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Heating & Air Conditioning

heating confusion

16 years ago

Hi folks,

I recently posted a question about portable furnaces and wanted to give thanks for the advice not to go there.

I have been surfing the different options for heating my place and now I'm stuck in over analyzing my choices. Just don't know what to do now. To try and give a brief summary will be difficult but will try my best.

-30x70ft. log house, with one end a bay room which faces SW

-2/3 has 20ft. ceiling, 1/3 open loft, open plan with exception of the bathroom:-)))

-3ft. crawlspace, on cement foundation with a foundation wall between main section and bayrm.

-I do not need a/c but need heat. Winter temp. seldom go below 32F, west coast in Canada so lots of moisture, lots of land with a pond close by (seasonal)

-electric rate .06 per kWh, oil approx. $4 gal.($1.02 litre)

no gas avail., cord of firewood $150-180.

I have a wood fired boiler in an insulated area of my woodshed about 25ft. from the house. Water pipes go underground into the crawlspace to a Lennox AM30 air handler/hot water coil unit situated in the centre of the house with ducting throughout except the bay room :-((((

I'm getting too much grey hair to be dealing with firewood (I have lots in my forest). I do have a woodstove in the house as backup incase of power failures. When I was checking out heat pumps a few years ago, one rep. did a heat loss calculation of 56,674 BTU/hr. and a minimum 4.5Ton HP would be needed. However he said my ducting may not be big enough to handle the unit and would need to be replaced. I had another gentleman come and checked out what I had and gave an estimate of $5000 on a 3Ton HP but he just looked. I recently had this SAME guy come again and he mentioned around $12000 (up $7000) from his first quote.

This is the basic situation and find life has become too complicated with soooo many options and not enough trustworthy companies. What's an aging gal to do????

I appreciate the posts I read hear. They have both helped and added to the confusion:-)))) Thank you in advance for anyone who enjoys a challenge and would like to respond.

Judy

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Comments (5)

baymee
16 years ago
Electric boiler sounds the best for you, my opinion. All the comfort of hot water heat with your cheap rates, as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Electric boilers
bouvigirl75
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks baymee for the suggestion. I have been looking at them. I have gotten confused with the cost per mth. to run it using various heating cost calculators. One of the problems with using the ducting I have now is that the bay room is not being heated. Although the wood boiler co. that installed the system said "Oh we will have to put lots of vents in the bay room" (because of the large windows) none were done. His reasons were concern of cracking the foundation wall (even though he was well aware of it prior to the work being done). Guess it is simply the labour budget ran out and the customer pays for their error in judgement.
If the heat loss calculation is correct at 56,674 does this mean a heating system has to put that much out?
I am drawn to baseboard heat because it is 100% efficient (no heat loss via ducting), quiet, no maintenance, no extra parts to break, no energy consumed in warm weather. Problem is what's it going to cost per mth.?????
Many thanks,
Judy
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tigerdunes
16 years ago
I am drawn to baseboard heat because it is 100% efficient (no heat loss via ducting), quiet, no maintenance, no extra parts to break, no energy consumed in warm weather. Problem is what's it going to cost per mth.?????

bouvigirl

brace yourself if you elect baseboard heat. Cheap to install-expensive to operate.

I can not comment on electric boilers but my first choice would be a high eff heat pump with var speed blower. Plus you get AC if you ever required it. Get a load calc in writing and several quotes.

IMO
bouvigirl75
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks tigerdunes for your input and parts of me agree with you. My question with this system would be can I shut it down when I need neither heat or a/c for 6mths. of the year?
I know I would want to do this to elimnate any power use, stop the noise from the ducting, fans and HP. All these things sound MUCH louder when one lives a quiet rural life.
I have read that baseboards cost alot to run but still haven't figured out how much alot is. One estimation was about $1500 (.06 divided 3.6)x (85 divided 100)x 100,000 = yearly heating costs. Is,in reality, $250 a mth. alot to spend on heating with no muss, no fuss, no noise, no yearly maintenance costs, no costly repairs. I may be out to lunch but please remember I have been heating with wood for years and really am out of the loop as to the average home heating costs. Thanks for your patience as I learn and try to make some sense of heating my home.
Judy
baymee
16 years ago
Electric boilers are popular in the Midwest and West for the very reasons you cited above.

At the moment in PPL's area of PA, I think it's a toss-up between oil and electric heat.

Heat pumps are great until the electric coils come on and when you get above the Maryland line they start losing luster, but you still have the A/C end of them, which is desirable. Many contractors use them here.

There is no comparison between the comfort of warm water heat vs. warm air. Not only is it quiet, it's also not drafty.

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