DH kicks himself that he didn't think about doing this. Inexpensive "insurance policy" and easily done while the walls and floors are opened up.

Actually, I have saved considerably on my heating bills since I started using Speedheat's Rug Buddy. I started with one in the living room and then put them in all of my bedrooms, too. I used to keep my house a toasty 74 - not very green, I know, but I've always ran cold... but now, I only heat the rooms I'm using and keep it at about 68... it's a much different heat than blowing ones... it's like it heats you all the way to your bones or something... It takes about an hour to get the room up about 20 degrees or so if you cover about 50% or so of the room... about half an hour in the rooms that are 85% covered. Of course, your feet are warm within about 5 minutes, so that's helpful. I use the plug-in stat they have now in the baby room because I care more about the control, but the others, I just put them on a timer. They have an electrical cost calculator on their site. Just remember that you will use it less than other heaters because of the comfort level difference... and of course, you don't have to heat rooms you aren't using if you don't want to, which saves, too. - I think there are some that were on the market before that were more expensive to run - and I know hydronic is REALLY expensive. My uncle has it in NY, and it takes a pretty penny... I told him to just do this, but I haven't convinced him yet. lol Here is a link that might be useful: Speedheat's Running Cost Calculator

Hola, Sorry, forgot to post layout: And no, we're not thinking of using our huge fireplace as a heat source. My kids have asthma, so all the tiny particles from wood burning or pellet stoves are not good for the kids. And I don't think they're that environmentally friendly. If we have the money, we would do geothermal heating. Here's our house in about 20inches of snow last year (does this help your decision, since it's nice and warm today?): plllog: "You have young children. You have a budget...Then the children can spread out their painting projects on the floor, roller skate, or whatever. Real linoleum, such as Marmoleum, is an ecologically friendly choice...you can easily replace it when you decide you want hardwood. In fact, you can do the subfloor as if you're getting hardwood... Then it's easy to mop. And you can make the change when the kids are older and you feel like spending the money--or not." These are my thoughts exactly!!! roobear: "Hardwood is better for resale, it would add value to your home, it can be refinished etc. Plus, it would fit the period and style of the house better." EXACTLY! The flip-side of my thinking as well. If I'm going to do hardwoods later, why not do them now and enjoy the benefit of the flooring, rather than pay twice? I've also thought about the heated rugs; the Japanese use them all over their house. circuspeanut: "have cold feet 6 months out of the year" Argh: sometimes it feels longer. cleo: "using engineered hardwood floors" Great idea, but because we installed some in our previous house, I really did not like them. My main concern w/ them is wear and tear, especially in between the planks. What happens if water (or raw meat juice) gets in between and swells the ?particle boards, etc? lovilynne: "have you considered DIY wood" Oh, while my house is not historical, it seems like it with the uneven floor, no insulation in the walls, etc :) We are DIY the hardwood floors for the 2nd floor right now. The learning curve was HUGE for us. And I'm not sure about my skills w/ hardwood floor over radiant heat. "they make a special heater to go under the cabinet" Oh!!! Can you please tell me more? Do you have pictures to share? Hmmm...

Agreed Bry, that's a great point. In renovation or replacement comparison situations when a household is consistently using the baseline allowance, using the next tier rate up would be more accurate. It's also tough figuring out how much of the minimum monthly gas fee to include. I would guess the water heater may account for ~50% of usage so more accurate water heater gas costs would be somewhere near $302. Much tougher figuring the added comfort and space conditioning benefits of a HPWH and if the gas combustion appliance is naturally vented, there is probably added moisture and potentially health costs involved. For new construction, not knowing specific situations I think average kwh rates are where to start, and it's only the most energy intensive homes that would recover new infrastructure costs. Those outliers might be wise to improve the design. An energy rater would be helpful for plan specific comparisons. Mr. Fudd's Tier 2 kicks in at 202 kwh, lower than baseline allowances I saw digging around on the PG&E site. It must be an energy intensive area because most Tier 2 levels I saw were higher. This suggests the averages I linked to are close. Most tier talk for PG&E (serving a third of CA households according to this page) is about to be irrelevant as they are transitioning to Time Of Use rates for everyone. This makes sense for the increasingly renewable electric grid. For example, it will encourage electric vehicle owners to charge during off-peak hours and will keep electric water heating costs competitive with gas, even for replacement situations and even in places of high electric/ low gas rates. This requires the effort of putting a timing control device on a tank water heater, something those with basic electrical skills could DIY. Tying this back to topic, new construction skipping air-conditioning could use electric resistance (or heat pump) radiant floor heating during off-peak hours. The floor mass releases heat during on-peak hours of the day and an efficient envelope would keep it in. No combustion inside home necessary and cost effective if done right. A guy is doing it off-grid in Saskatchewan so it might be easy in CA. Here's a link to the controller he built for the PV to electric resistance radiant floor (or battery) interface.