Timeline for Heating Options at high elevation in cold climate
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
30 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Dec 11 at 4:19 | vote | accept | Shubham | ||
| Dec 11 at 1:24 | comment | added | Shubham | Yep, I will check different combinations of usage and running cost to see how breakeven changes. I'm hoping 1.5ton is enough, might be able to squeeze 2Ton before NEC load calculation spills over 200A which would reset the cost analysis.. | |
| Dec 11 at 0:43 | comment | added | manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact | Just make sure you factor the months correctly - winter months x 180 hrs x running cost, etc. But that does make quite a difference. Don't undersize the units too much - I'd worry that 1.5 ton might not be enough, but there are a ton (pun intended) of variables. | |
| Dec 11 at 0:12 | history | edited | Shubham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Dec 11 at 0:11 | comment | added | Shubham | Whoops, sorry that's Operating cost per month. "Year" is a typo. I'll fix the picture. The added benefit of ac cooling during a few weeks in summer sounds like perk. Based on all of this, I'm inclined to a use a smaller mini split heat pump unit (maybe 1.5 ton?), with radiant to supplement | |
| Dec 10 at 23:48 | comment | added | manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact | 1 - Not sure; 2 - sounds reasonable to me but I'm not an expert and it will vary by system; 3 - don't know; 4 - if energy cost is only different by ~ $229 per year, not sure how you would recoup a $13,000 difference in installation cost in 4.7 years (same issue for gas) - 13000/229 = 56 years! On the other hand, I suspect you may be able to install the heat pump for less than $20k and it has the added benefit of air conditioning. But if breakeven is anything 20 years or more I would consider it as never breaking even on pure $ as these systems don't last forever. | |
| Dec 10 at 23:39 | history | edited | Shubham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Dec 10 at 23:32 | comment | added | Shubham | Thanks for al the awesome comments and answers. I posted an updated to the question above with a few more (hopefully not hypothetical and answerable) questions. | |
| Dec 10 at 23:29 | history | edited | Shubham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Dec 7 at 2:26 | comment | added | Ecnerwal | It's really true. Or weally twuw, if you like cartoons. I have no other heat source, and my -15°F rated units have managed -16 or -17 actual on at least one occasion. At that point the COP drops near to 1 - most of the time it's much higher. As for "cost of propane .vs. cost of electricity" we'd need the price of each. A gallon of propane is 26.8 kWh (* efficiency of what you burn it in) which means it's roughly less than resistance electric if it's less than $5/gallon where I am in a 95% efficient unit. But it's less than heat pump electric (whole season) only if it's under $1.70 | |
| Dec 7 at 1:11 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | @Shubham -- yeah, the newer cold-climate stuff has specs that knock That 70s Heat Pump out of the water, and it's steadily getting better and better too | |
| Dec 6 at 22:57 | comment | added | Shubham | @Ecnerwal I checked with neighbors, seems like large propane tanks are the way to go. But I cannot imagine it being cheaper than electric heat. | |
| Dec 6 at 22:56 | comment | added | Shubham | @ThreePhaseEel I just did, and was surprised to find multi-zone systems that are ceiling mounted/recessed and outdoor handler operates at -13F. Is that really true? Where I plan to live, it probably won't ever go below +15F. | |
| Dec 6 at 20:15 | comment | added | dandavis | when you have tall ceilings, ceiling fans go a long way in reducing costs of any heating setup. | |
| Dec 6 at 5:22 | answer | added | manassehkatz-Moving 2 Codidact | timeline score: 3 | |
| Dec 6 at 5:13 | comment | added | Ecnerwal | I'd be very surprised if you can't get propane. Not all gas requires a pipeline. Pretty common to have a buried 1000 gallon propane tank; but in my area, the cold climate heat pumps are cheaper to run. | |
| Dec 6 at 4:14 | answer | added | Ecnerwal | timeline score: 2 | |
| Dec 6 at 4:06 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | @Shubham -- have you looked at the current generation of cold-climate heatpumps (instead of That 70s Heat Pump)? | |
| Dec 6 at 4:03 | comment | added | Ecnerwal | How far below freezing? My heat pumps work to -15°F and some newer ones work even colder. But ground source heat pumps are the ultimate answer to that problem. "Why not electric radiant everywhere?" - "Why not just burn dollar bills in a stove?" Try it, your electric utility will love the income. Heat pumps give typically 3 times as much heat for the same electric input. | |
| Dec 6 at 1:38 | history | edited | Shubham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Dec 6 at 1:37 | comment | added | Shubham | @MTA, interesting but never heard of pea coal. I plan to have a wood burning stove, there is tons of free firewood around too. | |
| Dec 6 at 1:35 | comment | added | Shubham | @crip659 updated the post with a to-scale diagram showing 9.8kW of heating. Will also check with neighbors. Good point about power outage -- there will be a wood burning stove | |
| Dec 6 at 1:33 | comment | added | Shubham | @isherwood revised with layout diagram and specific question. | |
| Dec 6 at 1:32 | history | edited | Shubham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Dec 5 at 23:02 | comment | added | crip659 | Ask your neighbours about weather conditions. Electric heat needs dependable power or a decent low/no electric secondary heat source(wood, propane, pea coal(never heard of) ) since electric heat takes a big generator(~20,000w) plus fuel if the power goes out | |
| Dec 5 at 21:52 | comment | added | MTA | Is pea coal delivery available in the area? Furnaces that burn pea coal (small pellets of anthracite) are available, similar to pellet furnaces. It's the cheapest source of heat per million BTU, a single delivery in the off season can last you a full year, and it uses very little electricity so it's easy to run on standby power if storms leave you blacked out. | |
| Dec 5 at 21:49 | review | Close votes | |||
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| Dec 5 at 21:41 | comment | added | crip659 | High ceilings do not help with heating costs. Old heat pumps did not do well below freezing, but newer ones can be decent. Electric heating does cost quite a bit when running, so should be examine. Insulation/sealing from drafts is important to save heat costs. | |
| Dec 5 at 21:31 | comment | added | isherwood | We do home improvement project troubleshooting here, not broad hypothetical questions. Please see the help center for a refresher on what's appropriate to ask. Maybe you can revise to be more specific. | |
| Dec 5 at 21:26 | history | asked | Shubham | CC BY-SA 4.0 |