Best heating options for seasonal home

[Begonezvous]

My ancient furnace is on its last leg and my oil dealer has just informed me that my existing tank is not up to standards and cannot be filled with any more oil. The tank is currently empty.

We normally close up the house for the winter so most heating use would be in the Spring and Fall. Thinking ahead a few years, we may want to keep the house open all year.

This seems like a good time to assess my alternatives (i.e new oil based system, wood pellets, LP, etc.). I have a forced hot air system and my water is heated by an electric unit. Does anyone have any advice for a novice in this situation? Who are the right contractors to speak with that service the Wolfeboro/Tuftonboro side of the lake? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[BroadHopper]

On Rte 106 in Belmont NH. Is your best start in determining your heating system for the spring and fall. Open air source systems are ideal for seasonal home use. In the future when you decide to go year round, An alternate backup system can be added for year round comfort.

From there, talk to Jeff Seymour of Seymour and Sons in Laconia, NH. Best source of information concerning HVAC sytems for your home.

I learn the hard way. Never ask a plumber for your HVAC needs. :(

[Shedwannabe]

Of course, you could just convert to solar hot water radiant underfloor heating with a back-up wood boiler. For the present, the solar hot water should cover most of the three seasons, and in the future, the wood boiler would provide winter heat. My house has just solar hot water with back-up wood boiler. It was designed with this in mind, so has high thermal mass and 1,000+ gallon water tank to keep house warm, plus underhouse heat sink that stores heat all summer for use in fall and winter.

[MarkinNH]

Given that the house is already set up for Forced Hot Air, sticking with a hot air system would probably be the easiest. It also allows for the installation of A/C now or in the future if you so desired.
To retrofit the house for a hydronic system could potentially get quite invasive and costly especially if your home has a finished basement. All that piping has to get run somewhere.
A hydronic system would also need to be set up so it can be winterized to prevent freezing, so that it can safely be shut down each fall. There are no freeze up worries with a hot air system.
As far as fuels go, I would probably stick with oil. Because your usage is currently seasonal for now, any propane supplier you choose is going to charge you a premium price per gallon because you won't burn much fuel. The more you buy, the cheaper it will be. I know lot of people around the lake with seasonal homes, who are paying upwards of $6.00 per gallon for propane because they only use a few hundred gallons per year. My house is 100% propane and I use roughly 1000 gallons per year. I have to fight with the fuel company to keep my price in the $3.50 / $3.60 range
Even if you were to burn alot of propane and get a reasonable price per gallon, oil and propane are so closely priced right now that in my opinion your going to get the best bang for your buck from oil. Yes propane does burn cleaner but you get alot more BTU's out of a gallon of oil then you will a gallon of propane.
If I were in your shoes, I believe I would talk to one or more reputable HVAC contractors about a new high efficiany, oil fired, hot air system and a new oil tank.
Thats my 2 cents worth of knowledge and suggestions. Good Luck :)

[tummyman]

One thing to look at in today's world is electricity. When #2 oil is around $5.25 per gallon, electricity is a break-even at today's average cost of around $.15kwh. Also, propane must be adjusted to reflect that a gallon of propane yields 91600 btu's gsallon vs. 138000 btu's per gallon of #2 oil. As I look long term at the world situation. electricity for heat is looking more and more realistic without huge investment.

[Winnisquamguy]

One thing to look at in today's world is electricity. When #2 oil is around $5.25 per gallon, electricity is a break-even at today's average cost of around $.15kwh. Also, propane must be adjusted to reflect that a gallon of propane yields 91600 btu's gsallon vs. 138000 btu's per gallon of #2 oil. As I look long term at the world situation. electricity for heat is looking more and more realistic without huge investment.
Wood pellets are by far the best option, electricity in my opinion is not the way to go. Here is a fuel cost chart.
http://www.alternative-heating-info.com/fuel_comparison.html

[Kamper]

I'm sure Winnisquamguy is right on the numbers but consider this... When you have a power outage, it would take a much larger generator to heat your house than what you need to run an oil furnace. Also, there are gas units that provide a degree of functionality even without an active blower.

[songkrai]

As I have stated before. Stick with oil.

Yes, you may need a new oil tank. And you should probably put one in. But note - the unscrupulous places are telling everyone that they need a new oil tank.

Don't try to reinvent the wheel. If you have oil now then just stick with it.

Some use electric, pellets, wood, coal, propane, kerosene etc.

Don't complicate your world.

[Begonezvous]

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I need to start getting some quotes and think through my options.

[Belmont Resident]

If it is a seasonal home that is used at all during the winter it must be K1. Unless you keep the temp above freezing oil is not recommended.
Also if the HVAC system is out dated and has no insulation around the duct work then you may be in a situation where a complete switch over is the best course as some of the old systems loose much of their heat during transfer thru the duct. Either way look at all of your options.
Remember that although wood and pellet stoves are great you still have to wait for them to bring up the temp.
We have wood & forced hot air at our house in Maine. Works great, while the fire is coming up to temp the furnace gives us instant warmth.
Here we have oil fired boiler and wood. We used about 1 1/2 tanks of oil this year compaired to a tank a month by keeping the wood stove going 24/7.

