How to save on heating

[germdoc]

I have an older house with a fairly new furnace that uses heating oil. The house is "pretty well" insulated. Heating costs last year were ~$2000; I expect will be higher this year. I do have a gas line out to the house, so I can use natural gas if needed.

I'm looking at ways to save money. Here are options:

--Buy a new gas furnace--but pretty expensive. The cost of natural gas could go up as well.

--Turn down thermostat and use space heaters in common areas--I'm interested in oil-filled portable radiators.

--Put in gas stoves in basement and living room (between $800 and $1500 each) which will pretty much heat the entire house as heat rises. Side benefit is they are very nice-looking and atmospheric--had this in previous house and LOVED IT.



I'm not interested in wood-burning stoves or pellet stoves for various reasons.

Any other thoughts?

[justaguy]

Consider having a home energy audit. At least some states offer a rebate or tax credit to offset some of the cost. The audit will a couple of hours and they will check out your furnace, ducting, insulation, windows, doors, etc and provide a prioritized list of improvements that can same you money.

They use infrared cameras, pressure sensors to find duct leaks, and other nifty tools.

If you have the audit at least you know that the additions or changes you make will have a real impact on saving energy and lowering cost as a result.

Just a suggestion (YMMV)

[dbhost]

Not sure if this will fit your bill, but I recall the way my aunt / uncle in Oregon heated their home for next to nothing...

Wood stove. Specifically an insert type that went into the fire box of the fireplace. It stuck out, and had 2 5 gallon stainless steel water tanks that would effectively continue to radiate heat into the house if the fire, inevitably went out before anyone got up to stoke it.

Wood shavings / sawdust were collected, and kept in the paper milk cartons (opened up on the top, washed and dried). I'm not sure, but I seem to recall that maybe paraffin wax was used as a binder. It made a sort of presto log kind of thing, that got the fire going really quickly. He burned a lot of waste limbs, cutoffs, and discarded wood such as busted up fencing etc...

He wasn't a turner, but had friends that were. We always kept an eye out for wood that could be either be useful and interesting for projects, or for his friends on the lathe... Otherwise it went into the firewood pile for the wood stove...

Another useful setup I remember from when I was a kid, was something that was installed in the fireplace of the duplex we lived in, called a "Heatalator". Basically it was a fire grate, that was made from iron pipe, that slipped into a manifold, which in turn had a heat exchanger, that spread heat throughout the duplex. (3br, about 1200 sq ft). It kept that place warm throughout the winter. And the insulation in that place was lousy.

A good friend of mine in Santa Fe TX has a pellet stove. Not very common around here, but with all the big mills in east Texas, pressed pellets are cheap and easy to come by for him. He goes once a year to load up a trailer full for his place, as well as his folks house...

I have a Lakewood oil filled portable radiator. It's fine for the workshop. But it sucks a LOT of juice... Not really a good choice for energy efficiency.

So you have options.

I would start by having an audit of your energy losses done, and correct any found problems. THEN move on a less expensive means of heat from there... Depending on the species, certain varieties of wood can make for a great heat source, and burn very clean. Just don't try heating with something like Pine... That would be at the minimum, mess, at worst dangerous...

[jking]

Good advice so far. Start with an energy audit if you haven't had one. Make sure the attic insulation is up to par. I have an oil-filled radiator & haven't really been happy with it. They are quiet, but, it has a hard time heating a space effectively. There are "hybrid" furnaces coming out which have gas-fired heat & electric heat pump together. I think the concept it the heat pump runs during the low use times & the gas runs during the heavy use times. Also, I don't know if it would make sense for you, but, in a basement you might consider radiant floor heat. Downside it installation isn't cheap, but, it heat the objects in the house (floor, chairs, etc.) & radiates to the air. They claim the warmth from the objects, makes the house "feel" warmer at a lower temp. setting.

[cgallery]

You could always get insulated window coverings. I once stayed in a room that had newer insulated-glass windows _and_ had insulated shades. I wouldn't have thought the insulated shades would have made that much of a difference but on cold nights you could really tell the difference when they were used. I'm sure it had to equate to some energy savings.

[Knottscott]

With a large house full of kids, I also go around checking that windows are fully closed and locked....invariably I find one every fall that's not quite fully closed or latched. Check the insulation around your entry doors too.

We have a horrible aluminum sliding glass door on the northwest corner of the house that catches the prevailing cold winds. I know the smartest answer is to replace it, but considering that it's not possible right now, we put a protective sheet of plastic over it and it seems to really cut down on the draft.

[jackellis]

Jeff,

We're building a home in a cold place and I've done a fair bit of research on how to keep our heating costs low. If your home is older, there are two big problems:

1) There's probably not enough insulation and what's there is probably in poor shape.

