I just got my budget plan for home heating oil in the mail. I have a 50 cent a gallon discount and it came to $800 a month for a ten month stretch. So it is going to cost me $8,000 to heat my house this next year. I need to move in a bad way. That is almost like making another house payment.:(:(:(:(

I feel you, I live in an old house that burns fuel oil for heating...last winter it cost us $800 a month for just over seven months...WTF!!!

I feel you, I live in an old house that burns fuel oil for heating...last winter it cost us $800 a month for just over seven months...WTF!!!

I'm gonna have to start burning my house just to heat it.:D:D

I live in the city or I would put in one of those hydronic wood heaters. We also burn wood. This focking sucks man. I was paying $371 all last year.

damn Brandon, that sucks, where do you live? It'd be interesting to see which is higher, your SRT8 gas bill or home heating bill :)

Heh, I'm in the same boat man, on propane out here, I spent over $5,000 last winter on propane. It started at $1.99/gal and up to $2.29 the last time I filled up my 1,000 gal tank in March. My home is 4800 sqft, 120 years old and drafty as hell.

This year it'll probably be $7,000, with the way gas prices are going. I'm looking into putting in a water-soure geothermal system this fall. It'll probably cost me over $20k but if it eliminates my $7,000/year in Propane costs, well worth it! Will get around to replacing some windows & doors one-at-a-time as well, but I gotta get rid of that propane bill first.

Have you looked into wood heat at all? I took a long look at it before deciding to go geothermal, still looking at it actually, pretty sweet setups they have now idea. Just google "Woodmaster" or "central boiler" you'll see lots of info. They have wood-fired boiler systems nowadays that sit outside, only have to be filled with wood twice a day, and hook into your existing furnace so it blows hot air through the vents in the house just like your normal furnace would.

damn Brandon, that sucks, where do you live? It'd be interesting to see which is higher, your SRT8 gas bill or home heating bill :)

I live in Fairbanks, Alaska. One of the coldest places on earth. The srt is far cheaper to fuel.

Heh, I'm in the same boat man, on propane out here, I spent over $5,000 last winter on propane. It started at $1.99/gal and up to $2.29 the last time I filled up my 1,000 gal tank in March. My home is 4800 sqft, 120 years old and drafty as hell.

This year it'll probably be $7,000, with the way gas prices are going. I'm looking into putting in a water-soure geothermal system this fall. It'll probably cost me over $20k but if it eliminates my $7,000/year in Propane costs, well worth it! Will get around to replacing some windows & doors one-at-a-time as well, but I gotta get rid of that propane bill first.

Have you looked into wood heat at all? I took a long look at it before deciding to go geothermal, still looking at it actually, pretty sweet setups they have now idea. Just google "Woodmaster" or "central boiler" you'll see lots of info. They have wood-fired boiler systems nowadays that sit outside, only have to be filled with wood twice a day, and hook into your existing furnace so it blows hot air through the vents in the house just like your normal furnace would.

Damn, nice sized place you got there. Ours is only 2000sqft not including the garage. 2550sqft heated though. I am looking into a wood furnace that is supposed to be over 90 percent efficient and is UL listed for in home installation. Problem is firewood is getting steep. We don't have allot of room to stock wood. What we are thinking of doing is moving out of the city and buying a place with enough land that I can get a ten cord truck load of logs dumped at a time. That currently costs $1600. That would heat a good sized place for just over a year. Getting up and running would cost a bit but the long run savings would be huge. There is also a guy that uses geothermal energy out at the hotsprings. He had an article in Popular Mechanics awhile back. His generator uses only 160 degree water. He is planning on building smaller generators for use with a wood stove recirc system mainly for use out in the bush. Would be sweet if I could tie something onto the wood furnace to make my own electricity.

that's why the new house I'm building has Geo Thermal. Freaking gas prices!

Damn, nice sized place you got there. Ours is only 2000sqft not including the garage. 2550sqft heated though. I am looking into a wood furnace that is supposed to be over 90 percent efficient and is UL listed for in home installation. Problem is firewood is getting steep. We don't have allot of room to stock wood. What we are thinking of doing is moving out of the city and buying a place with enough land that I can get a ten cord truck load of logs dumped at a time. That currently costs $1600. That would heat a good sized place for just over a year. Getting up and running would cost a bit but the long run savings would be huge. There is also a guy that uses geothermal energy out at the hotsprings. He had an article in Popular Mechanics awhile back. His generator uses only 160 degree water. He is planning on building smaller generators for use with a wood stove recirc system mainly for use out in the bush. Would be sweet if I could tie something onto the wood furnace to make my own electricity.

