New furnace - A Tale of Two Winters

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

It's quite simple really.....wire the bugga up to the street lighting beyond your garden wall.

[longam]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

The deal is once the oil is warm and the lag time over you keep the heater on. Attempting to reheat the room over and over will kill you for sure. Get it up to temp and let it keep a constant temp. One may turn it down when they go out but turning it off is not wise. It will have to work hard to get it back to a comfortable temp. Keep it on, this is were it works well. However, plugging up to the neighbors or the street lamps is a great idea!

I'd say its a wash because when you turn off the unit it still keeps heating with the stored heated oil. 600watts - most PC's consume that much power.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Letum

, but is very expensive to run.

Right that. These things should be considered only as a provisional solution for limited time, in times of emergency, or really no other solution available. Over longer time, the costs for operating them are beyond reason and discussion. We once had one of these running in our old big appartement in Berlin, in a room with no regular heating. We ran it only for one winter. When we got the electricity bill for the year, we decided to never use that damn thing again, but reduce the using of that room in the cold season. These things, together with glowing radiators, are easily the most expensive way to heat your flat.

Get your regular installation repaired/replaced, Neal. In the longer run, it is cheaper. Plan the 2010 Subsim meeting taking place in Houston, and you already have saved money for flight tickets and hotel room, and probably that way already have won most of the money a new furnace would cost.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Originally Posted by August

Wood stove is the way i'd go, especially down there in Texas when you only need heat a few weeks a year. We keep one stoked in the basement and my oil furnace has hardly come on all winter. Also wood is, at it's most expensive, still half the cost of home heating oil. Usually you can get good burnable wood for free.

Yeah wood is good

We have an airtight in the basement, and burn about 2-3 cords a year. Mainly on weekends, some evenings and holidays ( it was on 24\7 over Christmas ).
Even at that it makes a difference. Oil is our main source. For now anyway.

[Letum]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

I run a convector with thermostat and timer in the conservatory and find it much cheaper to run than the 'oilers'

If you are heating a conservatory, I don't suppose efficacy is high on your priorities anyway.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Also, somebody mentioned insulation, that is very important, at the top of the list really. In other words, worry about keeping the heat in first, then how you heat second.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by reallydedpoet

Also, somebody mentioned insulation, that is very important, at the top of the list really. In other words, worry about keeping the heat in first, then how you heat second.

Depends on the substance of the building you live in. It can get overestimated very often. In fact, it does. Before I spend a 5 digit sum of money (or more) into isolating an appartement house, I would check the projected financial calculations for the coming 20 years over and over and over again. However, it pays off if the substance is really bad, of course.

[Platapus]

Maybe we can all chip in and buy Neal a Snuggie?

https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next

[August]

Originally Posted by reallydedpoet

Yeah wood is good

We have an airtight in the basement, and burn about 2-3 cords a year. Mainly on weekends, some evenings and holidays ( it was on 24\7 over Christmas ).
Even at that it makes a difference. Oil is our main source. For now anyway.

This is my first winter in the house but i'm figuring on burning about 4-5 cords over the season pretty much 24/7 and keep us down to only one tank of oil. That's the plan anyways.

For those who don't know much about it there are a few more things I'm finding I like about wood heat.

It's labor intensive. I get a good 20 minute workout once per week filling the basement wood bunker. And it gets me up out of the lazyboy once an hour at night to stoke the fire.

It's cheap. A cord of seasoned hardwood delivered is running about $250 but if you own a decent chainsaw and are willing to do your own cutting and splitting (another source of some good exercise) the cost goes down to literally nothing.

I love the smell of wood smoke. The scent of it pervades the house and it's so cheery I find myself looking forward to coming home every night. It kinda reminds me of camping which is something else I love to do.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by longam

@Neal, check this out. You can still get the 80% furnaces, and there pretty cheap, well cheaper the $2k

http://www.ventingdirect.com/fedders...rce=ntg_905794

Yeah, thx for that. I called a friend and we got one like that and installed it this afternoon. Was a little more than that but it was available now.

Originally Posted by Skybird

Get your regular installation repaired/replaced, Neal. In the longer run, it is cheaper. Plan the 2010 Subsim meeting taking place in Houston, and you already have saved money for flight tickets and hotel room, and probably that way already have won most of the money a new furnace would cost.

I think it costs me more to have the meeting here than flight tickets, lol. But thanks for the idea.

Originally Posted by Platapus

Maybe we can all chip in and buy Neal a Snuggie?

https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next

Lol.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Originally Posted by August

It's labor intensive. I get a good 20 minute workout once per week filling the basement wood bunker. And it gets me up out of the lazyboy once an hour at night to stoke the fire.

It's cheap. A cord of seasoned hardwood delivered is running about $250 but if you own a decent chainsaw and are willing to do your own cutting and splitting (another source of some good exercise) the cost goes down to literally nothing.

I love the smell of wood smoke. The scent of it pervades the house and it's so cheery I find myself looking forward to coming home every night. It kinda reminds me of camping which is something else I love to do.

All good points

Plus I just like the look of a nice fire, it really adds to the feel of a room\house.

Also, this year two of my boys helped me pack it in the garage, we had a great time ( well they complained a little ). Memories they will carry with them forever.

[August]

Originally Posted by reallydedpoet

All good points

Plus I just like the look of a nice fire, it really adds to the feel of a room\house.

Also, this year two of my boys helped me pack it in the garage, we had a great time ( well they complained a little ). Memories they will carry with them forever.

You're right, they will and so will you. I still remember as a youngster helping my Grandfather split kindling for his kitchen stove over 40 years ago. He didn't speak English and I didn't speak German but we both had a great time.

[longam]

@Neal - considering your climate glad you found a cheaper solution.

For those who operate live fire, a word of warning. It's dangerous. Every year we have instances where usually older wooden houses burn down or people succumb to carbon poisoning. Take good care of the fire place, the pipe and all the compartments and area around the fire place.

That's all, carry on.

[August]

Originally Posted by OneToughHerring

For those who operate live fire, a word of warning. It's dangerous. Every year we have instances where usually older wooden houses burn down or people succumb to carbon poisoning.

That's all, carry on.

Sonny I've been a master of burning wood since before you were born.