Replies

1. 
   brownbagg | Dec 14, 2004 04:17pm | #1

   where you located at? around here we use alot of heat pumps.

2. 
   VaTom | Dec 14, 2004 04:58pm | #2

   As Brownbagg said, where?  Or as Rez would say, fill in your personal profile (by clicking on your name).

   I built a house that has no need of a heating system.  This is central Va and it's 27° out.

   PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

3. 
   csnow | Dec 14, 2004 05:05pm | #3

   New house?  Consider hydronics over scorched air.  Popular in the Northeast, but apparently rare elsewhere.

4. 
   bobl | Dec 14, 2004 05:59pm | #4

   there are a lot of alternatives
   natural gas is great, but it does have to be in the street at least, preferably in the house.
   don't know about propane/LPG furnaces

    

   bobl          Volo, non valeo

   Baloney detecter

5. 
   AndyEngel | Dec 14, 2004 08:21pm | #5

   Sure, you can heat the whole house with gas. If natural gas is available, it might even be the cheapest heat source you can get. Avoid propane like the plague though, at least in the northeast. In my experience, it's about twice as expensive to use as oil. Around here, if there isn't natural gas at the street, oil is usually cheapest.

   Andy

   Andy Engel

   Senior editor, Fine Woodworking magazine

   Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value. --Robert M. Pirsig

1. 
   DustinThomps | Dec 15, 2004 12:27am | #6

   Hey all, thanks for the responses.  We are building in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, which is 10 minutes south of Portland.  I can access natural gas easily enough, so that is an option.  We also may go with a blown in insulation like icynene.  Csnow, any more info about hydronics?  VaTom, give me some more info.  Keep the info coming! 

   Thanks everybody,

   Dustin

1. 
   VaTom | Dec 15, 2004 03:43am | #7

   I used the concept, not the architecture, from the book Passive Annual Heat Storage (1983), John Hait.  PAHS can look like just about anything.  Here's a book excerpt:

   http://www.axwoodfarm.com/PAHS/UmbrellaHouse.html

   For conventional, natural gas sounds good.  Both high mass (us) and super insulation work very well.  Don't forget your ventilation system either way.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!

1. 
   DustinThomps | Dec 16, 2004 05:32am | #8

   Just a lil' bump-please anyone with any experience point me in the direction of any good resources.  I appreciate any info.

   Thanks,

   Dustin

1. 
   Piffin | Dec 16, 2004 06:02am | #9

   If I had natural gas available, that would be my first choice, even over wood, because of the clean burn. 

    

   Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

2. 
   DanH | Dec 16, 2004 06:59am | #11

   Your local gas and electric companies are likely to have some fairly extensive literature on their available options. Give 'em a call.

3. 
   DustinThomps | Dec 17, 2004 01:28am | #12

   Everybody, thanks for the responses.  Dan, I'll get in touch with the gas company and see what I can find.  Thanks again.

   Dustin

6. 
   DanH | Dec 16, 2004 06:57am | #10

   Millions of homes (including many in the Frozen North) are heated with gas, both piped natural gas and bottled propane. The only real limitation (aside from price and availability) is that propane requires special arrangements when used in extremely cold (40 below) conditions.

   Besides gas, there is electrical resistance heating (expensive in colder climates), air-sourced heat pump (not quite as expensive), and ground-sourced heat pump (cost-efficient in many climates, but expensive to install, and it requires a non-trivial amount of land. If you have access to a lake or the right type of water well then a water-sourced heat pump is an option.

   And, of course, there's wood, corn cobs, solar, et al, and even coal.

   In most cases the choice between oil and gas (where both are available) is made on the basis of operating cost, though the generally lower maintenance (and maintenance cost) with gas is also a factor to consider.

7. 
   WayneL5 | Dec 17, 2004 04:31am | #13

   Natural gas is likely to be the cheapest.  There are online calculators that you plug in the local cost for different fuels and it compares the cost.  Or you could do the math yourself.  Just get the rates for natural gas, electricity, propane, oil, etc, and work the numbers.

   Forced air has a lot of advantages over hydronic heat.  These include a fast response, ability to filter the whole house with an electronic air cleaner, ability to humidify, and ability to add air conditioning.

   The real key is adequate insulation.  You don't need to button yourself up in a cocoon, but definitely go with the government recommendations, which, I believe, is R38 in the ceiling and R19 in the walls.  You'll need 2 x 6 walls to fit enough insulation in.  Insulated low-e glass in the windows, proper vapor barrier, and housewrap (like Tyvek).  I did R-21 in the walls and it was worth the $500 extra cost.

8. 
   Dinosaur | Dec 17, 2004 06:44am | #14

   I heat this place with a single Jotul #3 woodstove, plus two 1500-watt electric baseboard heaters set on low just to keep the basement utilities 'temperate' if not truly warm when I'm not home. It probably gets colder up here than where you are, and I spend a total of about $800 per winter for electric (total, not just heat) plus about $600 for firewood annually (which includes the wood used for boiling off my maple syrup in the spring...).

    

   Dinosaur

   'Y-a-tu de la justice dans ce maudit monde?

    

9. 
   ed2 | Dec 17, 2004 08:27am | #15

    

   search...    Rinnai   gas space heaters   if house layout is good for one, or even two of them    very efficient, direct vent out/ cold air intake from same (double) pipe, so no drafts in house    have friends that installed rinnai units, saved big heating money

   hydronic is big in northeast    use more than one heating zone, with dedicated circulator pump for ea. zone, v.s. only one pump w zone valves operating off it   if single pump fails, heat is out   if multi zone/ pump system and one pump fails, other zones still operate, heat stays on in most of house    

    

10. 
    TRice | Dec 27, 2004 09:48pm | #16

    Dustin,

    "What are the home heating alternatives to oil furnaces?"

    Practical, conventional alternatives include:

    gas/lp fired forced air furnaces; gas/lp or oil fired boilers or electric resistence heat. In some parts of the country, you can add a heat pump to that list.

    Any of these, if sized properly will heat an entire residence.

    Things to consider are the cost and avilability of fuel, the need or desire for cooling, efficiency and cost of the different types of primary heating equipment.

    To compare some list prices of various types of equipment:

    Goodman 80% eff gas furn, 90 mbh input -  $704 (Goodman is a "budget" product)

    Coleman/York 80% eff gas furn, 100 mbh input -  $974 (Same as Trane, Carrier, etc)

    Coleman/York 80% std oil furnace, 100 mbh input - $1483

    Goodman 90% eff gas furn, 90 mbh input -  $1108

    Coleman/York 90% eff gas furn, 80 mbh input -  $1646

    Weil-McLain CGa-4 gas/lp water boiler (82%), 105 mbh - $1766

    Weil-McLain GV-4 gas/lp water boiler (87.3%), 105 mbh - $2540

    Weil-McLain Ultra-80 gas/lp water boiler (92%), 80 mbh - $3234