-$1800 per year. Hot water is electric. We have no NG available to where we live.

I expectt o have to replace this system sooner than later, as it is 16-17 years old, and still both the original furnace and A/C. Not sure what to replace with.

 

[alden]

Wrong! I have a friend who overlooks Lake Champlain in VT. He has oil fired radiant in his old VT farmhouse. He installed a multi mini-split heat pump system and doesn't turn the oil on until it hits 20*. For the past 5 yrs he figures he has reduced his heating bill by 70%.

So, don't change! Add!

Not quite sure why you are so confident or emphatic that it's wrong. We've got a 2800 square foot foursquare farmhouse with no duct work in roughly half the house (including the entire 2nd floor). A heat pump and ductwork would run us over $10k (we got estimates when we moved in) and minisplits to cover all the needed zones would end up roughly the same. If I'm going to spend $10k to cut energy costs, it would be on solar to help cut the electricity costs in the summer, not on a 3rd source of heating.

It's not a matter of "wrong!" it's simply prioritizing expenditures.

 

[1/2 Cup]

I have a natural gas convection heater that keeps the place just right, this can be supplemented by reverse cycle mini splits, bear in mind it doesn't snow here but gets ****** cold over winter.

 

[jvitez]

Open loop geothermal, water to water with 4 zones, conditioned water to fan coil for each zone; each fan coil feeds high velocity ducts for both heating and cooling.

House was built in 2006 when electricity and NG prices were about equal here. I thought NG prices would only go up so went with geothermal. NG prices have dropped so much that heating with geothermal only saves about 10% vs high efficiency NG at current prices. If I would have known then what I know now I would have installed a NG boiler feeding the fan coils. I really wanted in-floor radiant, but we absolutely need AC as our temps go from -30C to +30C, so a fan coil multi-zone system made the most sense.