# How do you heat your home?



## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

So I did a call for a guy that has been a customer for 30 years or so. He's an ex science teacher, divorced lives in a camp on the lake. I take care of his leaking tub faucet and he wants to pay me cash so we go to his living room where there's 10 commercial size coffee pots sitting on the floor, all wired up to extension cords. I said " tony, what's all this? ". He tells me he heats the house with them. He turns them on and when the water is hot the red light comes on and he turns them off. He says they will emitt heat fore about four hours and it costs him .......get this, $2.36 cents a day. He tracks it.

Ps. Not that my typing was ever worth a crap but I'm on the iPad now and it ain't helping


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## user2090 (Sep 26, 2009)

At least he put his education to use. 

Wonder what the upfront cost was for those coffee makers.


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## Airgap (Dec 18, 2008)

nhmaster3015 said:


> So I did a call for a guy that has been a customer for 30 years or so. He's an ex science teacher, divorced lives in a camp on the lake. I take care of his leaking tub faucet and he wants to pay me cash so we go to his living room where there's 10 commercial size coffee pots sitting on the floor, all wired up to extension cords. I said " tony, what's all this? ". He tells me he heats the house with them. He turns them on and when the water is hot the red light comes on and he turns them off. He says they will emitt heat fore about four hours and it costs him .......get this, $2.36 cents a day. He tracks it.
> 
> Ps. Not that my typing was ever worth a crap but I'm on the iPad now and it ain't helping


I bet he doesn't do a lot of entertaining. Maybe tea parties.....


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## Airgap (Dec 18, 2008)

I have an outdoor wood boiler. Heat pump. The wood boiler cut our heating bill by more than half and supplies endless DHW....


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## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

I have nat gas furnace. And the fire place but mist of it heat gies rite up the chimney the wife sure does like a fire tho. Lol


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## user2090 (Sep 26, 2009)

Airgap said:


> I have an outdoor wood boiler. Heat pump. The wood boiler cut our heating bill by more than half and supplies endless DHW....


I've considered doing the same thing, except I don't have easy access to wood. How much time do you put into wood?


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

I have a buderus be oil fired and solar but mostly I heat with two Hartman pellet stoves and am putting in a Hartman pellet boiler too but maybe coffee pots is the way to go:laughing:


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## Airgap (Dec 18, 2008)

Indie said:


> I've considered doing the same thing, except I don't have easy access to wood. How much time do you put into wood?


I ask just about everybody I know if they have any, or know of anybody with trees down, or want cut.

I get a national forest permit each year which lets me cut the ones they tag. 

I watch Craigslist which gets a lot of wood for me as well. 

I spend a lot of time at it (fall,early winter), but I look at it like a hobby too, so it doesn't seem too much like work.

If I did nothing but buy firewood, I would still come out way ahead on my power bill. I haven't had to do that yet though.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

I have propane boiler and indoor wood boiler ... Both are attached to DWH .. Infloor heating ... Two air handlers ... And baseboard rads


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

How's the cost of propane up there? It's too expensive to heat with here. Worse than oil. If I heat with oil, it costs me over seven grand a year


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## Gettinit (May 9, 2012)

I sit a big generator in the living room. It adds moisture to the air and it powers my fan for the heat pump. No opening the door to add fuel. Just set the gas containers beside the generator and I am good to go all night.











For any homeowner looking at this and considering to duplicate, your an idiot. I do not do this. When you kill your family don't point fingers this way. Thus is your warning, you will kill people and pets.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

nhmaster3015 said:


> How's the cost of propane up there? It's too expensive to heat with here. Worse than oil. If I heat with oil, it costs me over seven grand a year


The first year it cost me $ 8,200.00 in propane for 6 months ..

After that I put in the indoor wood boiler ... Spent $ 6,000 putting it in and brought my propane bill down to $ 400.00 that winter ...

I bought $ 3,000 of wood that year cut and split ...

So more or less I was still behind 6k for new system 3k in wood and 400 in propane ...

This year I bought logs ... 3 loads of them ... 90 cords for 3,000

So I am finally ahead...

I burn about 30 to 40 cords a year ... 

So that 3,000 of logs might get me 3 years of heating ... So 1,000 a year to heat compared to 8,000


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## TallCoolOne (Dec 19, 2010)

nhmaster3015 said:


> How's the cost of propane up there? It's too expensive to heat with here. Worse than oil. If I heat with oil, it costs me over seven grand a year


That is crazy,

My natural gas bill runs about 18 bucks per month, I have 2 air con / Heaters units. One for upstairs, and one for downstairs.


