Alternative Heating for Winter
 

Hi All,

So I know a lot of you are part of the northern climate and will be dealing with the ridiculously high heating costs this winter. This has made me consider alternatives to see if, long term, I could save some money.

I know you can get a pellet stove for about $3000 installed and that will save you some considerable money on heating costs. Of course, it's $3000 out of pocket....

I was looking at these quartz infrared heaters that supposedly are supposed to do a good job heating a good portion of a house. Any thoughts on these?

http://www.infrared-heating.com/

What are other people doing (besides lowering the thermostat, lol) to conserve and save a few bucks?

Chris

We installed updated double pane windows, and a ceiling fan. That helped a lot.

hv u looked at geothermal heating?i still cant make up my mind about it but read somewhere it costs around 12000 to install and serves as an AC/heater

The price of pellets has gone through the roof. I think they are at least double what they were five years ago.

Our house is superinsulated, and the thermostats for our FHW/BB system usually stay around 65º. We just installed an instant-hot water heater, so this way, the house won't keep heating water when we aren't using it.
That said, we need a new house. (I want radiant, dammit! ;))

Budget billing on oil delivery LOL.

Thats what I figured....typical supply/demand stuff :( Rats!

It's a tough situation....I'll see if anyone else has any thoughts. It's going to be a tough winter no matter which way you look at it. If we get any hurricanes this Fall oil is going to skyrocket.

We have the quartz radiant heaters and they are really good for a small area - like a single bedroom or office - they are not that effective in a larger room but they are a very warm heat - nice.
Try an outside wood burning boiler - larger up front cost - but the fire stays away from the house and they are very efficient with wood use. Of course the cost of seasoned wood is going......guess now......up!

CF,
We did 15+ years NW of NYC, and 4 full time years on the Mtn in NC;
both houses had/have a decent wood stove, installed at build time.

We had access to all the wood we could cut/buck/drag/split and
stack, so the "fuel" was simply our tools and hard work.

Imo, when people do post installs of a stove burning wood/pellets/coal
etc., they tend to go overboard in sizing the stove too large. I realize
you live in Mass, (from memory), but unless one is trying to turn that
stove room into a sauna and blow out the rest of the house, bigger
ain't better. A reasonably sized, decent, non-foofoo stove, with good
dbl wall pipe and trpl wall where code requires, will provide exc. heating
for your normal living space(s).

One must be prepared to get up to a cool house and then fire up that
bastard when you get home and run the hell out of it on weekends, when
home. But again, a stove to heat 4,000 sq ft, when you are really trying
to be comfortable in room(s) of 400- 1200 ft sqd, is a diff consideration
and that jumbo, super efficient, doorway to hell stove may not be the
deal.

No clue on pricing, as it's been 7 yrs since our last stove buy and install,
but there are a lot of decent brands out there. Be sure to get any unit
with the UL approval and that unit's install specs also meet your local
building code specs.

I like wood; some like pellets but you are paying a couple steps for the
processing. Coal is a whole other animal...
Do some web hunting and good luck. My 50Cent is up...
BR,mD

I don't know about whole house heating with Infrared. I bought the Infrared heating dish from Sam's Club and I can tell you it is not that effective. It produces heat, but not like those regular personal heaters do. Just my 2 cents.

I have a propane furnace but haven't started it in 7 years. All I burn is wood I cut, haul, split and stack myself. I live in one of the coldest spots in the country and would never pay some a-hole for propane to heat my house. I have 80+ acres of hardwood but I buy a firewood cutting permit from the national forest and cut all the wood I want for the $20 permit. By the time I pay for gas for the truck to haul the wood & the chainsaw I have less than $200 in my home heat for the year. It's good exercise cutting, splitting and carrying the wood too. I just have one wood stove in my living room with 3 ceiling fans in the house to move the air. Nothing beats wood heat on a cold -40 degree night!!!

You can also pay a trucker to bring you a semi-load of wood to your yard you could cut yourself. Or, people will deliver firewood ready to burn to your home also. Wood is a renewable resource and so much goes to waste in the national forests it's unbelievable! Because the tree-huggers protest the logging contracts up here millions and millions of trees are just wasting away falling over dead after they become over mature. They never get their asses off their office chair to see what's really happening in nature believing that it's taboo to cut a damn tree. Our national forests are becoming an over-mature ecosystem that are unable to support wildlife like a newly logged or burned forest can. You will not see deer, elk, bear, wolves, or grouse in a mature forest. They need a younger forest for food and cover. There's a bumper sticker seen often up here that says; Against logging, then wipe your ass with a plastic bag!

TREE HUGGERS SUCK!

Amen Brother!
 

I have a outdoor burner and love the heat and the warmth from the wood and the work that I did to get it there.

MD,

Thanks for the detailed response! (Long time no talk by the way...I'm still alive but my house + work are sucking all my free time).

I did forget to mention that I have a wood stove (1960s) in my finished basement. I have a raised ranch (not my ideal house style-wise but fuctionally it works very well for me). Do you think the heat would rise through the floor/ceiling between the basement and main living floor, or would I need to cut a hole in the floor?

The only issue is that the 'box' of the stove is about ~20" in depth by about 12" in width. I don't think most logs would fit in there, would they?

Chris

Can't you just burn dried cow pats :nanana:

LOL We do not have a cow manure furnace. But you can burn corn...which is silly right now with Corn Futures through the roof. ;)