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Building a new house under 2500 sq ft with no natural gas available. The house will be 2-story with wood floors. Looking for energy-efficiency without being too expensive. Any suggestions?
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Ed,
Where's it going to be located? And what do you mean energy eff. and not too expensive? Expensive to use or expensive to build? Most long term returns include a higher front end. Passive solar, while it doesn't cost a penny to use can be pricey for the mass, the glass and the orientation. Geothermal operates at minimal cost but requires backup and a deep hole, lotsa trenches or a pond. A well insulated house, utilizing the sun if poss. can be heated on demand with an efficient forced air furnace run on propane.
Me, I like radiant floor heat with a boiler, a masonry heater, and as much sun as possible, with the best insulating job I could do.
*I've been looking into this for a time and have decided on SIP panels with electric heat from buried cables...there seems to be a lack of experience with this technique but in the NW where I live this makes sense to me...Northwest Energy has some data....I'm not affiliated with this unit...
*Electric heat should be illegal. Electricity should be used to run motors and lights. Period!People who consider installing or recommend electric heat should check their baggage. They have obviously lost an item or two.-Rob
*Rob, if you insulate and design correctly, then electric heat is no problem.. and it's low capital costs, ease of use, etc. often make it the first choice in some applications..IMHO
*When I was young and foolish I bought a house with electric heat. Never again. It was well insulated and air tight but still cost us a fortune in heating bills. When the bills got too high we even switched to off-peak but then they decided to shut us off 8 hours a day all winter long. I would live with a propane tank in my yard for the rest of my life before I would go back to electric heat again.
*Ed, In our area (Chicago region), Propane is usually the alternative fuel of choice when there is no natural gas. The upsides are it is an efficient fuel to use and most equipment is easily converted. The downside is the price is more volatile than natural gas.
*Ed:You didn't say what area you live in.Here, in NC, a good quality heat pump is sufficient to heat a home for about 310 of the days in a year. For the other 55 days, electric heat will surfice. Or, for a few (or more) thousand $ extra, you can get a dual fuel setup that uses heat pump technology and a propane burner. More than a few states north, I'd bet they don't even have heat pumps. - Just a guess
*My objection to electric heat lies solely in it's inefficiency. Yes I said inefficient.You can put in a 93% efficient propane furnace or an 85% efficient fuel oil furnace. Why on earth would you use a form of energy that is so difficult to generate that it is only 40% efficient by the time it gets to your electric meter?Electricity should turn motors and run lights. It is not an energy source, it's an energy product. We tolerate it's inefficiency because people don't want gas engines on their refrigerators.-Rob
*Ed. I agree with Calvin on passive solar and geothermal.The expense can be off set through government funding.The Dept. of Energy web site contains a data base of all states providing incentives for solar,and geothermal building practices.The web site uses the acronym "DSIRE"and is also conected with North Carolina State College .Email me for more info.
*By the way when we say the expense is offset by Government funding what we are really saying is that the taxpayers are subsidizing your installation. So, what you are doing is using money from all of us to finance your project.
*Wood.
*Sawdust.
*Ed,I have a ground source or ground coupled (sometimes called geothermal) heat pump. The upfront costs are higher than most of the alternatives. However, these systems are very efficient and they pay for themselves quickly. Take a look at http://www.hydro-temp.com/ for more information.
*Steve:What do you estimate your pay back time to be? What size house. What area (state?) do you live in?Thanx
*Gee, that really burns me up....
*We are looking at 5 to 7 years. Our house is about 2,200 sq ft and is located in Jonesboro, Arkansas. We have a 4 ton unit. A dealer can give you a paybact estimate. Around here they compare to convetional heat pump and propane with central AC. Last month, our electric bill was $98 which includes heating, hot water, lights and cooking. Two years ago, our bill for a similiar sized house 200 miles North, with a conventional heat pump and supplemental wood heat, ran $150-175 for March.
*Thanks for the info
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Building a new house under 2500 sq ft with no natural gas available. The house will be 2-story with wood floors. Looking for energy-efficiency without being too expensive. Any suggestions?