What's the most cost effective house heat?

Wild Bill

Wild Bill

Well-Known Member
We just bought a little 750 square foot house in Campbell River and we're going to be doing some upgrades before moving out of the motorhome. It just has old forced air electrics now and we will likely put a wood stove in but baseboard electric, ductless heat pump, propane?
Used to having cheap and affordable natural gas.
Thanks, Bill
 
well insulated ceiling in crawl, electric heated floor and base boards. sweaters and slippers.

if you are going to have a high efficiency wood stove utilize the forced air ducting and tie an inline fan to drawn the heat from your wood stove. move the heat!
 
trophywife said:
well insulated ceiling in crawl, electric heated floor and base boards. sweaters and slippers.

if you are going to have a high efficiency wood stove utilize the forced air ducting and tie an inline fan to drawn the heat from your wood stove. move the heat!
Click to expand...
Yup. Money spent on proper air sealing and additional insulation will save you a ton in the long run.
 
I have an off grid cabin and use a masonry heater to keep it warm. It REALLY works well.

And If I'm not using the masonry heater - and his is not the answer you're looking for - but I often wear my puffy down jacket and slippers indoor a fair bit. the jacket is so light you barely notice it, and you get used to the slippers. That and a big down duvet on the bed. Every box of wood I don't burn is one extra box of wood I don't have to cut and split!
 
IF you have good solar exposure look at one of those solar walls. Essentially a big black box mounted on your south wall, with a vent into your house at the top and one at the bottom. Open the vents on a sunny day and it apparently does a good job of heating your house during the day.
 
What's your thoughts on LPG boiler or forced air (not crazy about running ducting) or ductless heat pumps. I just can't believe heat pumps are that efficient at cooler temps. I did a $75 reuse store natural gas boiler in our Whally house with new wall tubes I got for two bottles of rum and it was awesome, but we were on gas and that was 1989. New baseboard heaters would be cheapest and update the look.
 
if lpg is a possibility, wall hung boiler with radiant floor or rads, combined with a heat exchanger for domestic hot water. I have this system and it is by far the most efficient besides solar.
 
If you have an electric furnace with the ducting in the house I would consider a heat pump replacement so that you get heat at 1/3 the cost and air conditioning for those hot summers nights. There are rebates currently offered by the province on upgrades. Contact a HVAC professional as they can fill you in on costs and benefits.
 
With all the Fortis rebates advertised I called and gas line at the back alley but not to the house but $15 to run a line to the house and hang a meter!! Then I am qualified for rebates!! Do I look happy?
 
I was going to ask you about gas. I work at Fortis. There are some very nice wall furnaces that you can get up to 700 dollars back on I believe. They should heat your entire space. Check out Blue Flame in Nanaimo. They have a couple of brands I believe.
 
Yeah thanks, if I can do warm floor for cheap enough that would be awesome. I can run pex and insulate and etcetera but I was blown away they will run the line to the house and mount a reg and meter for I think $15.60 lol. Better than having a pig sitting in the driveway. And starting January 1, 2000 up to $2000 rebates! Sounding cozy, I still like slippers!
 
if you can get lng, do it... some basic plumbing knowledge and run a couple zones yourself.
 
Yeah I would be proud of that. LNG as in Liquid natural gas? Like I said $15 for Fortis to run a NG line to the house. I would like to do the floor hydronic. Possession on Jan 10.
Does code allow an open direct system, non separated domestic hot water or do I need to do a heat exchanger?
But yeah I will be the one crawling around the crawl space.
So you have a wall mount boiler and a gas hot water tank? I did an open direct system between joist for my tile floor kitchen with the domestic hot water 20 some years ago but not sure if code allows that anymore. Worked well anyway.
 
Last edited:
Wild Bill said:
Yeah I would be proud of that. LNG as in Liquid natural gas? Like I said $15 for Fortis to run a NG line to the house. I would like to do the floor hydronic. Possession on Jan 10.
Does code allow an open direct system, non separated domestic hot water or do I need to do a heat exchanger?
But yeah I will be the one crawling around the crawl space.
So you have a wall mount boiler and a gas hot water tank?
Click to expand...


yes LNG!!! use the heat that heats your home, to heat your hot water!! indirect is the bees knees
 
I thought LNG stood for liquified natural gas, the stuff they want to ship by boat at -162 degrees Celsius.
Not the same stuff that comes out of the pipe at your house. Same product but stuff to your house is a gas or vapour and gas guys I talked to said line pressure is about 15 psi to 60 psi depending on area and ambient temperature.. Google just told me Liquid natural gas is -162 Celsius at a maximum of 4 psi. Anyway... Natural gas to the house for $15 is awesome and my heat will be natural gas.
 
Wild Bill said:
Yeah I would be proud of that. LNG as in Liquid natural gas? Like I said $15 for Fortis to run a NG line to the house. I would like to do the floor hydronic. Possession on Jan 10.
Does code allow an open direct system, non separated domestic hot water or do I need to do a heat exchanger?
But yeah I will be the one crawling around the crawl space.
So you have a wall mount boiler and a gas hot water tank?
Click to expand...
You can get a combi unit. I have a Bosch in my laneway. 4 zone in floor upstairs and down with domestic hot water (including the outside fish sink) and I can't seem to get past the minimum charge for the monthly gas bill. It's 950 sq ft and my Energuide rating is 35 Gj per year at under 2 ACH (air changes per hour). Basically you can heat my house with a candle so most of the radiant stays off because it tends to overheat the house. If I did it again I'd go less zones and focus the piping on the higher traffic areas instead of doing the entire slab. Good smart thermostats are key so you don't get big swings in temp with hydronic radiant heat. The call for heat may last over an hour until the heat actually starts to reach the thermostat. By then the slab is 30 degrees and continues to heat for hours even after the boiler has stopped running. To be honest I'd consider a mini split heat pump. You can get the heads as last year models for pretty cheap and the heat pumps themselves are now much better at producing heat at lower temps. Then you also get cooling in the summer months. I think long term that'd be your cheapest way to go assuming you only had a few rooms to deal with. Supplement with a nuheat mat in the bathroom for the cozy floor where it counts.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top