Need to replace Electric Baseboard Heating Units & Replacement Windows

[<kjpro]

What figures would you like me to input for you?

List the fuel types, fuel cost and equipment efficiencies... and I&#39;ll get you the end cost per million btu transferred into the space.

[m Ransley]

Look into Spacepack with heatpump. Ducts can be run anywhere. But Ng is cheaper than electric.

[gofish]

full cord of tamarack wood. $160.00 delivered. Cast iron stove.

82.5%

[hallerb]

firewood is a loser, run the numbers

lets assume you have a wooded lot nearby and the wood is free:)

now you must go cut down the trees, cut up the trees, haul the logs home, split the logs, stack the split firewood, later stack it by house, carry it indoors and burn, haul out ashes.

thats a LOT of work, and not real convenient:(

now take all the hours worked and get minimum wage job, after taxes your probabl;y stilll ahead working the job

and that assuming the firewood source is closeby and free......

add in splitter, chainsaw, vehicle for hauling wood and fuel to run vehicle....

[Paul M. Eldridge]

Generally speaking, the spread between natural gas and electricity has narrowed in recent years and there have been times when their respective price positions have reversed, at least temporarily.

This time last year, Heritage Gas (our local distributor) was charging residential customers $20.413 per GJ. One GJ is equal to 277.8 kWh, so the cost per kWh(e) works out to be $0.073. Assuming 80 per cent burner efficiency, the price jumps up to $0.092.

A typical new, energy-efficient home here in Nova Scotia might require

50 GJ of heat/year. At $20.413 per GJ and assuming an 80 per cent conversion efficiency, natural gas heat would cost our homeowner $1,275.81. At NSP&#39;s then rate of $0.922 per kWh, electric baseboard heat comes to $1,280.66, so the difference in cost is less than $5.00. If you factor in the volume of air that would have been exhausted out of the house over the course of the heating season (air that, in many cases, would have been previously heated), both while the gas furnace was operating, as well as what would have leaked out the damper as it sat idle, electric pulls ahead. And if individual room controls allowed the homeowner to turn down the heat in various parts of his home, the net result is that electric heat is the clear winner.

Today, the price of these fuels has reverted back to their more historical positions. Natural gas heat has fallen to a little over $800.00/year and with NSP&#39;s latest rate increase, electric baseboard heat has climbed to just over $1,400.00. The gap, in this case, of just $5.00 has now grown to $600.00, all in the space of one year.

So it seems homeowners never really know from one year to the next what they&#39;ll pay to stay comfortable in their homes. For many of us, the uncertainty (perhaps anxiety is a better word) is just not worth it.

Which brings me to the point I keep hammering again and again. A high efficiency heat pump could heat this same home for as little as $450.00 a year; at current rates, that&#39;s a $950.00 savings over electric baseboard heat and a $350.00 savings over natural gas.

Cheers, Paul

[<kjpro]

$12.12

[Mike]

What is Spacepack?

[Paul M. Eldridge]

Hi Mike,

I suspect Mr. Ransley meant "spacepak".

See:

Cheers, Paul

[Steve Spence]

My furnace doesn&#39;t have a fan, plus I&#39;m off grid, so my power is never out. Propane wall heaters are non-electric. My primary heat is wood, but I have propane heat for when I want to go away for a weekend.

[Steve Spence]

What&#39;s wrong with propane wall heaters for emergency backup, or even a nice woodstove?

[<kjpro]

[<kjpro]

The thing that most everyone is missing is this...

There are many ways to provide heat without electric, but for the most part... they are inefficient and not as comfortable as other heat sources.

[<kjpro]

As in my other reply, there are many ways to provide emergency heat without electric. But in most cases, these are inefficient and compromise your comfort.

[Steve Spence]

I disagree. In many areas, electric is expensive, and in our case not even available. Wood heat is very comfortable, and so is propane. Propane is very efficient (ventless). Wood is only a bit less with some burners

[<kjpro]

Ok, this discussion is way off the original track... BUT

Electric isn&#39;t expensive EVERYWHERE. Especially when you use it to operate a Heat Pump.

Wood heat isn&#39;t for MOST people as it&#39;s very labor intensive and requires time that some people don&#39;t have. Or a schedule to accommodate one either.

Then you want to talk about VENTLESS LP heaters....... WHAT A JOKE!!!!! Ever heard of Carbon Monoxide??

You do know CO kills RIGHT??

You do know, you don&#39;t use VENTLESS heaters as a primary source of heat, RIGHT?

So to make it plain and simple... you can take those VENTLESS heaters and... well, you get the point.

[Mike]

Thganks I&#39;ll review the link.

[Mike]

[Mike]

Interesting Links Paul, so far I&#39;ve listened to three of them. I swapped the bulbs for energy saving baulbs within months after moving in in 2003. Unfortunately, for now I spend most of my time in my dining room which has a variable switch for the overhead lights (two 100w bulbs) I haven&#39;t been able to find -variable wattage energy saving bulbs. I never use the standy mode for my plasma tv, etc. I really do need insulate some. My PC is against a wall w/ two windows one of which has an air conditioner and the other one just a 20 y/o dual pane replacment window. For now I&#39;m going to take off the window molding and see if I can get some foam insulation in there and wrap the outside of the air conditioner. Theres a sheet of platic over the inside of it.

I&#39;ve been reading Tyson Slocum papers on energy. He tends to be a Bush basher but if you read around it there&#39;s some very useful information about the politics of energy in the US. What rates to you pay?

Mike

[Paul M. Eldridge]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the link; I&#39;ll check it out shortly. Segment #6 offers a top-ten run down of some of the simple things you can do to reduce your home&#39;s energy needs. Overall, I found this Channel 4 programme entertaining and informative, plus you&#39;ve got to love those quirky Brits and all their oddball expressions.

There are dimmable CFLs available but they&#39;re not as easy to find. Phillips has a dimmable version of their Marathon product, which I know is carried by Home Depot; as to whether it will fit dinning room fixture only you can decide.

To track down some of those energy leaks, take a candle or stick of incense and on a windy day go around and inspect your windows and doors, wall plugs and light switches, fireplace dampers, attic hatch, etc. You&#39;ll soon discover where it is you need to focus your attention.

In terms of rates, I currently pay 10.13 cents per kWh for electricity and, as of my last filling, 75.9 cents per litre for heating oil (my prior fill-up was 81.9 cents and before that it was 83.9). Propane is now running at $1.008 per litre.

There are 3.76 litres per U.S. gallon, so 75.9 cents per litre translates to $2.85 per gallon; last winter, I was paying $3.15 per gallon. In terms of propane, $1.008 per litre converts to $3.79 per gallon.

So I think you can understand why I&#39;m so enamoured with my heat pump. It has effectively reduced my heating costs to just 4 cents per kWh. That&#39;s less than half the cost of oil and about one-fifth the cost of propane.

Cheers, Paul

[gofish]

wrong. the cord of wood was split inside the heated space.

factor in the btu&#39;s generated while splitting the wood.

heat source: calories burned.