New Furnace

Bill

If someone gave you ANY type of heater you wated for free, what would it be? The reason I ask is this summer I need to remove my oil fired forced hot air unit out of the house. At the same time I may have it replaced with a more efficiant unit. I was hoping to get cenrtal air while I was at it. I am also looking for what will be the least expensive to operate.

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mdshunk

#1, geothermal heat pump if you have a place to sink a couple wells or bury the coils.

#2, conventional heat pump with natural gas backup.

Both options will also give you a/c in the summer.

Bill

I like #1, I have live in the country, have a private well, and 15 acres to burry anything.

As far as #2 do you mean use this as a backup to #1, or as an alternative to?

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Is it beer thirty yet
Virginia Department of Licensing
Virginia Plumbing Codes

mdshunk

For #2, a heat pump in your climate (basicly the same as me) needs some sort of backup or auxillary heat for when it's below freezing. This is typically accomplished with electric heating elements, but a gas furnace backup is more economical last I checked.

Look into prices on a geothermal heat pump. More expensive install, but the absolute lowest operating costs.

Bill

I thought about installing my own by burrying 180 PSI pipe in the ground, drawing the water from my well and dump it back in

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Is it beer thirty yet
Virginia Department of Licensing
Virginia Plumbing Codes

mdshunk

That would certainly work, but there's a few problems with that arrangement. #1, it's illegal. #2, your drinking water will be warm.

playsinmud

You need two water wells to do this and if they are spaced 150' apart and if everything is sized right the ground will not heat up enough to make any difference. If you have access to a bachoe and have a decent sized lot you can go horizontal or you can get someone to drill you vertical geo wells. Make sure you use high density pipe dr11 and fuse all your joints and make sure to pressure test. If you need any help sizing let me know.

Bill

Thanks, I will keep it in mind as I can barely pay the fuel oil bills now, I hate to see what they will be next year

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Is it beer thirty yet
Virginia Department of Licensing
Virginia Plumbing Codes

JBBS

I burn corn!

mdshunk

Do you get it for free? The last time I checked corn prices to burn in a pellet stove, the cost per therm of heat made that method make no sense. In PA, the absolute cheapest way to heat at the moment happens to be with coal. That's hardly an option for everyone.

JBBS

First of all I live in a 2 story double plank house, not insulated very well. I typically burn at least 3 tanks of oil per year or more. Last year I installed a pellet stove in the living room (Quadrafire Mt. Vernon) that a neighbor horse traded for some stucco work.

I burnt about a ton and a half of pellets earlier in the year and the heat from the unit wasn't great but acceptable considering the draft in this house. Tractor supply was out of pellets one day so I bought 50lbs of corn ($8.00, ouch) just to try it and get by. I was pretty impressed with the improved heat so now I either burn straight corn or when I want to run from the thermostat I mix in a half bag of pellets w/the corn.

Agway in Clearfield sells corn for $12 per 100lbs. Pellets are generally $5.85 or so per 40lb bag. It is roughly the same price. With the cost of fertilizer going through the roof this year it's hard to tell what I will do. I may plant one of the fields for next year (Alpaca Farm) and shell my own. Im going to sell the oil furnace this summer for a hard coal unit and use the pellet stove as supplimental heat.

polar8989

Yup, corn stove.

skidmeister

If it is available Wood is your cheapest fuel, bar none...

genecarp

google greenwood furnace

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