Aside from that. how warm are you able to keep your home? Heat pumps just can't keep up. I have electric heat in one home, a heat pump in another and a pellet stove in another. Honestly, none of them are doing what we expected but the pellet stove is the warmer of the three. I also have a 20 seer, (sp?) heat pump and that's not doing what I expected either. Bundle up people.
68 comments:
Pellet stove(Harman XXV). About 70 during the day, but will drop to the mid 60s during the last couple nights. Little chilly at night, but I don't even have it going full bore.
I have a 2 year old high efficiency gas furnace and it is struggling to keep it at 70. Of course there is no insulation under the house like most on the Eastern Shore.
72 degrees and cozy. 65 year old home and we use an oil fired furnace.
Ken
65 day downstairs, 60 at night. Upstairs, 55 all the time with electric space heaters in bedrooms as needed. We're bundled up.
I have a LP gas furnace about 2 years old , it does well and keeps my home at 68 degrees . We keep it set at 68 . I also have a free standing non-vented cast iron log stove I use to take the chill off in the morning because we put our thermostat at 62 in the evening till morning . The cast-iron stove was installed for power outages , saves us from freezing many times in the country.
Heat pump is doing great all through this artic blast, have left it on 68 and it has not moved. Shorts and tee-shirt. The auxiliary heat kicks on once in a while to maintain constant temp.
between 70 and 80....sometimes have to open a window to cool it down and get some fresh air.....old school "buck" woodstove insert with fan.....and an unlimited supply of firewood
BIG MIKE
2 heatpumps. Downstairs is 67-69 during the day. Down to 64 at night. Upstairs 67 when we are up there and 64 when we are not. They kept up and kept the house warm. We do have a wood burning fireplace that we light every evening and it keeps the heat constant and from going on downstairs. the other end of the house gets chilly though.
2800 sq ft. pellet stove, propane furnace and 3 space heaters going.Hitting the 70 mark in some parts of house the rest is 65
Wonder how homes with solar panels on roof are fairing. We installed three zones of geothermal heat about 5 years ago, (from electric baseboard heat and window air conditioners). Electric bill went way down and our big old home is toasty in winter and cool in summer.
Geothermal heat pump. Set at 69 and keeping up. Cycling on and off quite a bit, but that is normal with these temperatures. Most issues on the shore are because of low quality installations. The only way to determine the proper size of equipment for your house is to do a heat load calculation. Most companies around here don't have the capabilities to do that. Remember this, pay a little more for a high quality company and you will save money every month. I have a 2500 square foot home and my average electric bill for the year is $220. And I stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Heat pump and a fire place with gas logs works pretty well.
70 with our Harman pellet stove running day and night. We’re still using pellets we bought for last winter. Only 2 or 3 bags left though.
Wait until the electric bill arrives.
23 year old heat pump and has kept my home @ 70, even last night @ 2 degrees outside. The only problem is I don't think it has shut off once in 3 days!
we keep the house @ 69, i have a gas furnace and using natural gas. it’s running pretty constant, but does cut off for 10 min often. gonna be a huge bill this month lol
Pellet stove on low to medium. 70-74 all the time.
I have a wood stove and love it. I can make it as warm as I want and it cost very little . Most of my wood I get free.
My heat pump is doing just fine. Auxiliary comes on often, but it's working. I change the set twice a day . In the morning and at night. 68 at night, 71 in the morning. and I leave it. I can and often do supplement with a wood burning insert during the day. It'll knock you out of here. I use heat lamps in the bath for when I shower. It's really toasty in here.
Oil- fired hot water baseboard heat. Cozy here. Expensive but worth it when the temps drop. It's the best heating system I've ever used. Had a heat pump once and the house always felt cold. Had to wear a stocking cap to bed!
My house is eleven years old with a gas furnace set on 68 which is toasty warm and it's only having to come on about twice an hour. But we were sensible with our construction 1800 square feet no windows on the north east side upgraded floor and roof insulation and 8foot ceilings. When are people going to learn they build houses with 14 foot ceilings all glass walls on the water with small heat pumps and minimal insulation.