[Grady223]

Since it is a seasonal house, I would consider a hybrid system - electric heat pump with oil backup. You get AC and heat all in one. New heat pump systems work very efficiently down into the twentys. Best advise came from Broadhopper, consult an HVAC specialist - but make sure they understand you are looking for three season heat. PS: My daughter and son in law replaced an oil fired furnace in their home with a hybrid here in PA and cut their total heating bill (electric & oil) in half.

[Grady223]

Here is a link to the Carrier system my daughter and her husband installed:
http://www.residential.carrier.com/knowledge/guides/hybridheat.shtml

[Rattlesnake Guy]

Check out a high efficiency heat pump. They are not good in the winter around here but we love it for the 2.5 seasons we use ours. Ours does hot and cold.

I have a wall unit back home as well. I let it do most of the work for 3 seasons. I run the fan in the furnace full time.

The numbers look good for 3 seasons.

[donmac]

In our cottage we have LP FHW, but we also have a couple of propane stoves (look like wood stoves) that are set on a thermostat and will heat the place even when there is no electricity. Since we use the place year-round, but may not be there for weeks at a time, it is good to know the place will not freeze up when the power goes out. (unless we were to run out of propane)

[TheProfessor]

My ancient furnace is on its last leg and my oil dealer has just informed me that my existing tank is not up to standards and cannot be filled with any more oil. The tank is currently empty.

We normally close up the house for the winter so most heating use would be in the Spring and Fall. Thinking ahead a few years, we may want to keep the house open all year.

This seems like a good time to assess my alternatives (i.e new oil based system, wood pellets, LP, etc.). I have a forced hot air system and my water is heated by an electric unit. Does anyone have any advice for a novice in this situation? Who are the right contractors to speak with that service the Wolfeboro/Tuftonboro side of the lake? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Please do post your findings and conclusions. So all can learn.

[Begonezvous]

Thanks for the prompt.

My thinking right now is to look at either replacing the oil furnace or look at LP as an alternative. I like the idea of getting rid of the oil tank and having the option of an easy to use gas fireplace. I will most likely use the house for 3 seasons so the higher potential cost of LP should not be much of a factor. I can get my fix of a real wood fire from my outdoor fire pit.

Fortunatley the weather is getting warmer and I can use this time to get some quotes and not rush my decision. I'll report back when I get my quotes and finalize my decision.

[DickR]

You could try an air source heat pump. For your typical 3-season use the efficiency will be quite decent. Fuel won't be an issue, and the electric power use is leveraged to deliver several times times that into the house. Cost wise it's like getting conventional electric at a third the electric rate. That coefficient of performance (COP) drops off as outside air temperature drops, but there are at least two designs for cold climates that actually will work well below zero. For your situation, it could be a good solution and would integrate well with your existing ductwork. It also would give you A/C for those really doggy summer days when you're looking to the NW for a Canadian cold front to hurry up and arrive.

I should have reread prior responses. Mine is a bit redundant.

[mcdude]

Fuel Cost Conversion Cost/million BTU
Firewood $225/cord @ 22M BTU/cord $10.23
Natural Gas $1.50/therm @ 100K BTU/cherm $15.00
Pellets $250/ton @ 16.5M BTU/ton $15.15
#2 Fuel Oil $2.50/gallon @ 138.7K BTU/gallon $18.03
Kerosene $2.90/gallon @ 135K BTU/gallon $21.48
Propane $2.80/gallon @ 91,300 BTU/gallon $30.66
Electricity $.175/kWh @ 3,412 BTU/kWh $51.29

Fuel Efficiency Cost of Fuel/million BTU
Natural Gas: 90% $12.80
Firewood: 55% $18.60
#2 Fuel Oil: 85% $21.21
Kerosene: 85% $25.27
Propane: 90% $34.06
Electricity: 100% $51.29

[jrc]

WOW, I need a wood stove...

[DickR]

Based on McDude's number for electricity, a heat pump with coefficient of performance (COP) of 3 would be $17.10 (51.29/3). A good air source heat pump can achieve that for much of the year, certainly in the spring and fall, of interest to the OP. For a ground source heat pump, an overall COP of 4.0 is achievable, which would reduce that relative cost to $12.82. Natural gas often is cheapest, but unlikely available in rural areas. Running electric lines overhead is far easier than to run a pipe underground, frequently where blasting would be required for the trench.

[mcdude]

WOW, I need a wood stove...
......but....keep in mind that running a woodstove is labor-intensive. You've got to lug and stack the wood and then bring it into the house and stack it again. After a winter storm you've got to dig out the woodpile. And, it's dirty and dusty.

But it's good exercise and, after all is said and done, there is nothing like a "nice" fire in the fireplace esp. up at the lake.

[dayvsea]

How bout electric baseboard, up against a woodstove (modern high effeciency) and a monitor wall unit for each floor.... Thats a cheap way out if you look around...

[DeniseW]

Depending on the size of your house, a wood burning stove can produce a lot of heat. But since you already have forced-air from your air conditioning (http://www.mrquikhomeservices.com) unit, I would look at a wood pellet or wood burning furnace. The other option that could be the cheapest but also requires a little more research is heating with waste oil. You can find sites out there where people have modified their wood burning stoves and furnaces to burn used vegetable oil and other waste oils. The biggest problem or potential problem is finding a source for waste oil.