Pacemaker Boats

changeofpace · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:26 am Post subject: Home heating this winter

With #2 heating oil passing $4.75 a gallon, a typical 275 gallon tank will cost over $1000 to fill this winter. I'm curious as to what everyone is doing to offset or try and lower their heating costs this winter. I have already sided the house, changed windows and added a ton of insulation to the attic in years past. These have allowed me to usually make it through the winter with 2 fill-ups. This now means a winter heating bill of $2000 where 3 years ago it was $700. Anyone have any tips to share on lowering the cost of staying warm?

shawn_carlson · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 9:11 am Post subject:

I added a wood pellet stove to the family room in the lower level of my house. The price of the wood pellets has gone up, but nothing near what oil has. I usually run the stove whenever I am at home and let the oil heat the house while at work. Since adding the stove I usually fill up twice (1/2 each time).

Down side is the stove requires monthly cleaning and the 40lbs bags of pellets are little bit of pain to handle. Overall I am very pleased with it.

changeofpace · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 11:51 am Post subject:

I'm looking at trying to set-up a solar hot water panel to use the sun to heat water that will be pumped through a space heater to heat my family room which is a converted basement. Since its under ground, it calls for heat the most. I have a clear view of the southern sky, so I should be able to get some kind of set-up going. My sister has the pellet stove and she is always trying to find a reliable source of pellets. It seems she has to place an order in advance as the truckloads sell out as fast as they arrive. Her husband has to go and load the skids of pellets into his truck and then unload them into their storage area. He hates it since he is exhausted by the time he is done. He says they burn between 1.5 to 2 bags of pellets a day and they heat the whole house. My brother has installed a coal burning stove and he has oil as a backup source. He hasnt bought oil for 2 years, but coal is a dirty and messy way to heat but still cheap. My idea is to use the sun to heat water which will be stored in a hot water heater tank and then when the thermostat calls for heat, it will cause the hot water to flow through a heat exchanger, kind of like the old style radiators from when I was a kid. The most expensive part of this system would be the collector as the rest of the materials are pretty common

shawn_carlson · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 12:22 pm Post subject:

I have no problem buying the pellets. The local Lowe's always has them in stock. I usually buy a pallet of them early in the season from the local Agway. I go through about 2 pallets a season (about 100 bags), usually towards the end of the season I will buy small batches (about 5 - 10 bags) from Lowe's. Hopefully, it will become more popular and more accessible.

Fortunately my house is bi level, so the family room is basically the ground level, so I store the pellets in a utility closet in the family room which cuts down on the transporting the pellets.

A neighbor (by the marina) has solar panels for his house. He uses electric heat for his house and he says that he generates enough electricity during the summer months that he doesn't usually pay an electric bill till December ( averages electric bill 1-2 months per year). other than the initial cost this sounds like the best scenario.

Good luck.

rebait · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject:

I heat and make my hot water with oil. When I built the house we did not have gas mains or city water and sewer. My oil consumption is low, because we have a wood burning stove. The 21 years that I have been in my house, I have never paid for wood. I know a few guys who cut trees and they feel that they don't make enough cutting, splitting and delivering the wood, so when they are cutting near my house, they just dump it and leave. I have a log splitter and the last couple of years, my son and a couple of his friends have been cutting the logs to length, splitting and stacking them. They do their families wood with my splitter and a couple of elderly people in my neighborhood. I thought of researching the new outdoor wood furnaces, but I am happy with my current system and who knows how much longer I am going to have my helpers or the supply of wood.

John