Yeah I looked at some of the in-home wood systems too, but didn't want to d!ck around with getting all that wood inside to feed the thing. It takes a *LOT* of wood to heat an entire house, each time you fill it you're talking about an entire wheelbarrow full of wood, twice a day . . . especially if it were in the basement, that would suck. Outdoor boilers are the way to go, IMO. Woodmaster was the series I was looking at, talked to a couple installers in the area, was going to run about $9,000 installed, including hooking up to existing forced air system, without any dirt work (trench from house to boiler for water lines). I have a 3pt backhoe on my tractor tho I was just gonna do that part myself. A system for your place would probably be less, since I was getting the 10,000sqft model to also heat my workshop. Greenwood furnaces are also good, and supposedly more efficient, but more pricey. Even in the city you may be able to get away with one by just using a higher chimney.

The Geothermal thing seems pretty cool, unfortunately no hot springs here (that would be sweet!) but the wellwater is a constant 50 degrees, so it helps get the cooling process started in the summer (A/C is starting with 50-degree air instead of 95-degree air) and helps with the heating in the winter (starting with 50-degree air instead of 20-degree air). It's a really efficient system and will save me on cooling in the summer as well (~$400 last August), at least, once I get some of these damn drafty windows replaced.

Man that is awesome the guy using the hot springs for his electricity! That kindof stuff intrigues the hell out of me, every time I read something like that I have to ask myself "Why aren't we solving this 'energy crisis' with cool $hit like that?"

I recently read about some power company in the Netherlands that's using ocean waves to generate electricity for something like 1600 homes. The device looks like a 2-mile long linked sausage (each sausage the size of a bus) that undulates up and down with the waves in the ocean, using that movement to turn generators located between the links & make electricity. Incredible!

that sux....never had to deal with stuff fortunately.....born and raised in Hawaii, and now I live in SoCal.......now I can waste all my $$$ on feeding the beast.

chad

Space heaters work very well. Damn you guys that a lot of dough for heat.

time to get the house up to date with new heating....either that or start lookin for a new place. as if it isnt bad enough they tax us for driving, geez.

Yeah I looked at some of the in-home wood systems too, but didn't want to d!ck around with getting all that wood inside to feed the thing. It takes a *LOT* of wood to heat an entire house, each time you fill it you're talking about an entire wheelbarrow full of wood, twice a day . . . especially if it were in the basement, that would suck. Outdoor boilers are the way to go, IMO. Woodmaster was the series I was looking at, talked to a couple installers in the area, was going to run about $9,000 installed, including hooking up to existing forced air system, without any dirt work (trench from house to boiler for water lines). I have a 3pt backhoe on my tractor tho I was just gonna do that part myself. A system for your place would probably be less, since I was getting the 10,000sqft model to also heat my workshop. Greenwood furnaces are also good, and supposedly more efficient, but more pricey. Even in the city you may be able to get away with one by just using a higher chimney.

The Geothermal thing seems pretty cool, unfortunately no hot springs here (that would be sweet!) but the wellwater is a constant 50 degrees, so it helps get the cooling process started in the summer (A/C is starting with 50-degree air instead of 95-degree air) and helps with the heating in the winter (starting with 50-degree air instead of 20-degree air). It's a really efficient system and will save me on cooling in the summer as well (~$400 last August), at least, once I get some of these damn drafty windows replaced.


I hear ya on huffing wheelbarrow loads of wood to the basement. I think greenwood was the one I was looking at. I don't plan on putting it in the basement. But I would feel more comfortable having it closer to my house. The reason we want out of the city is I would like to have the land to have my buddy be able to get in and drop a load of logs and have the room to buck them up. I will buy a used skid steer to transport the wood to the stove and do other stuff around the property. Apparently the stoves prefer rounds cut to length versus splitting the wood. Should save allot of time. I think it is time to go ahead and buy the land and start to build my dreamhouse that I have had the plans to sitting in my closet for a couple years.

The geothermal power that the guy at the hotsprings makes powers and heats all his greenhouses and a hotel and an all year indoor "ice hotel". He has well over 100,000 sqft heated and he then sells back to the grid. His smaller generators could easily be added on to any home heating system to generate power while your heating your home. I am very interested in geothermal. Everybody told the guy at the hotsprings that his water was not not enough to get any power from. Boy did he prove them wrong. I was watching a show on discovery or something where they were rebuilding damaged areas from katrina. They were doing geothermal where they sunk a bunch of pipes into the ground and it was like a heat exchanger if you will. They really didn't go into much though. I am interested in the systems though. Imagine if you used a hydronic wood furnace and a geothermal system coupled with a geothermal generator. You could save lots o cash in the long run. I am trying to factor all these ideas into the building of my new home. It will be 3600sqft heated plus a seperate shop. I need to run the place as efficiently as possible. I will also use every available building practice to make as tight an envelope as possible. Here's to spending money to save money.:D:D

my parents pay about 1500 a month in the winter for heating oil

Thank GOD for Base House!!!!!

