Heating new basement, electric or propane?

I am building a new home in the western mountains of NC. I have a full basement, of which, the front is at ground level and the rear is completely underground. The house will be heated via heat pump and backup heat strips. The basement is divided into 4 spaces, a

2 car garage and 3 rooms. The 3 rooms are framed but not drywalled ... not yet, anyway. Check out:
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front large room is for a future game room or the like. The back room will probably house the water heater and HVAC stuff. The "shop", wood and electronics, will either be in the back room or the right side room. I can drywall off either of these area for the shop. I am leaning to using the back room, as the HVAC will shed some heat and it would be easy to add a register for both heat and cooling. I could add an electric heater for winter. I could also add a non venting propane heater as there will be a propane tank for cooking. I see torpedo propane units and wall mount propane heaters. The torpedoes are fan forced, which seems to be a plus, and seem to have higher outputs. I wouldn't consider a kerosene unit as I have "smelled" them before. The wall heaters usually don't have fans. Is there a reason the propane torpedo would not be good for this application? The other thing about the torpedo is that it can be moved to the garage when needed as it is basically portable. Do they put out more pollutants than the wall heater? BTW, the usage might be a few hours a day, several days a week, but that's about it. Any comments? Thanks, Art
Reply to
Art Todesco
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Don't even think about a non-vented heater f any kind. They are intended for more or less open areas like barns and construction sites. Any decent shop will have a ceiling mounted gas or propane vented heater like the Modine Hot Dawg, my personal favorite. At the price, you can use two in separate locations to cut down on heating too large an area. Don't be deluded about the potential usage being limited. Experience shows that a well appointed shop will be used far more than ever planned, especially with new construction such as yours.

Joe.

Reply to
Joe

I came across this website.

For some cases, electric fares well with propane.

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You will want to adjust for prices in your area. Our electic is about 13 cents per kwh and propane is currently about 2.70

Reply to
Kevin

You may want to go with propane just so you will have a source of heat if the power goes out.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

That might be something to consider -- so long as you don't require a blower -- having the non electric source of heat might some day come in handy.

I have electric shop heat, and propane furnace house heat. I'm thinking to add a wood stove to the shop.

Reply to
Kevin

Even if it does have a blower, it can be powered by a generator if needed. Not many have a generator that will power a heat pump. Especially for very long. I had a house that had natural gas heat and could start up a small (5000 watt) generator for the blower every so often to get the heat up. Then use it for other things. It takes a heat pump a long time to heat a house where the gas heat will come on for a short time to get the heat up and can then be shut off for a while.

I am now in a house with a heatpump but have a wood stove in the basement just incase it is needed.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

If your shop is an attached garage, it will be against fire code. If not, just use care as solid fuel stoves can stay hot enough to ignite solvent fumes for a day or two after the fire seems out.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

out:

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> The front large room is for a future

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Here in NH I've seen a number of 'barns converted to businesses' etc that use some sort of small modern kerosene (pressurized???) system that they all seem to love. Not the old blower kerosene heaters that I've used etc and that you are thinking about. (I personally use propane for my 'outbuildings'). So, look into modern kerosene options, you might be surprised at the new technology.

Paul

Reply to
Paul Oman

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