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  • Hobie Dog

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    Feb 24, 2008
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    San Marcos, Texas
    Our house is currently for sale. As soon as it sells we will be building a new one in the country, in south central Texas. Our current heat is electric. It's horrible. We pay $450-$500 a month and keep the thermostats at 63. It's always cold, but what do you expect for that kind of money.

    So, the options we are looking at are electric heat pump and/or LP. There are some hybrid systems out there that use both. LP is expensive now days so I'm not sure that's good to totally rely on.

    All the builders I've talked to say solar and wind just aren't cost effective yet. Sure would be nice to coral some of that wind but systems are really expensive.

    Anyone have any experience with the new technologies and heat systems?
    Target Sports
     

    rls210

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    Jul 12, 2013
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    My advice is to build your home to the standards of the new homes built up north. Properly built and insulated your home will cost considerably less to heat or cool.
     

    vmax

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    have you thought about a wood stove for supplemental heat? I love ours, I 'm sitting here now by it.
    We cut and burn about 3-4 cords per year and it really keeps our natural gas bill in check
     

    Dawico

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    Insulation is the key with any system. 2x6 exterior walls, r19 insulation, good doors and windows, and 12" of insulation in the attic would be my minimums. Spend more up fro t to save a ton of money down the road. A properly insulated house could be heated with a candle. Ok, maybe a little more than that but you get the idea.

    I can't help you on the new technology stuff besides tankless water heaters. They are the way to go.
     

    mantawolf

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    have you thought about a wood stove for supplemental heat? I love ours, I 'm sitting here now by it.
    We cut and burn about 3-4 cords per year and it really keeps our natural gas bill in check

    Just curious, wouldnt 3-4 cords of wood cost as much as the propane heat for the 3-4 months you need heat?
     

    vmax

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    Just curious, wouldnt 3-4 cords of wood cost as much as the propane heat for the 3-4 months you need heat?

    if you have to buy it and have it delivered, you would pay about $150 per cord.
    and if I had to buy my firewood, I seriously don't know if I would use a wood stove. I figured OP was moving out in the country and might have a place to get wood


    I have my own land to cut wood on, plus if you are industrious you can find wood for free. I used to get firewood from the city tree limb recycle yard and also from farmers and ranchers who were clearing brush. I have always been a firewood scrounger so it is just second nature to me
     

    Hobie Dog

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    Feb 24, 2008
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    San Marcos, Texas
    Thanks for your input. My builder is from Minnesota so, yes, much insulation. I've considered a wood burner of some kind. I have a fireplace in my current house and it just sucks the heat out. We'll have a few years of wood just trimming trees to build the house. Great help. Thanks.
     

    Bozz10mm

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    Oct 5, 2013
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    I wonder if geothermal for heating and cooling is a viable option. It's probably a big upfront expense, but then, there are no power sucking compressors involved in operating the system. A wood stove would be nice to have in addition to any other heat source. If the EPA hasn't banned them, that is.
     

    Byrd666

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    Dec 24, 2012
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    This is only something I've seen once, and it was on one of those home shows when I flippin' through. Have you thought about doing in floor, coil type heat. Similar to an electric blanket but, under, instead of over so the heat rises from the floor. If I recall correctly, the shows house heating was done with warm water from a solar powered heating source. They never said what the costs were but, I'm thinkin' it ain't cheap. Once again, memory involved, there was no electric heat involved, or gas heat, and no need of a water heater due to the solar heated tanks already storing hot water. Not sure how well that would work with the cloudy and or rainy days in central Texas though.

    Just a thought.
     

    breakingcontact

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    Oct 16, 2012
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    It takes a whole bunch of electricity to make heat. Don't see solar or wind doing that. Natural gas or propane I'd say.

    I'm on all electric, bills aren't bad but my house is newish and small.

    Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
     

    Leper

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    Sep 28, 2008
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    You should have a masonry heater built. The floor of the house needs to be able to support the weight of the heater. It is the most efficient way of heating with wood, and you can mount a cooktop on it. Even heat that lasts a long time and uses very little fuel.
    Geo thermal is great if you have a reliable deep water source close by.
    Forget about solar or wind for electric heat, but thermal solar is easy and relatively cheap by comparison.
     