They say that you don't get a home right until your third attempt. Well I'm attempting my second and I have made up my mind to install propane boiler for hydronic underfloor radiant grid heat in my next home. It's going to be a lot of work - but in the end I think I'll be very satisfied.
10 year old heat pump installed by Tom Wall. Keeps the house at 73 because Tom know how to size equipment.
I have turned the oil boiler down to 66 and am using an efficient electric heater for the bedroom.
I can no longer afford the cost of oil. It can easily cost me over $500+ a month to keep the house warm because there is no insulation in the home
The kitchen goes to 60 at night. The bedroom 72. The electric bill is only 53. When the sun is out the house warms up nicely. I open all the curtains.
Gas fireplace in condo in OC - no problems at all and I rarely turn the heat above 65 -
I would love to have heated floors. That would be dreamy.
Two pellet stoves 78 degrees crack a window to cool off. 400 a year for pellets. Hard to beat it. Summer comes I remove them. Stoves were on spring sale in Delaware 2k for both 10 years ago.
807-My electric usage is at about 350 kwh a month in the dead of winter, I pay more in transmission charges than electric usage. The pellet stove I have cuts hundreds off my electric bill each month.
Have a heat pump and just got notice from Delmarva Power my bill this month will be between $582-874 and my average daily cost is $24.27. Ridiculous that they can charge this. I am 77 years old and have to turn off my hrat.
We have a 10 year old oil furnace with ducts in the floor. We pay on the budget plan. House will heat up to any temp. We keep it at 70. Oil heat is warm heat.
People have to understand that ALL heating systems are compromises. Any PROPERLY designed heating system in this area today is capable of maintaining 68* with an outdoor temp of 10*. If it can maintain a house temp over that it is oversized and if it cannot maintain the design temp it is undersized. Another compromise is in the cost of the system. You get what you pay for. The best system available is a geothermal heat pump, but at a cost of at least double that of any other system.
If you have any kind of warm are system, make sure that your air filters are CLEAN, this makes a huge difference in the efficiency of your system.
With this cold weather leave a faucet dripping (I leave a hot faucet dripping because the hot side always seems to freeze first). The most important thin you can do is to make sure that your central heat is working because if you are just using area heaters, your pipes WILL freeze up.
If your pipes are already frozen, leave a faucet turned on slightly (even if you have no water coming out right now)because once it does start to drip you will have water soon after.
Know where your main water shut-off is so that if water starts flying you can turn the water off. If you have well water you can just turn off the power to the pump. WATER CAN CAUSE A LOT OF DAMAGE SO KNOW HOW TO TURN IT OFF IN AN EMERGENCY !!!
If you have called a heating man or Master Plumber during this weather event, be patient, their is probably a hundred people who called before you did.
Couple more days folks, then some warmth to break this 12-14 day freezing stretch. Looks like more cold after the warm spell, NOT FROM DAN!
73 days until the 1st day of SPRING (March 21st). Roughly 10 weeks, hang in there!!!
Then this summer, shop around and "look" into new heating units!
I am very forchunat to liv in section 8 housing me and mi kids don't worrie bout no heat cause its all cluded
Joe, you don't have enough back up heat in the heat pump. You probably have 5kw, should have sprung for 10, or even 15. Their sequencal so they only kick in as needed. Now, you can't be a tight ass with the electric bill, but you'll be warm.
10:50, You clearly didn't read my article. I don't have a 5, 10 or even a 15, I had them install a 20 system and even had it wired for such a system. My HVAC people were very impressed. My "tight ass" was way ahead of the game.
9:53- Are you heating the Taj Mahal? I live in a 2BR apt. and my bill, due tomorrow, is only $104 and I am never cold.
Seer is the cooling efficiency. HSPF is the heating efficiency of a heat pump. You can have a high SEER number, but not necessarily have a high HSPF. Either way, the most efficient heat pump (except geothermal and minisplits) will be running on back up electric heat in these temps.
Your exactly right about load calculations. Most companies around here size based on what was there or do a very basic calculation. A true Manual J calculation takes into account size of the house, windows, insulation, air sealing, and moisture readings to determine both heating and cooling system sizes. It cost extra to have this done, but if you undersize or oversize a system your looking at a shorter system life and possible comfort/health issues in the home.
