The obvious should be stated - the absolute cheapest way to heat your house is geothermal. It should at least be considered. Next cheapest is air source heat pump particularly with an efficient mini split. It seems to me that converting the whole house to a standard ducted heat pump has a fairly low upfront cost and a fairly low run cost. It is a compromise for upfront cost and ongoing cost. I can't see why anyone would recommend propane - unless the goal is having generator backup heat. Are you talking paying $350 for 12 months? A heat pump with electric backup should be 50% of that or less depending on climate and what system you buy. It would seem like Carrier Greenspeed would pay off for such a high heating need. You would probably save closer to 75% compared to oil. So even though it might be $20k installed, the payback is 7 years. You really need to experience a well installed forced air system. I don't know mine is on. I fail to see how a gentle circulation of air through a filter creates dust - it actually reduces it. And then it humidifies it.

On a 6006, the wire from the electrical panel or some other control box goes to screw R and is either directed to screws B or W depending upon the temperature of the boiler and the dial setting. On a temperature drop below the setting, the power is applied from Screw R to screw B, which is usually hooked to the burner and the burner turns on. At the same time, power to screw W is dropped, shutting off the circulator. If I only wanted to use the circulator when the temperature was above the dial setting, I would only use the W screw with a wire to the circulator.

I live in the North East. I have a new oil fired boiler (1 year old), forced hot water system. It has 4 zones, one of which is for my domestic hot water tank. The boiler will only fire if the aquastat is below setpoint and there is a call from any zone, so it does not run to maintain a boiler setpoint (which is good). With the price of home heating oil averaging $4.75 a gallon, I am taking some steps to cut back on costs. One of which has been the recent purchase of a Pellet stove. I plan on this being my primary means of heating my house. I am questioning whether or not to install an electric hot water tank as my primary source of domestic hot water instead of my indirect domestic hot water tank. I have asked around, both via associates in the trade and reading the online forums. Pretty much everyone seems to believe electric hot water is cheaper. I want to believe that is true, but my calculations tell me other wise. I could be overlooking something, I sure hope so. Anyway, please review the following and advice. Thanks Home heating oil produces about 140,000 BTU per Gal My boiler is 84% efficient, which yields me 117,000 BTU per Gal. Heat losses due to piping etc I cant calculate, so I will stretch a guess and say 10% heat losses. So now I yield 105,850 BTU per gallon. Circulator pump and Burner motor running consume 2.41 amps combined, consuming .2892 KWH @ $.18415071 per kwh = $.05 an hour to run. (is that right?) So to get the 105,850 BTUH from a gal of oil it costs me $4.75 + $.05 for pump and burner run time for a total of $4.80 Now to get the same 105,850 BTU from an electric hot water tank, and figuring electric heat at 100% efficiency ( I realize its probably more like 97% in reality). 1 KW = 3,413 BTU. So 105,850 BTU divided by 3,413 BTU = 31.01 KW needed to produce the 105,850 BTUÂs So 31.01 KW times the cost of $.18415071 per kwh = $5.71. My calculations here tell me to get 105,850 BTUH from my oil burner cost me $4.80 My calculations here tell me to get 105,850 BTUH from Electric hot water tank cost me $5.71. What am I doing wrong here? Thanks

Here's the extent of my knowledge. It's not much but may get you started. Be sure to get a home inspection before you sign a contract! Summer/Winter Hook-Up Systems Summer/winter hook-up systems use a gas or oil fired boiler to heat hot water for radiator or baseboard heating. They also provide the hot water for your house and eliminate the need for a water heater tank. Since this type of system is in use year round, even when there is no need for heat, it is called a summer/winter hookup. The hot water supplied by the boiler for personal use is the same temperature as the water used to provide heat. Therefore, the output temperature of hot water at sinks, faucets, and bathtubs in the house can exceed 150 degrees. This is a very dangerous temperature that can result in instant scalding and burning of exposed skin. To prevent accidental scalds, a tempering or mixing valve should be attached to the main hot water supply line. The tempering valve mixes cooler water with the hot water from the boiler to reduce the temperature of personal use hot water to a safe level. Summer/winter hook-up systems also have a temperature & pressure relief valve. Its purpose is to discharge water from the boiler if the internal water temperature of the boiler exceeds 210 degrees F or 30 PSI. If water temperatures or pressures were allowed to exceed these points, the boiler could become damaged or worse, the boiler could explode. The TPR valve should have a directional pipe installed that points towards the floor and ends about six inches above the floor. This helps prevent anybody standing nearby from getting burned with scalding water if the TPR valve were to open. This exhaust pipe should never be capped or plugged shut. /tricia