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bschott
 
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Default Old "Electric" House, wanting new heating system

My wife and I recently moved into a new (36 year old) house which was
very well kept my its previous owners. The only downfall to this house
is that it has electric baseboard heating distributed with control
modules for each room.
When we were originally looking at the house before purchasing it, the
owners at the time left out a years worth of Electric bill statements.
And in the coldest parts of the year (Jan, Feb, etc) the bills hovered
around 480 to 500 monthly.

Not being a fan of electric heating, I'm currently entertaining
heating installers to provide alternate heating methods. Back in '84
the owner installed central A/C with ductwork extending to both floors
from the Attic. I'm interested in reutilizing this. And I understand
that the drawbacks might be that there will be some cools spots with
the fact that the vents are in the ceilings.

So far, I've met with 2 heating suppliers/installers. The first guy
gave me quotes for Lennox products in both heat pumps and Propane
burning furnaces. I am not a big fan of Heat Pumps, and feel that they
are not made to be installed anywhere north of North Carolina, but to
each his own I guess.

Anyhow, the prices for instillation of the Propane Furnace (minus
Tank, etc) ran from about 4100 to 4600 depending on model. Heat Pump
range was from 4000.00 to 11,000.00 depending on model as well. I feel
this is pretty high for a basic 1 day install...

Just yesterday, I met with the 2nd installer, and we talked about
propane, but in the course of our conversation, I felt that I really
don't want to have a tank either buried or sitting on the ground
anywhere on our property. He suggested and Oil furnace. At first I
hesitated as I have reservations about anything Oil in my house for
some reason. But when he described that we could easily fit the tank
in my unfinished portion of the basement, I warmed up to the idea. So
this is what he's creating a quote for me on installing.

I must say that initially he was interested in installing one of those
"Hydro-Air" systems which I'm not opposed to, but because of oil heat
venting issues from a basement install, this system basically wont
work for me.

I'd be curious of any thoughts and or comments regarding to this. And
perhaps any other suggestions you might offer.

Oh, the specs for the house:

Well insulated custom build 2 story Colonial home with "slabbed"
kitchen/garage.
About 26 double-pane wood frame Pella windows
Lennox 4 Ton A/C system installed w/ductwork extending down from
ceiling.

Thanks, Brian
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HA HA Budys Here
 
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Subject: Old "Electric" House, wanting new heating system
From: (bschott)
Date: 10/27/2004 12:50 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

My wife and I recently moved into a new (36 year old) house which was
very well kept my its previous owners. The only downfall to this house
is that it has electric baseboard heating distributed with control
modules for each room.
When we were originally looking at the house before purchasing it, the
owners at the time left out a years worth of Electric bill statements.
And in the coldest parts of the year (Jan, Feb, etc) the bills hovered
around 480 to 500 monthly.

Not being a fan of electric heating, I'm currently entertaining
heating installers to provide alternate heating methods. Back in '84
the owner installed central A/C with ductwork extending to both floors
from the Attic. I'm interested in reutilizing this. And I understand
that the drawbacks might be that there will be some cools spots with
the fact that the vents are in the ceilings.

So far, I've met with 2 heating suppliers/installers. The first guy
gave me quotes for Lennox products in both heat pumps and Propane
burning furnaces. I am not a big fan of Heat Pumps, and feel that they
are not made to be installed anywhere north of North Carolina, but to
each his own I guess.


Switching from electric resistive heat to a heat pump (which will have even
more electric resistive heat back-ups) is just plain ludicrious.

Anyhow, the prices for instillation of the Propane Furnace (minus
Tank, etc) ran from about 4100 to 4600 depending on model. Heat Pump
range was from 4000.00 to 11,000.00 depending on model as well. I feel
this is pretty high for a basic 1 day install...

Just yesterday, I met with the 2nd installer, and we talked about
propane, but in the course of our conversation, I felt that I really
don't want to have a tank either buried or sitting on the ground
anywhere on our property. He suggested and Oil furnace. At first I
hesitated as I have reservations about anything Oil in my house for
some reason. But when he described that we could easily fit the tank
in my unfinished portion of the basement, I warmed up to the idea. So
this is what he's creating a quote for me on installing.

