Electric or OIL?

[Doc]

A very short time ago, this would have been a "no brainer". But, with the price of heating oil going right through the roof (with most of my heat) I'm thinking of installing electric heat in my house. I don't think the price of oil is ever going to go down...the odd market correction aside. I'm building a new house, and I'm thinking hydro. Cleaner, and right now at least, cheaper. Thoughts?

[Splatm]

Go electric but if you have the right terrain go for a closed loop, 2-stage (not DX), vertical bore, geothermal heat pump. Major savings with higher costs up front. You can save something like up to 60% over your current total heating/cooling budget. The technology has come a long way so be careful about what you are being sold. There are a lot of hucksters pushing the older copper/DX systems which were a bad design. Since it is a new build you may not have the same upfront costs I am facing for a retrofit.
Has some neat advantages too, I can have hydronic AC/Heat in my garage while still keeping the gas-tight barrier between the garage and the rest of the house. Makes for a very comfortable workshop.

[C23flyer]

I would agree with the geothermal system. Also, forced air electric with a good humidification system and air exchange is far superior to baseboard heating. Then, if you decide at some point to go back to oil/gas, the hardware is in place. If you've got the property, you might be able to put up solar collectors and wind generators and go right off the grid. Save a ton.

[xsbank]

Here in LaLa land, geothermal costs about 15,000 to drill the hole and set up the junk in an existing house.

I would do an analysis and you'll find it will pay for itself a lot faster against oil than against hydro, but the hydro puts you squarely in the sights of government who do such things as give an obscure aluminium plant that employs, oh, maybe a dozen people to push buttons, virtually free hydro that gets cheaper the MORE they use - for 30+ years!!!!! AAaaarrrrrghhhh!

[2R]

Wood Stove as a back up
Gotta have that second engine Doc

[Hedley]

From an engineering standpoint, creating heat
is really not a big challenge.

Personally, I would like a nuclear reactor in
the corner of my basement. Sort of a large
tea kettle, to produce hot water which could
circulate around the house in radiators, much
as an old boiler used to.

[chu me]

Doc ;
If you are uncomfortable with solar or wind as your only source of power, there are lot's of good "grid tie " systems on the market. A grid tie system allows you to tie into the existing power grid but only use it when you can't produce enough power on your own.This kind of a system is also cheaper initially then a full blown off the grid system, although you can add to it later. Also you might want to look into alternative building materials for your house such as straw bale construction. These alternative materials are not only cost effective to use, but also are excellent insulators.( some straw bale houses are rated R52 ). As for fire and pest ratings they are usually double the normal materials.( just make sure you don't have any big bad wolves as friends ). Hope you find these suggestions helpful. If you are already aware of these systems then just disregard.

Sincerely

Chu me

[Strega]

Doc,

If you are building a new place,

INSULATION!

If you insulate the hell out of it, your heat loss ( and the amount of energy required to replace it ) will dramaticly be reduced!
If you're heating cost was $100/month (from electrical sources) would that bother you? I think this would not be that difficult to do..

[v6g]

From an engineering standpoint, creating heat
is really not a big challenge.

Personally, I would like a nuclear reactor in
the corner of my basement. Sort of a large
tea kettle, to produce hot water which could
circulate around the house in radiators, much
as an old boiler used to.

Nice idea. Just think, you'd have a guy in a lead-lined suit come along once or twice a year to replace your uranium pellet to keep you going.

[pilotbzh]

not once or twice a year, once every five years at least...... and a nuclear core overhaul every 20-25 years.... you're good for a good 100 years total before it has to be disposed off for the next 3000 years


But go for a boiler to warm forced air or radiators, it's the most efficient and you can use more than one source for the heat...Gaz/electric /oil or even solar/heat pump...

[Dex]

From an engineering standpoint, creating heat
is really not a big challenge.

Personally, I would like a nuclear reactor in
the corner of my basement. Sort of a large
tea kettle, to produce hot water which could
circulate around the house in radiators, much
as an old boiler used to.

To expand on this. You create steam to turn small turbines for electrical generation; after the turbines the hot water could be pumped as you stated above.

[canwhitewolf]

have you considered "ground-source heat pumps" ...works well and is cheap to run the house

http://www.canren.gc.ca/prod_serv/index ... 0&PgId=769

[xsbank]

Ummm, that would be geothermal.... am I annoying you, Canwhitewolf? I really don't mean to...

[canwhitewolf]

whats your opinion of it. looks good to me

[Cat Driver]

We put a heat pump in our house last winter...it is wonderful and way cheaper than any other method of heating and cooling.

[canwhitewolf]

We put a heat pump in our house last winter...it is wonderful and way cheaper than any other method of heating and cooling.

****************************************************************

how was the install cost?

[Cat Driver]

We bought a Mitsubishi heat pump that uses the outside air not geo thermal as we are built on rock.

It cost $8000.00

[canwhitewolf]

ok, I thought maybe it was geothermal

regardless, heat pump systems work fine it seems

[pontius]

Cat Driver said............

"We bought a Mitsubishi heat pump that uses the outside air not geo thermal as we are built on rock"


Have you had any problems when the outside air drops to below freezing?
We can get down to -15C here, occasionally down to -30C. I have considered a geo-thermal system but my house sits on solid granite and the drilling cost alone is quoted to be 10,000 dollars.

[Doc]

You NEED to burn a lot of oil to get back ten grand for a hole. Electric it will be.

[niss]

I would go with propane if you cant get NG to your house with a tankless hot water heater c/w hot water coil in the forced air system. That way you only have one system, you are heating water you use instead of a holding tank. Electric heat in a central air system is uber expensive.

[JakeYYZ]

Do you have some numbers to post, Doc ?