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

OldSchool said:


> The first year it cost me $ 8,200.00 in propane for 6 months ..
> 
> After that I put in the indoor wood boiler ... Spent $ 6,000 putting it in and brought my propane bill down to $ 400.00 that winter ...
> 
> ...


I'm burning pellets os I'm down to around $ 1,500 for heat.


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

I heard there was lots of problems with the pellet stoves ..

1,500 bucks of wood pellets that's a lot of bags ..or skids I should say


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## PLUMB TIME (Feb 2, 2009)

Central Boiler 5036. Unlimitted hot water, baseboard and radiant 2200 sq ft including garage. Unlimitted wood because we live in the woods, and I don't mind the excercise.

Haven't bought propane in 4 years, we have a gas stove for cooking. 500 gallon tank still at 65%.

Next year will add the dryer to the boiler.


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## Bayside500 (May 16, 2009)

i used to almost never run the heat in my home, then i got a little skinny dog and so now i keep it at about 65F or she shivers all the time.

now keep in mind this is on the west coast of Florida, so it doesn't get that cold here.

but ya it is an electric heat pump system


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## futz (Sep 17, 2009)

nhmaster3015 said:


> *How do you heat your home?*


Crappy worn out old gas furnace, in a crappy worn out old rental house. Noisy, but works ok. When parts wear out I scavenge replacements from the supplier's scrap heap - "new" gas valve recently.


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

TallCoolOne said:


> That is crazy,
> 
> My natural gas bill runs about 18 bucks per month, I have 2 air con / Heaters units. One for upstairs, and one for downstairs.


 You by passed the meter!!


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## rocksteady (Oct 8, 2008)

Double sided, natural gas wall heater. Keep in mind I may have just dealt with the coldest (or near coldest) day of the year. The overnight low a few days ago was in the high teens. :thumbsup:







Paul


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## PLUMBER_BILL (Oct 23, 2009)

nhmaster3015 said:


> <snip>
> 
> Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't heating done by BTU'S
> 
> ...


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

It's like most people with electric heat ... They got all the rads turned off except one and they say their electric bill is cheap ..... But the rest of the house is freezing ..,

I see it all the time when I go for a quote to convert their heating system


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## Mississippiplum (Sep 30, 2011)

All I got is a heat pump/ air conditioner with back up strips in the AHU

Sent from my iPhone 10.5


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## AlbacoreShuffle (Aug 28, 2011)

I hold weight watcher meetings at my house.
Nothing warms a room faster than 25 to 30 big girls fighting over the last fat free brownies


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

AlbacoreShuffle said:


> I hold weight watcher meetings at my house.
> Nothing warms a room faster than 25 to 30 big girls fighting over the last fat free brownies


How many btu does a fat person put out ???

A normal person puts out 500 btu


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

OldSchool said:


> How many btu does a fat person put out ???
> 
> A normal person puts out 500 btu


Uuummmm....OS said "put out". :laughing:


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## AlbacoreShuffle (Aug 28, 2011)

OldSchool said:


> How many btu does a fat person put out ???
> 
> A normal person puts out 500 btu


 Are you referring to *B*ig *T*high *U*nits ?


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## Hillside (Jan 22, 2010)

Old double sided floor furnace from the 40's thing cooks my ass in 30 min, don't know how much it uses though, doing forced air and hearing when we start the remodel this spring


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

Actually the fatter you are I think the less BTU you put out or for Biz emit ...

That heat has a hard time getting through all that insulation


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## nhmaster3015 (Aug 5, 2008)

PLUMBER_BILL said:


> nhmaster3015 said:
> 
> 
> > <snip>
> ...


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## OldSchool (Jan 30, 2010)

18 rooms .. How many sqft you got ?


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## deerslayer (Mar 29, 2012)

I have a propane furnace with heat pump, I have it set so the heat pump runs down to 25 degrees so the gas doesn't get used. I also heat with a wood furnace and the gas furnace is allowed to kick on a few times a year just so it stays working. I use 8-10 cords a year,I don't start a fire unless it's below 35 degrees otherwise I let the heat pump do the work.