I must say that initially he was interested in installing one of those
"Hydro-Air" systems which I'm not opposed to, but because of oil heat
venting issues from a basement install, this system basically wont
work for me.

I'd be curious of any thoughts and or comments regarding to this. And
perhaps any other suggestions you might offer.

Oh, the specs for the house:

Well insulated custom build 2 story Colonial home with "slabbed"
kitchen/garage.
About 26 double-pane wood frame Pella windows
Lennox 4 Ton A/C system installed w/ductwork extending down from
ceiling.

Thanks, Brian



Odd, you don't want the high-cost electric heat, or a heat pump, or propane
tanks and you're against anything oil in your house for some reason. That only
leaves natural gas.


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Charles Spitzer
 
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"HA HA Budys Here" wrote in message
...
Subject: Old "Electric" House, wanting new heating system
From: (bschott)
Date: 10/27/2004 12:50 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

My wife and I recently moved into a new (36 year old) house which was
very well kept my its previous owners. The only downfall to this house
is that it has electric baseboard heating distributed with control
modules for each room.
When we were originally looking at the house before purchasing it, the
owners at the time left out a years worth of Electric bill statements.
And in the coldest parts of the year (Jan, Feb, etc) the bills hovered
around 480 to 500 monthly.

Not being a fan of electric heating, I'm currently entertaining
heating installers to provide alternate heating methods. Back in '84
the owner installed central A/C with ductwork extending to both floors
from the Attic. I'm interested in reutilizing this. And I understand
that the drawbacks might be that there will be some cools spots with
the fact that the vents are in the ceilings.

So far, I've met with 2 heating suppliers/installers. The first guy
gave me quotes for Lennox products in both heat pumps and Propane
burning furnaces. I am not a big fan of Heat Pumps, and feel that they
are not made to be installed anywhere north of North Carolina, but to
each his own I guess.


Switching from electric resistive heat to a heat pump (which will have
even
more electric resistive heat back-ups) is just plain ludicrious.

Anyhow, the prices for instillation of the Propane Furnace (minus
Tank, etc) ran from about 4100 to 4600 depending on model. Heat Pump
range was from 4000.00 to 11,000.00 depending on model as well. I feel
this is pretty high for a basic 1 day install...

Just yesterday, I met with the 2nd installer, and we talked about
propane, but in the course of our conversation, I felt that I really
don't want to have a tank either buried or sitting on the ground
anywhere on our property. He suggested and Oil furnace. At first I
hesitated as I have reservations about anything Oil in my house for
some reason. But when he described that we could easily fit the tank
in my unfinished portion of the basement, I warmed up to the idea. So
this is what he's creating a quote for me on installing.

I must say that initially he was interested in installing one of those
"Hydro-Air" systems which I'm not opposed to, but because of oil heat
venting issues from a basement install, this system basically wont
work for me.

I'd be curious of any thoughts and or comments regarding to this. And
perhaps any other suggestions you might offer.

Oh, the specs for the house:

Well insulated custom build 2 story Colonial home with "slabbed"
kitchen/garage.
About 26 double-pane wood frame Pella windows
Lennox 4 Ton A/C system installed w/ductwork extending down from
ceiling.

Thanks, Brian



Odd, you don't want the high-cost electric heat, or a heat pump, or
propane
tanks and you're against anything oil in your house for some reason. That
only
leaves natural gas.


solar?


  #4   Report Post  
HA HA Budys Here
 
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From: "Charles Spitzer"

solar?


I figured he already has windows...
  #5   Report Post  
TURTLE
 
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Default


"bschott" wrote in message
om...
My wife and I recently moved into a new (36 year old) house which was
very well kept my its previous owners. The only downfall to this house
is that it has electric baseboard heating distributed with control
modules for each room.
When we were originally looking at the house before purchasing it, the
owners at the time left out a years worth of Electric bill statements.
And in the coldest parts of the year (Jan, Feb, etc) the bills hovered
around 480 to 500 monthly.

