Home heating

[YurtGirl]

Aloha Punawebbers!

We recently moved up to Volcano and BRRRRRRRRR!!!!! It's downright cold in our house most of the time. We have a fireplace, but firewood is very hard to keep dry with the mists, and it's high maintenance, so we are looking at heating solutions. We have a bun in the oven, so it's going to be very important soon to be able to regulate some heat!

Any experience with this? We were gifted an electric fireplace, but I shudder to think what the bill would be if we rely on that for our main heat source. I'm considering a gas heater, but not sure of standard costs to install a unit, or monthly operating cost ranges. Any shared, real experience dealing with this will be much appreciated.

Mahalo!

ps, adios Fern Forest!!! Good luck & Good BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Melissa Fletcher
___________________________
"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973

[Nalu]

We're in the same predicament. We just built up in Volcano and have run out of money. So no heat source for us in the budget just yet. From my limited research it seems that wood stove is the best way to go financially, plus it dries the house out much better than a gas heater/stove. I really had wanted to go gas this time around, concerned with the wood smoke and effects on the environment and health, but I have not yet found an effective way to both heat and dry out the house. Supposedly gas actually contributes a small amount of moisture to the air when it burns. Our neighbors burn their fireplace all day long, so that kind of kills the "getting away from wood smoke" idea for us.

[kalakoa]

Mountain View isn't quite as cold; we use a 15K BTU catalytic propane-fired unit similar to this:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/p..._200485120

Unvented heaters will consume oxygen, so work better if your house is a bit drafty (they tend to have low-oxygen safety shutoff valves as well). Some people complain about the moisture (byproduct of propane combustion) but this hasn't been a problem here.

Note there are two kinds: "blue flame" is just that; "radiant" units have a catalyst, seem to be somewhat more efficient/effective. The smaller units are within USPS size limits (I got mine via Priority Mail for about $25 shipping).

For operating cost, assume LP has a density of ~47K BTU/gallon; at 15K BTU, you get about 3 hours full-blast, and these heaters tend to have a thermostat, so a $4 gallon of LP should last for the evening.

Installation is fairly straightforward, but the specifics are highly site-dependent.

[terracore]

We actually decided not to build on our Volcano lot for this very reason and got a lower lot at 800 feet that doesn't require heating. We just close the windows at night and that keeps the cold and the worst of the humidity out. Coldest we've seen is 56 degrees outside and 64 inside.

Was talking story with a lady who lives in Volcano (near the golf course) and she said that she's had to scrape ice of her windshield twice in the last 7 years. So yeah it gets cold up there. If we ever decide to build on our Volcano lot our plan is to install a wood stove. For less intense heat try running a dehumidifier. You'll need to dry the air up there anyway and they generate a lot of heat. A lot of people set them on a timer so they run for an hour or two to take the chill out in the evening and then if your place is buttoned up it gets you through the night and it will keep your stuff from molding.

Have also used electric blankets successfully in the past. They are very energy efficient.

[kalakoa]

Note that the above heater (and others listed there) claim you need a "100-lb propane tank with two-stage regulator", but it works fine with a 20-lb tank and single-stage regulator.

"High-flow" appliances are usually at least 50-60K BTU; think "gas dryer" or "commercial stove". These will often work with a FULL 20-lb tank, there just won't be enough pressure to empty the tank -- put a fresh tank on the dryer, then move it to the BBQ when the dryer won't fire, much easier than wrangling the 100-lb tank.

[Seeb]

A high efficiency wood stove / masonry heater and someplace to keep your wood dry ( yurt? )would probably be best in the long run

[csgray]

I had friends who lived in the Coast range mountains of Oregon and heated their house with underfloor radiant heat using a big solar heater and a hot water tank, it only cost them the electric for the little pump that circulated the heated fluid through plastic tubing that ran between the joists under their floor. Their floors were always toasty for the feet and unlike most of their neighbors their house never felt damp or got moldy. They retrofittd an old farm house that had had electric baseboard heaters and they didn't want to use a wood stove due to air pollution, general mess, and how unsustainable wood heat was.

Carol

[Carey]

We have used a number of heating systems back in the upper midwest....

Have had to use propane & natural gas space heaters (during elec. failures) - must had good air circulation & care (soo many times the things are knocked over, esp by little ones...) also quartz electric radiant heaters on cold nights to "take the chill off" before heating season started...good for when you want to have a quick 'warm me up'

Have had cabins with in wall propane heaters that have worked well for heating a room or two, and the plus of ease & cost of installation in an already built & the use of propane, which is readily available... and the fact that most are fairly low maintenance...

Have had fireplaces heatalator (edit: these are good for area heating - if you are looking at adding a fireplace, look into the designs that try to squeeze out the most heat & transfer it into a storage heat sink...some are old design anew, others are all new tech stuff) & see-through fireplace designs (great looking - zilch for heating...) & franklin & zotul wood stoves (would worry about a non-insulated stove with a little one on the way..)

Have had radiant floor in the house I grew up in & the house I owned which had a solar bump heater ('70s concave tracker that did freeze on occasion) on it - it still needed a boiler there for those gawd awful days & nights... Radiant is most efficient when embedded in a heat sink (ie a concrete floor) - but the joist system can work if well insulated from cooler air & any air flow must be stopped (sealed). the more insulating the floor cover, the less efficient the heating in the room... so stone/tile/concrete gets you more heat....carpet is not as desirable.... this will not be a really easy nor low initial cost option, but of all of the houses I have lived in, the 2 with radiant floor heating were the warmest feeling on cold days...

Also some things to look at, our last house had huge southern exposure sliding door/windows & we got bought phase change radiant tubes - if you have the direct sunlight in a room, these are really a great way to harness that solar heat on chilly evenings...

[macuu222]

Speaking of home heating. I live right near the ocean in HPP and today is the first day in a really long time that I could have used heat throughout the house. I've been walking around with a sweater all day. Daytime temps never reached 70 and with a 20 to 30 MPH wind...it makes it feel like its in the 50's.

[ericlp]

Well, so far living in Hawaiian beaches about a mile from the ocean I haven't felt the need to close windows or doors. Yeah it made it down to 60's a few nights but well, under a blanket or whatever it's good sleeping weather! Not only that but walked down to the beach today and it's WINDY!! But not back at my house. Glad I'm not on the beach.

Anyway, you have a few options.

1) Electric (empty out your wallet)
2) Wood / Pellet stove
3) Gas Stove/Oven/Fireplace (friends that live in volcano use this option)
4) Solar (floor heating) altho, I'm not sure how much passive solar your gonna get?
5) Move down to ocean levels

Or ...... You could buy a propane tankless hot water heater and run it in a loop to heat the floors or come inside the house and use it like a radiator heating. Or you could blow in insulation in the walls and get double insulated windows and insulate the ceilings ... After all that you could probably heat the place with light bulbs.

If it were me I'd go with upgrading the windows and insulation since I did it to a 4K SqFt home in Ohio and it got down to -10 and I heated the entire house with a gas furnace that would normally come on every 10 minutes (costing a ton of money) to almost coming on every half hour for a few minutes.

Drafty houses are not your friend. You could also invest in an electric blanket!

Also invest in some fuzzy slippers / sweaters and sweat pants... Layer 2-3 cloths maybe even consider some long johns! hahaha