Best Methods of heating a Cottage- Northern Ontario, Canada
OK, so my father and I are having our differences in deciding the best way to heat our family cottage. Unfortunately for me, he is the one that owns the cottage and pays the bills, but unfortunate for him, i do alot of the installation work.
SO, here’s the discussion. We are building a 1200 sq.ft. cottage. It is a single level with a full basement that was blasted into bedrock. Concrete block foundation without any walk-out- it is completely contained in the bedrock. The plan is to fully insulate the building as well.
The cottage has a wood burning fire place in the center (living room) and a wood burning wood stove in the center of the basement. Most likely when we are there in the winter, that these will be used to heat the majority of the cottage. So the heat method we are discussing will be used to heat up the cottage quickly when we get there, used as backup while we are there and maintain a minimum heat should we decide or find the need to keep the cottage at a warm temperature throughout the winter.
Saying all of that, what is the best way to heat the cottage? I would like to use forced air propane with all the ductwork etc, whereas my father is aiming to use electric radiant heat.
We intend to build a room in the basement that surrounds all the utilities, meaning the furnance, water heater, water pump, electrical panel etc, and insulate the heck out of this room. We will run an electric baseboard heater in this room to maintain a minimum temperature for these systems therefore possibly leaving the remainder of the building cold when not in use. This will cause us to have to drain the pipes between weekends, but we are willing to do that.
Please post all your thoughts regarding the best option to heat the cottage- the pros and cons of both forced air and electric heat. What have people learned, what have people used, what they liked and didn’t like etc etc etc.
Replies
Fuel price
Dave,
Do a good job of air sealing, and invest in good windows and extra insulation, and then it won't matter so much how you heat your building.
Fuel costs are a local matter, so you'll need to do some research. If electricity is cheap and propane is expensive, it may well make sense to heat your cottage with electricity. Obviously, natural gas is usually cheaper than either electricity or propane, but natural gas is probably unavailable at your site..
There is a vast initial cost difference between electric radiant and a ducted forced air system. You should be sure that your father will recoup his investment by saving on fuel costs... assuming propane is indeed less costly in your area. If electric is cheap, you might consider a mini-split heat pump. They are easy to install and supposedly are very efficient.
basement that was blasted into bedrock.
What is your water source? Having a well drilled? Stream or pond nearby that does not freeze solid?
Water or ground source heat pump would be the way i would do it.
The very last thing I would do is propane, unless it is really cheap in ontario.
Yeah, I'd come down on the side of insulate the hell out of it and use electric resistance heating. You still need an air circulator, though, to circulate the stove heat and maybe support an AC.
Solar?
You should hire a HVAC Contractor look over your cottage for the best solution but if your not spending a great deal of time at the cottage and are heating it to keep pipes from freezing you may want to consider solar. The solar heat will likely not be enough for while you are there, but it will save you a great deal of money when your not.