I have a home in Eastern Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia, PA) and it has a
central HVAC that has an electric heat pump for heat. There is no natural
gas supply to the house or in the neighborhood.

What I am wondering is whether there would be advantages to switching to
propane gas heat (cost or other advantages). I was also thinking that in
the event of an extended electric power failure in the winter, if I had a
propane powered backup generator, I could use the propane to generate
electricity for lights etc. and to power the home's propane gas heater motor
to keep the house heated.

Just wondering what others think of this idea.

DA had written this in response to
http://thestuccocompany.com/maintena...or-275410-.htm
:
BETA-32 wrote:


I have a home in Eastern Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia, PA) and it has
a
central HVAC that has an electric heat pump for heat. There is no
natural
gas supply to the house or in the neighborhood.

What I am wondering is whether there would be advantages to switching
to
propane gas heat (cost or other advantages). I was also thinking that
in
the event of an extended electric power failure in the winter, if I had
a
propane powered backup generator, I could use the propane to generate
electricity for lights etc. and to power the home's propane gas heater
motor
to keep the house heated.

Just wondering what others think of this idea.

Yeap, I lost power and heat last Sunday, too. My line of thought was to
get a propane-powered generator rather than a propane heater because this
is more like a fluke in this climate. Either way, it is a rather big
expense and it looks like may not be justifiable: it happened for the
first time I live in this house and may not happen again until I move to
the next.


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"BETA-32" wrote in message
. ..
I have a home in Eastern Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia, PA) and it has a
central HVAC that has an electric heat pump for heat. There is no natural
gas supply to the house or in the neighborhood.

What I am wondering is whether there would be advantages to switching to
propane gas heat (cost or other advantages). I was also thinking that in
the event of an extended electric power failure in the winter, if I had a
propane powered backup generator, I could use the propane to generate
electricity for lights etc. and to power the home's propane gas heater
motor to keep the house heated.

Just wondering what others think of this idea.

Sounds expensive. First step is to do a cost comparison between electric
and propane in your area to see what, if any, the cost advantage is.

How often and how long are power outages? Every time I see one of those
little Honda generators I think it would be nice to have in a power failure.
Fact is, in my entire 62 years we've only ever had an outage lasting more
than two hours one time after a hurricane. That was about 24 hours out.
Given the past record, I'll take my chances. OTOH, if you have frequent and
long outages, it would sure be nice to have a generator. We don't know your
circumstances.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

On Dec 19, 10:18�pm, "Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:
"BETA-32" wrote in message

. ..

I have a home in Eastern Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia, PA) and it has a
central HVAC that has an electric heat pump for heat. �There is no natural
gas supply to the house or in the neighborhood.

What I am wondering is whether there would be advantages to switching to
propane gas heat (cost or other advantages). �I was also thinking that in
the event of an extended electric power failure in the winter, if I had a
propane powered backup generator, I could use the propane to generate
electricity for lights etc. and to power the home's propane gas heater
motor to keep the house heated.

Just wondering what others think of this idea.

Sounds expensive. �First step is to do a cost comparison between electric
and propane in your area to see what, if any, the cost advantage is.

How often and how long are power outages? �Every time I see one of those
little Honda generators I think it would be nice to have in a power failure.
Fact is, in my entire 62 years we've only ever had an outage lasting more
than two hours one time after a hurricane. �That was about 24 hours out.
Given the past record, I'll take my chances. �OTOH, if you have frequent and
long outages, it would sure be nice to have a generator. �We don't know your
circumstances.
--
Edhttp://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

all it takes is one multi day outage in sub zero temperatures.

remember years ago power companies had large well staffed repair
departments with lots of line crews.

what remains today is a skelton crew, and mutual aid from other areas
when things go bad

DA had written this in response to
http://www.thestuccocompany.com/main...or-275418-.htm
:
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:


Fact is, in my entire 62 years we've only ever had an outage lasting
more
than two hours one time after a hurricane. That was about 24 hours
out.
Given the past record, I'll take my chances.

Thank you for bringing THIS much experience to the table here, Ed ;-)
I do agree with the OP that it is a rather scare thing to have no means of
heating or even brewing a cup of coffee every once in a while but in the
climate where he and I live it is extremely rare. Not sure what change the
global warming might bring but so far a generator seems even less useful
than a snowblower. The latter may actually have to used two or three times
a year.


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"BETA-32" wrote in message
. ..
I have a home in Eastern Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia, PA) and it has a
central HVAC that has an electric heat pump for heat. There is no natural
gas supply to the house or in the neighborhood.

What I am wondering is whether there would be advantages to switching to
propane gas heat (cost or other advantages). I was also thinking that in
the event of an extended electric power failure in the winter, if I had a
propane powered backup generator, I could use the propane to generate
electricity for lights etc. and to power the home's propane gas heater
motor to keep the house heated.

Just wondering what others think of this idea.


Maybe keep the heat pump and add a propane fireplace that could provide
atmosphere at other times. A small generator could be useful for other
projects as well as providing backup during outages. Cheapest is to take a
mini vacation.

We had a 3 1/2 day power outage last April. I used the generator to
operate the water pump (well) and the furnace for hot water when needed.
A propane space heater provided heat. I didn't use the generator to run
the refrigerator because the cost of gasoline would have been much
greater than the cost of replacing the frozen food that thawed. I have
a backup battery/alternator system for lights.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

On Dec 20, 8:30 am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
In NYS, the ice storm we had in 2003 left me without power four days. I
finally wired in the generator to the furnace on day four, and wished I'd
done so sooner.

Like you say, the staffing levels aren't very good for repairs. I would
guess most of Oklahoma is still dark.

--

Christopher A. Young
.
.

wrote in message

...

all it takes is one multi day outage in sub zero temperatures.

remember years ago power companies had large well staffed repair
departments with lots of line crews.

what remains today is a skelton crew, and mutual aid from other areas
when things go bad

Look into a small 5000w or so Tri fuel generator, Ng, Propane and
Gasolene and a 400$ transfer switch. Converting to Propane from
electric depends on your local fuel and utility costs, I dought it
would have a good payback

If only you could get a snowblower with a optional generator add-on or
built on with a switch. Then the pruchase of it could be justified.

imagine that! one motor doing 2 things!
cln

"Stormin Mormon" wrote:

In NYS, the ice storm we had in 2003 left me without power four days. I
finally wired in the generator to the furnace on day four, and wished I'd
done so sooner.

Like you say, the staffing levels aren't very good for repairs. I would
guess most of Oklahoma is still dark.

There are less than 8,000 without power statewide. There may be a few
more where the home owner has to do some repairs before power can be
restored to the home.
--
Jim Rusling
More or Less Retired
Mustang, OK
http://www.rusling.org