2) The house leaks air badly.

If you put in any kind of fireplace, wood stove, gas heater, etc., make sure it's installed to take combustion air from the outside. Otherwise, you're pulling in cold outside air that will have to be heated.

Check the insulation in your attic. Make sure it is piled high enough where it's needed but not piled so it blocks soffit vents.

Caulk or otherwise seal around windows and doors.

Retrofitting wall insulation and energy efficient windows is typically not cost-effective because they're quite expensive.

Your local utility may provide low cost or no cost energy audits. Get one.

If you ever decide to renovate your home in a big way, compressed, blown-in fiberglass or foam seem to be the most effective insulation products.

Also for renovation - hydronic (radiant in-floor) heating. The boilers are extremely (~96%) efficient and they allow you to comfortably maintain a lower indoor temperature. However, the systems are expensive to install. We hate forced air heat and decided (until things our savings started evaporating) that it was worth splurging on.

[LCHIEN]

have more S*X.

[germdoc]

have more S*X.

That's a great idea, but for the time being I'll have to settle for 3 heater cats on the bed.

[Richard in Smithville]

Jeff, what I did last winter was went out and bought a small humidifier for the livingroom. The livingroom is where the thermostat is located. It cut the amount of time that the furnace came on and really dropped my heating costs. The costs dropped enough that the gas company came and changed my meter thinking it wasn't working right.

BTW: With the extra moisture in the air, the house also felt warmer.

[unclecritic]

Really good answers so far, would like to add a few:

A whole house humidifier... Can be purchased at the big box stores and mount to the duct work... takes in water only when the furnace is on the heat cycle and the blower is running and unlike the old style ones, they dont have a tank or a resevoir that water just sits in and becomes stagnant... humid air holds heat longer and just...well... feels warmer... pretty easy to install, and if you want to get fancy you can wire the humidistat into any room of your choice, or right into the return air plenum. And no more waking up with bloody noses...

Walmart sells insulated curtains that have kind of a suede look... they come in a few different colors and they are pretty cheap... ours were around $15 a window and i think our windows are 34x62ish..... its been pretty chilly here already and notice a huge difference when I put my hand behind the curtain. Going to be buying more for the kids room and computer room.

And change your filters.

And I'm not sold on space heaters. We tried that last year and what we saved in natural gas we had to put towards the elec. bill.

My new thing that i'm intrigued with are out door boilers with a hot water coil that is inside the duct work... have installed a few now and i'm floored as to how well they work... working on one now that does the potable and infloor in the basement and both bathrooms... almost have them sold on a coil on the forced air side too... my thoughts are already trying to sneak one into an area that doesnt allow them... not really but you can always wish...

[dbhost]

Retrofitting wall insulation and energy efficient windows is typically not cost-effective because they're quite expensive.

On a counter point, particularly if you live in a wind storm prone area, and have an older home, many insurance companies give discounts for the "hurricane rated" windows, for little more than the cost of installing regular replacement windows, you can get energy savings, wind storm protection, enhanced security (a baseball bat can't bash the ones I have seen), plus they go a LONG way to increasing the value of the home...

Combine this, with improved siding, such as Hardi plank, or Hardi panel, and spend plenty of sweat equity, and you have a GREAT addition to the home. The added energy savings combined with insurance savings may just make financial sense.

[Mr__Bill]

Retro-fitting is hard and expensive. Having lived in cold country for many years here is my advice. Lots of insulation in the attic measure in feet and not inches. Make sure the attic still has ventilation. Seal up every opening and consider venting the dryer inside for the cold months. Make sure there is a good seal under the exterior doors, and into any cold areas. Enclosed entryway. The wind and cold block will save lots of heat.

Consider insulating from the outside. Cover windows that are not double paned with plastic. Look at the basement windows too. After the first good snowfall bank the snow up around the house. This insulates the foundation and if there is lots of snow you can insulate clear to the roof line. As a kid I shoveled snow up about 6" around the house and you could feel the difference inside, but then the house was a cira 1900 build.

That gas stove looks like a Jøtul Freestanding Fireplace, I happen to have one for sale, it's far too warm where I now live in Oregon for it. They are nice as they can work off of a thermostat without electricity to the stove and yet if you want to you can put a blower on it too. If you want mine I'll give you a good deal, just come on over Saturday and pick it up.

Bill, now on the Sunny Oregon Coast, where we actually saw the sun today for a while.

[fbrend123]

Have you considered sucking the heat out of the ground with a heat pump? Kinda pricey to put in, and not suitable for all locations, but supposedly a quick payback, and cheap in the long run.