Your bill is going to depend on the age of your house which makes a difference in how it was insulated and what kind of windows and siding you have. Everything in our house is electric--baseboard heat, water heater, kitchen stove so that will make it cost more. February is usually our most expensive month and it's usually in the $400 range but we don't usually have the intense cold last for this long. We also are on the budget plan with Delmarva Power so the low costs of April/May and September/October help balance it out. Last year, DP owed us $7 at the end of the year.
My pipes froze. Yes, they froze. Yes, it is true. The liberal pawns cannot even install insulated pipes.
Making the mindless ones slaves to the shapeshifters. The flamboyant ones who demand wedding cakes are the ones who are Catered to. Did you notice the "patterns" on the head of the son of perdition shown on youtube? You can see them so clearly in seho song's videos on YouTube. It was revealed to her that ahkanatan, was given the hardware updates to "him" (barack-anatan?), was given instructions by Them. If you dont look, you wont See! Is anyone else concerned with the Brain initiative? Gas pumping is just one of many infantilizations of liberal masses.
Who do I call for burst pipers!??
75 during the day. 65-70 at night. Wood stove cranking during the day. If I wasn’t so lazy I could keep it at 75 at night. But I ain’t getting outta bed to reload the stove. Like to sleep with lower temps anyway. So after 1am we let the oil fired baseboard heat kick in. Plenty of wood for 3 more years. Although I can always use more!! If u have a stove, u know there is never “too much” wood!!!
If anyone has frozen pipes and wants to thaw them out I have done this many times with a kerosene fired construction 150k btu salimander. What I do is place a 30 gallon oil barrel with the bottom cut out into the opening under the house and place the heater blowing into the barrel. All the heat goes under the house but the heater is sitting outside far enough away that no flame or sparks go under the house. It doesn't take long to thaw out but be ready to turn your water off because if it's frozen you will have some broken pipes especially if you have cpvc piping,but forntunately it's an easy fix.
Pellet stove and the house stays at 73 degrees day or night. It is almost as good as a wood stove
To you in the apartment with a low electric bill, you have the advantage of having other apartments around you in the building which help insulate and keep yours warm. You are not out in the middle of the freezing cold and windy weather like a free standing house.
Go solar, seriously. My panels generate electricity for all my neighbors and me for the spring, summer, and some of fall, then I get a credit for the excess for the winter and the little I use at night. I pay exactly $162 per month for a 3 br house to cool and heat. Easy easy easy. My panels still generate during the winter days. Deride it all you want, but it is the future!
Who is Delmarva Power? I wouldn't know. I went solar.
I've installed HVAC - air to air heat pumps for 30 years including, geothermals, propane, natural gas, mini-splits, all of them. When it comes right down to it - the only way to properly design a system is based on the cubic feet calculation method, taking into account the amount of windows, doors, and insulation factors. Some say air-to-air is more like scorched air, wood stoves are really nice, provided you can physically split wood and have access to an ample supply. Geothermals - well you have two systems, (water & freon) to contend with (double trouble). Mini-splits, highly efficient right on down to -15 degrees F. Problem is they don't look very attractive in residential. Oil fired - to expensive, so is air-to-air propane, same goes for electric furnaces. Seems as though they all have their drawbacks. I have yet to find a bulletproof solution.
i have a 19 seer carrier heat pump that I will fire up tomorrow morning I also have an oil fired boiler with baseboard heat nothing beats that,except the 2.77 heating oil it's a cozy 74-75 in here I am enjoying it
I've got news for those heat pump owners who have emergency electric resistance heat installed. Better hold onto your hip pockets if you can't control the cut-in and cut-out because with electricity rates running at about .14/kWH you'll need to strike the lottery in order to pay your electric bills.
Joe - on or about February 14th, 2018 - may I suggest you do a follow-up as this is when the electric bills will be sent out for this past month (January). I truly believe those people reading this post will be SHOCKED - as the local welfare offices will be chocked full of people applying for financial assistance.