Thank GOD for Base House!!!!!

No $hit brother . I hated that drive out there though. I did some work out there on a steam plant and utilidor upgrade. It's right next to the daycare. I wired a good portion of that plant. My old man used to work out there. What do you do? He was in the Air Guard in the refueling wing. He used to work on $hithooks when he was in the Army. He got out for a year then went nuts being a civilian so he joined the Air Guard and worked on the tankers. He was a paper pusher at the end though. Retired last year.

No $hit brother . I hated that drive out there though. I did some work out there on a steam plant and utilidor upgrade. It's right next to the daycare. I wired a good portion of that plant. My old man used to work out there. What do you do? He was in the Air Guard in the refueling wing. He used to work on $hithooks when he was in the Army. He got out for a year then went nuts being a civilian so he joined the Air Guard and worked on the tankers. He was a paper pusher at the end though. Retired last year.


Ha I make the drive every weekend to meet up with everyone.:mad: Oh well worth it. I'm in CE. Electrical Systems. Done work at the Plate. The Airfield. Everything over head and inside.

How long ya been there? My dads name is Rod Harker. Maybe you have met him. I used to make that drive every day. Talk about killing my gas. Had to get up crazy early too.

I have never paid for heat and only for AC. Move out West now.

How long ya been there? My dads name is Rod Harker. Maybe you have met him. I used to make that drive every day. Talk about killing my gas. Had to get up crazy early too.


Itll be three years this DEC. Name doesnt ring a bell.

Holy Crap...........guess I`m Glad I Live In Florida I Pay$175 A Month For A/c 7 Months A Year............

Damn, I pay 230.00 a month average for all elec,gas, water, and wastewater in a 3200 sq ft house. I feel lucky now.

I hear ya on huffing wheelbarrow loads of wood to the basement. I think greenwood was the one I was looking at. I don't plan on putting it in the basement. But I would feel more comfortable having it closer to my house. The reason we want out of the city is I would like to have the land to have my buddy be able to get in and drop a load of logs and have the room to buck them up. I will buy a used skid steer to transport the wood to the stove and do other stuff around the property. Apparently the stoves prefer rounds cut to length versus splitting the wood. Should save allot of time. I think it is time to go ahead and buy the land and start to build my dreamhouse that I have had the plans to sitting in my closet for a couple years.

The geothermal power that the guy at the hotsprings makes powers and heats all his greenhouses and a hotel and an all year indoor "ice hotel". He has well over 100,000 sqft heated and he then sells back to the grid. His smaller generators could easily be added on to any home heating system to generate power while your heating your home. I am very interested in geothermal. Everybody told the guy at the hotsprings that his water was not not enough to get any power from. Boy did he prove them wrong. I was watching a show on discovery or something where they were rebuilding damaged areas from katrina. They were doing geothermal where they sunk a bunch of pipes into the ground and it was like a heat exchanger if you will. They really didn't go into much though. I am interested in the systems though. Imagine if you used a hydronic wood furnace and a geothermal system coupled with a geothermal generator. You could save lots o cash in the long run. I am trying to factor all these ideas into the building of my new home. It will be 3600sqft heated plus a seperate shop. I need to run the place as efficiently as possible. I will also use every available building practice to make as tight an envelope as possible. Here's to spending money to save money.:D:D

Yeah moving out of the city is definitely the way to go, gives you alot more options for that kindof stuff, no city regulations tying you down. I'm looking at putting a wind generator on my property later on down the road, I could never get away with that in the city.

The ground source heat pumps/geothermal systems work really well, but if you already have a well a water source geothermal is the way to go. Saves you the headache & expense of trenching 700ft of undergound pipe throughout your hard for the heat exchanger, and constantly flowing water actually works a bit better than the earth, depending on what the soil is like in your area. The entire unit is contained indoors, and is about the size of your average gas/electric furnace.

You should check out the Discovery TV show "Greensburg" lots of cool ideas on there. You may remember when it was on the news, small town in central KS that was nearly completely obliterated by a tornado last year. About 90 miles from where I live it was quite a big deal around here. Discovery's doing a show on rebuilding the town, they're going all "green" everything, pretty neat stuff. They're using some pretty cool new techniques for building houses, heating/AC, alternative energy sources, etc.