Not being a fan of electric heating, I'm currently entertaining
heating installers to provide alternate heating methods. Back in '84
the owner installed central A/C with ductwork extending to both floors
from the Attic. I'm interested in reutilizing this. And I understand
that the drawbacks might be that there will be some cools spots with
the fact that the vents are in the ceilings.

So far, I've met with 2 heating suppliers/installers. The first guy
gave me quotes for Lennox products in both heat pumps and Propane
burning furnaces. I am not a big fan of Heat Pumps, and feel that they
are not made to be installed anywhere north of North Carolina, but to
each his own I guess.

Anyhow, the prices for instillation of the Propane Furnace (minus
Tank, etc) ran from about 4100 to 4600 depending on model. Heat Pump
range was from 4000.00 to 11,000.00 depending on model as well. I feel
this is pretty high for a basic 1 day install...

Just yesterday, I met with the 2nd installer, and we talked about
propane, but in the course of our conversation, I felt that I really
don't want to have a tank either buried or sitting on the ground
anywhere on our property. He suggested and Oil furnace. At first I
hesitated as I have reservations about anything Oil in my house for
some reason. But when he described that we could easily fit the tank
in my unfinished portion of the basement, I warmed up to the idea. So
this is what he's creating a quote for me on installing.

I must say that initially he was interested in installing one of those
"Hydro-Air" systems which I'm not opposed to, but because of oil heat
venting issues from a basement install, this system basically wont
work for me.

I'd be curious of any thoughts and or comments regarding to this. And
perhaps any other suggestions you might offer.

Oh, the specs for the house:

Well insulated custom build 2 story Colonial home with "slabbed"
kitchen/garage.
About 26 double-pane wood frame Pella windows
Lennox 4 Ton A/C system installed w/ductwork extending down from
ceiling.

Thanks, Brian


This is Turtle.

With all the dislikes you stated here. Your going to have to decide what source
of fuel your going to use on your home and then we might be able to comment on
what the story can be.

TURTLE




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Astro
 
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Brian,

Don't write off heat pumps yet. You could go ground source heat pump
(often called geothermal heat pump or GEOExchange), which can work in just
about any climate.
The direct exchange geothermal (i.e. ECR Tech.) provides extremely high
efficiency plus much warmer air than conventional heat pumps or other GSHP.
It's not cheap initially, running about $4k/ton but it will provide
heating and cooling and you won't have to run oil or gas tanks.
Published reports show savings to be between 20%-50% depending on the
efficiency of the system and utility costs. With oil costs going up the
way they are, the payoff of the GSHP system will be quite fast, again
depending on usage and utility costs.

If you're unfamiliar with GSHP technology, see

http://www.geoexchange.org/
http://www.ecrtech.com/content/

Beware of contractors who write off GSHP technology. Often they'll plant
doubt by saying that they're unreliable and cost a fortune to fix. On the
contrary, systems like the ECR one, are very simple. They're basically the
same as a normal A/C system except that instead of cooling the compressor
coils using forced air, they use the ground. The air handler for these
systems is often an off the shelf unit, so any competent HVAC pro can
service that portion.

good luck.


Subject: Old "Electric" House, wanting new heating system
From: (bschott)
Date: 10/27/2004 12:50 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id:

My wife and I recently moved into a new (36 year old) house which was
very well kept my its previous owners. The only downfall to this house
is that it has electric baseboard heating distributed with control
modules for each room.
When we were originally looking at the house before purchasing it, the
owners at the time left out a years worth of Electric bill statements.
And in the coldest parts of the year (Jan, Feb, etc) the bills hovered
around 480 to 500 monthly.

Not being a fan of electric heating, I'm currently entertaining
heating installers to provide alternate heating methods. Back in '84
the owner installed central A/C with ductwork extending to both floors
from the Attic. I'm interested in reutilizing this. And I understand
that the drawbacks might be that there will be some cools spots with
the fact that the vents are in the ceilings.

So far, I've met with 2 heating suppliers/installers. The first guy
gave me quotes for Lennox products in both heat pumps and Propane
burning furnaces. I am not a big fan of Heat Pumps, and feel that they
are not made to be installed anywhere north of North Carolina, but to
each his own I guess.


