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LUVMBDiesels · #16 01-09-2011, 05:18 PM

Down here in Va I am using a heat pump! Highest electric bil so far has been $52.00!
Up in New Paltz I have an oil fired hot water (baseboard) system and a fireplace. The house, being almost 200 years old is so drafty that you can feel the wind blowing through it! The fireplace gets lit in November and stays lit until May and I still go through about 750 gallons of oil...

The Clk Man · #17 01-09-2011, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rscurtis

You'll also burn a little more beer getting rid of the ash- the major drawback to coal, IMO.

Hey DUDE!! are you calling me ashy?

daveuz · #18 01-09-2011, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

Down here in Va I am using a heat pump! Highest electric bil so far has been $52.00!
Up in New Paltz I have an oil fired hot water (baseboard) system and a fireplace. The house, being almost 200 years old is so drafty that you can feel the wind blowing through it! The fireplace gets lit in November and stays lit until May and I still go through about 750 gallons of oil...

I saw a photo of the house in New Paltz earlier last year when you posted it. Beautiful looking place. It looks to be 1840's Greek Revival. I am curious , is the fireplace modern or is it the original Rumford style?

layback40 · #19 01-09-2011, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

We use gas. My home fireplace is mostly decorative, it probably uses more energy than it produces.

Now Craig,
You being An Engineer in the power industry, this post is a bit disappointing.
We both know that energy can neither be produced or destroyed. I guess what you meant to say was you felt your fireplaces were very inefficient.

Here we have a good supply of fire wood, probably more than will be needed in my life time. We use some WVO as it is given to us.

el presidente · #20 01-09-2011, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Clk Man

Firewood this year to heat? Out of necessity, we started burning firewood in our Buffalo Stove this year for heat. What kind of heat source do you guys/gals use for heat.

Natural gas....have two brand new Trane high efficiency furnaces recently installed.

rsmartin · #21 01-09-2011, 06:41 PM

we have 2 units, heatpump and nat gas split system for upstairs
nat gas furnace for main floor, not heat pump.. it's oldest unit. needs replaced

we spend about $300-500/mo on gas and electric throughout the year

obviously more on gas in the winter and more on electric in the summer.

elchivito · #22 01-09-2011, 07:05 PM

Wood. I burn about a cord and a half of mixed oak and mesquite. My fireplaces are rumford boxed adobe beehives, with outside air intakes. We only light fires at night. It's in the 50's here daytimes, down to 18-25 at night. The house has never gotten colder than 58 degrees inside on it's own as long as I've been keeping count, and that was many years ago when we had a rare -5 degree morning. We'd had no fires the night before as we'd been out late and went straight to bed. It was still 58 inside. Put on a sweater and make the coffee....

pawoSD · #23 01-10-2011, 12:12 AM

Gas forced air....costs very little....highest bill so far about $140 and that includes a 50 gallon water heater....not bad for a 2700sq foot house+ heated garage and temps rarely above 25! (Its NINE right now)

We have a fireplace but it needs internal repairs that we don't want to deal with/pay for right now, I'll fix it in the summer and use it next year. I set the house to a cool 66 degrees and add extra heat to the room we are in with an electric heater.

Helps to have a 92+ % efficiency furnace....I also re-capture heat from the dryer and such. (electric not gas!)

Once I replace all of our windows it will likely save us a bundle on our bills.

10fords · #24 01-10-2011, 12:56 AM

I have forced air central heating, but rarely use it, as I have a woodstove and 50 acres of oak trees. The woodstove usually gets lit in late October and burns until April or later depending on the weather. The woodstove does a great job of keeping the house warm, and you just can't beat the ambiance of a real fire, but it requires a lot of labor and is really more of a way of life than practical. I imagine at some point I will have to get one of those sissy ass pellet stoves where you get your "firewood" from the store, or pay the propane pirates so I can use the furnace to heat the house.

FWIW- A cord is 128 cubic feet, usually stacked 4x4x8. A full cord will NOT fit in the bed of a fullsize longbed pickup without sideboards despite what your local firewood salesmen may tell you.

Chas H · #25 01-10-2011, 12:59 AM

I use a wood stove for most of my heat once the cold weather sets in. The oil fired hot water furnace takes up the slack when the wood stove cools off. I burn about a cord and a half of wood in the season and maybe 2 tanks of oil. A storm last spring knocked down some large ash trees in my woods, so I'm set for fire wood for a few years.

Chas H · #26 01-10-2011, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10fords

FWIW- A cord is 128 cubic feet, usually stacked 4x4x8. A full cord will NOT fit in the bed of a fullsize longbed pickup without sideboards despite what your local firewood salesmen may tell you.

A cord of wood worth buying is also too heavy for most pick-up trucks. Seasoned oak weighs about 44lbs a cubic foot.

10fords · #27 01-10-2011, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chas H

A cord of wood worth buying is also too heavy for most pick-up trucks. Seasoned oak weighs about 44lbs a cubic foot.

I never thought of it that way! That means I've had over 6000 lbs in my 3/4 ton pickup fairly regularly

pawoSD · #28 01-10-2011, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 10fords

I never thought of it that way! That means I've had over 6000 lbs in my 3/4 ton pickup fairly regularly

Sounds like a job for the MB wagon, not some sissy pickup.

Sounds like a ton of people here heat their homes like the pioneers....do you all live in the back woods or something?

compu_85 · #29 01-10-2011, 02:13 AM

If you have friends in the tree cutting business, and your home is normally warmed with fuel oil, suddenly a wood fire is an attractive proposition!

sfloriII · #30 01-10-2011, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LUVMBDiesels

Down here in Va I am using a heat pump! Highest electric bil so far has been $52.00!
Up in New Paltz I have an oil fired hot water (baseboard) system and a fireplace. The house, being almost 200 years old is so drafty that you can feel the wind blowing through it! The fireplace gets lit in November and stays lit until May and I still go through about 750 gallons of oil...

Wow. I wish we were at $52!! January is usually the worst month for us at about $150 or so. We use a heat pump too. Maybe it's the size of the house... but it's 2650 sq ft, not huge.

BTW, I used to live in Front Royal. I attended college for a year there and also lived up on Blue Mountain (about ten miles north of the town) for my first two years of high school. Wonderful area!!