I get the wood from my inlaws farm which is 3/4 mile from my house. Once a year we get the dozer out and drag the trees we want to a clearing and goto cutting. I can cut the wood for all year in a day. Then for the next 3 or 4 weeks every chance I get I split a load with the splitter and bring it home.


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## UN1TED-WE-PLUMB (Oct 3, 2012)

I have a woodstove that I use for primary heating. The stove has a blower and I have an air return in the adjacent wall. I run my hvac fan constantly year around and set my propane heat to 67*. The air return picks up all the hot air from the stove a circulates it through the house. House is a rambler with a finished basement. A tank of propane will last 3-4 years as it only minimally runs from January to march. I keep the stove cranked and it heats the entire house. It doesn't cost much since I harvest, split and season all my own wood. I only use about 3 cords a season. I really hope to have a wood furnace someday.


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## TallCoolOne (Dec 19, 2010)

rjbphd said:


> You by passed the meter!!


No, and I think they charge me 5 bucks per months "Useage Charge" just to have gas hooked up.

Gas is cheap here, and winters are mild......


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## 504Plumber (Jan 26, 2011)

AlbacoreShuffle said:


> I hold weight watcher meetings at my house.
> Nothing warms a room faster than 25 to 30 big girls fighting over the last fat free brownies


Now that sounds like a good time! When and where?!


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## U666A (Dec 11, 2010)

AlbacoreShuffle said:


> I hold weight watcher meetings at my house.
> Nothing warms a room faster than 25 to 30 big girls fighting over the last fat free brownies


I hold OCD support groups at home. I don't have it, but somebody always cleans the place... :jester:


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## alberteh (Feb 26, 2012)

nat gas furnace 95% efficient. jotul woodstove as backup. northern canada and most expensive gas bill so far was $143, half of which was their fees...


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## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

TallCoolOne said:


> No, and I think they charge me 5 bucks per months "Useage Charge" just to have gas hooked up.
> 
> Gas is cheap here, and winters are mild......


Yea buddy


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## Protech (Sep 22, 2008)

forced air, air source heat pump and solar dhw.

$300 or so a year on heat. Prolly less.


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## newyorkcity (Nov 25, 2010)

Buderus oil boiler, indirect water heater. Radiant floors throughout, with a Taco radiant mixing block and outdoor reset. My fireplace is lousy for heat.
The radiant was my testing ground. Years ago, when I installed the tubing, I didn't have the money to do a proper outdoor reset. I grabbed a used dhw mixing valve and piped it in. A flat screwdriver was always next to it to keep us from baking. At the time I also made my own copper manifolds with a t-drill and some globe valves.
I'm suprised at all the plumbers with furnaces, not in a bad way though. Just thought we might be inclined to be wet heads.


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## easttexasplumb (Oct 13, 2010)

Here in TX 10 months out of the year I heat my home with solar. The other 2 months of the year a natural gas forced air furnace gives me the desired 30 degree temp rise.


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## plbgbiz (Aug 27, 2010)

easttexasplumb said:


> Here in TX 10 months out of the year I heat my home with solar. The other 2 months of the year a natural gas forced air furnace gives me the desired 30 degree temp rise.


Solar my arse. In Texas, 10 months out of the year you heat your home with a refrigeration unit. :laughing:


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## TX MECH PLUMBER (May 27, 2011)

I heat my home by having a bunch if okies come down and hang out. All that hot air they are full if heats it up pretty fast Lol


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## plumberkc (Jun 23, 2011)

I use a wood burning stove for most of my heat. I have some land with tons of trees so I cut all my own wood and haul it up on the four wheeler. I also have a furnace that runs off propane since I don't get nat gas. 

My buddy has a house with a boiler which also has a wood fireplace. The pipes from the boiler run along the backside of the fireplace. It's a pretty neat system.


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## TallCoolOne (Dec 19, 2010)

plbgbiz said:


> Solar my arse. In Texas, 10 months out of the year you heat your home with a refrigeration unit. :laughing:


exactly, I am still running my air con this week.

Very warm winter here.

On average I only run a heater late December until mid February.

Now the air con runs alot from May till October.......


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## Plumberman911 (Dec 23, 2012)

Forced air. We won't talk about gas bill


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## okcplum (Jul 16, 2011)

Solar air panels, only work if the sun is out though.
They crank out some serious heat.
Wood fire in the living room and forced air unit.
My total cost to heat my house this time of the year is below $200 a month in utilities for everything.
And its pretty cold in Oklahoma at the minute.


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