I have a 2000 sf home maximally insulated with foam. I have a high efficiency gas furnace and a hearthstone wood stove. I keep the thermostat on 65. Don’t want to be a burden to the utility companies when others are struggling. I have plenty of wood that I split with an eight pound maul. I also have solar panels that aren’t leased, they are payed for. Electric bill for the year 150$. Fill my propane tank with money earned for SREC,s. I am blessed. Feel for the ones that are cold. Don’t heat my home to rediculous temps, but I am comfortable. Spent a lot of my time the last three days cooking. Going to be a good week. I pack my lunch daily and have made some good stuff. Please take some time time to help the homeless. I cannot fathom what it feels like to endure a night outside. Blessings friends.
60 year old home, hot water base board heat, efi oil furnace, and well insulated....70 degrees in house,1800 square foot, I might use 100 gallons of fuel oil for the year. Furnace has no problem keeping up with weather.
Just think, if we all had wind turbines like Chesapeake College had, our Kwhours would only cost $100 each, LOL!
Let' see, 2800 Kwh x $100 = $280,000.00!!!!!!!!!! (Monthly!)
Let's go green!!!
322-I locked in a rate of .095/kwh last year, for a 3 year period. I know this was offered locally to others as well.
I'm 69 in the bedroom and the rest of the house is 67-68
Under the down comforter my husband and I got to 95 degrees this afternoon. Three times.
3:22 - you must be only referring to the generation portion of your electric bill and you have not including the generation portion. 3:22 is spot on accurate at .14 cts/per kWh.
I meant to 4:32 Poster instead of 3:22.
Your bill due tomorrow is not for the last 2 weeks. Start saving now! Tell all your neighbors to turn their heat up, it will save you money.
Ah to be young again :)
5:19 PM again - Since he stopped watching NFL he's been a lot more energetic on Sundays!
kudos 519!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your water pipes will freez if the water never moves.I get up several times during the night and run the water a little bit just it moves and can't freez.It's a little bit of a hassle but nothing compared to frozen pipes.
I've turned off the heat pumps in my 2400 sq ft two story house. Electric bill last month was $102.00, and I expect the same for this month (nothing but lights, cooking, and hot water on electric). I heat exclusively with a small Vermont Castings wood stove. Even at O degrees, I can keep the downstairs uniformly at 70 degrees, with the upstairs at 64-68 degrees. That's without cranking up the woodstove to the max. No frozen pipes, as the hearth that the stove sits on a foundation that goes all the way to the ground under the house. As the hearth heats up, some of that heat is transferred to under the house. The woodstove was the BEST backup plan for the super inefficient heat pumps that were installed on my house. In any weather where the temperature drops below 30 degrees, heat pumps are just really expensive whole house electric heaters, because they cannot produce heat from really cold air. And unless the Aux. heat is on, the air coming out of the vents feels like cold air, as it is less that your body temperature. When you step into my house, you can feel the heat of the woodstove right away, and you know where to stand if you want to warm up quick. I've used a little more than a cord so far this winter. If it takes another cord to get through the winter, it will cost me $370.00 for a winter's worth of heat. Other than the work of moving the wood from the woodshed to the house (and who can't use a little exercise in their home life?), the woodstove is way more efficient and effective than any other heat source. If I was to build another house, it damn sure wouldn't have heat pumps.
January 8, 2018 at 8:28 AM:
The pipes that will freeze, will be your drain pipes. That little bit of water will freeze and build up on the inside of the drain pipes every time you do what you're doing. In prolonged frigid weather, the drain pipes will freeze completely shut. Your water might still flow from the source, but it will have nowhere to go. When you can't get rid of it, your water pipes will be next. Even a 100 watt bulb under a house will keep most pipes from freezing even under the harshest of conditions. Running the water just creates another hassle and blockage. It's bad when someone learns that the hard way.
70 in the living room 69 in the bedroom!
My 24 year old fuel oil forced air furnace is on cruise control keeping my house at 72.No problems whatsoever.2 floors.
we have a new mobile home and it's doing just fine. We have it set at 71-72 and that's where it stays. Sometimes it even gets too warm especially on those days the outside temp warms up.
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