Switching from electric resistive heat to a heat pump (which will have
even
more electric resistive heat back-ups) is just plain ludicrious.

Anyhow, the prices for instillation of the Propane Furnace (minus
Tank, etc) ran from about 4100 to 4600 depending on model. Heat Pump
range was from 4000.00 to 11,000.00 depending on model as well. I feel
this is pretty high for a basic 1 day install...

Just yesterday, I met with the 2nd installer, and we talked about
propane, but in the course of our conversation, I felt that I really
don't want to have a tank either buried or sitting on the ground
anywhere on our property. He suggested and Oil furnace. At first I
hesitated as I have reservations about anything Oil in my house for
some reason. But when he described that we could easily fit the tank
in my unfinished portion of the basement, I warmed up to the idea. So
this is what he's creating a quote for me on installing.

I must say that initially he was interested in installing one of those
"Hydro-Air" systems which I'm not opposed to, but because of oil heat
venting issues from a basement install, this system basically wont
work for me.

I'd be curious of any thoughts and or comments regarding to this. And
perhaps any other suggestions you might offer.

Oh, the specs for the house:

Well insulated custom build 2 story Colonial home with "slabbed"
kitchen/garage.
About 26 double-pane wood frame Pella windows
Lennox 4 Ton A/C system installed w/ductwork extending down from
ceiling.

Thanks, Brian

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Brian Schott
 
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This is Turtle.

With all the dislikes you stated here. Your going to have to decide what
source of fuel your going to use on your home and then we might be able to
comment on what the story can be.

TURTLE


Fuel source would be Oil -- since I can put the tank in my basement easily.
Don't have access to natural gas, leaving propane. I originally wanted
propane, but after I met with a Propane dealer, I decided against it because
of installing/mounting tank difficulties.




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  #8   Report Post  
TURTLE
 
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"Brian Schott" wrote in message
...

This is Turtle.

With all the dislikes you stated here. Your going to have to decide what
source of fuel your going to use on your home and then we might be able to
comment on what the story can be.

TURTLE


Fuel source would be Oil -- since I can put the tank in my basement easily.
Don't have access to natural gas, leaving propane. I originally wanted
propane, but after I met with a Propane dealer, I decided against it because
of installing/mounting tank difficulties.


This is Turtle.

If you would go with a oil hot air furnace i would go with the AFUE rating above
90% . Now if you live in cold weather areas go 90% AFUE rating and if you live
in warm areas of the country like the Southern USA. Go with the 80% AFUE rating.

Now prices being high or low : I install Natural gas , Propane, Heat Pumps, and
Electric furnaces but no oil furnaces for we don't use oil in the south for
Natural gas being so cheap. My Last years natural gas bill run me about $600.00
and that was the whole years bill combine. I have natural gas water heater,
stove, and furnace. I really could not tell you about the cost of oil or natural
gas bills if you live up north. Now I will say it seems that it would not be too
much difference between a oil furnce and a propane furnace.

now price of a system being installed. If you get a good installer to do the
job. Don't expect him to be the cheapest price for most good installer will get
good money and never argue with you at all for if he is a good installer. He can
name his price but with in reason as the people he deals with know they don't
have trouble out of a good and well installed system. Now there is a bunch of
Rookies that claim to be the top of the line installers but you will have to
find out who is the best and who is the Rookies or Crooks. There is the ratio
here on Rookies, Crooks, and Professional HVAC installers.
Quite No Bull Professional Respectiable Installers -- 33%
Smooth Mouth Rookies / Don't know how to install correctly -- 33%
Crooks / Smooth Mouth Careless Installers / Idiot installers -- 33%

A poor installation can cost you in repair bills and operating cost the total
price of the installation cost over the life of the equipment. Pay Now or Pay
much more Later.

Do expect to pay for a Professional Respectiable HVAC installer to do it for you
don't have the big time trouble down the road. If you get a Rookie or a Poor
installer. Don't pay more than Cost + 2% at best and know the Good HVAC repair
company to come repair it.

TURTLE


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