    ROGER4314

    Been Called "Flash" Since I Was A Kid!
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    Jul 11, 2009
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    East Houston
    I got into this in a big way in a house I had in Oklahoma. I remember -16 there and it always gets rough in the winter.

    The house had 3 bedrooms with 2 baths. I rolled extra fiberglass insulation in the attic. Now, that's a job I'll never do again!

    Had custom made storm windows installed. Storm doors on all exterior doors and good weatherstripping was a must.

    It had a sliding patio door that I boxed in and made a second patio door outside of it. All exterior doors were heavy, solid wood.

    I worked on air leaks until your ears would POP when an exterior door was closed. That was good but the fireplace wouldn't draw unless I cracked a window!

    That house had Natural gas heat and the place was very cozy! There was a "Heatalater" insert in the fireplace and glass doors sealed off the fireplace when it was not in use. I cut wood during the summer months and heated with it in the winter.

    Heat pumps have an electric heater that comes on if the temp gets too far below the setpoint. That extra cost negates the advantage of a heat pump system for me.

    A set back thermostat on a timer was very effective! Putting a terrific heating system then getting cheap on a thermostat is foolish.

    Summed up, gas heat, storm windows, weather stripping, storm doors and insulation everywhere are the most effective places to start.

    Flash
     

    Army 1911

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    Mar 17, 2008
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    Dallas Texas or so
    I have seen solar heat systems in Kansas and they work pretty well but the payback is 10 years or so. If you are installing on a house you are never going to sell or move from it may be worth it.
     

    F350-6

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    What size house? Energy efficiency is something you need to closely study. There's also hot and cool building styles to study. My house is around 2,800 sf and about 8 years old. I'm all electric since I thought I would be installing a windmill before I noticed the price of them went up faster than the government subsidies. I'm a lot further North than you are and my heat pump does well in the summer time to the tune of less than $200 per month. Winter time in North Texas, not so much, but I based everyting on the warm design. I've been getting screwed by TXU at a rate of nearly 13 cents per KWH, so my winter bill was over $400, but my new rate is under 10 cents so we'll see how it fares next month.

    If you're building a new house, spend more money up front on insulation and sealing. Skip the R-19 in teh 2x6 walls and shoot for way better. Either spray foam in 2x6 walls, or step it up to ICF (insulated concrete form) walls, or what I did was go with tilt wall construction and spray foam on the inside of that. I pinned styrofoam insulation and treated plywood to the outside of my tiltwalls and hung fiber cement siding so it didn't look like a concrete house, but it does well for what I designed it for.

    I keep the thermostat on 69 or 70 in the winter and heat and cool the entire house with a 4 zone 5 ton heat pump.
     

    karlac

    Lately too damn busy to have Gone fishin' ...
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    Aug 21, 2013
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    Have an architect? Not the whole enchilada, but a good start to your stated goal is to insist on the home being built to EnergyStar specs, with the required third party inspections, using the Natural Path guidelines, and most importantly again, third party inspections.

    http://www.energystar.gov/ia/partners/bldrs_lenders_raters/downloads/PerfPathTRK.pdf?87e2-9418

    Important: You-your architect must get the ball rolling prior to finalizing building plans. If you're serious, but haven't done so, considering stopping the train to do it, it will pay off in a better built home.

    Specifications developed during the energy efficiency evaluation of your architects plans will be incorporated into the plans your builder will build from, and, to your great advantage, inspected by a third party at various stages to insure compliance . By doing this you will get a better built home by insuring the builder does things not normally done, particularly by those builders who are not used to building in a particular climate zone.

    As a builder/Construction Manager in new residential construction, believe me when I say that the third party inspections alone required by this program will insure you a better built home, particularly in unincorporated areas in Texas where the county building services departments, and required inspections, may not be in your best interests.
     
    Last edited:

    Governors20

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    Jun 11, 2012
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    Austin
    I plan on building a home on our property in the next few years. I Want to install a wood furnace since I have a lifetimes worth of wood at my disposal.
     

    karlac

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    TX69

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    Beejeezus that is a ton of money per month! Did you ever insulate the attic!? That is the first thing we did after we moved in and had $400 AC bills at 77 degrees. Bills went down to $220 and the stat is set at 74 now. We barely had 6" of insulation and now we have 16".

    I would advise an R50 for your new home with at minimum double pane vinyl windows.

    Here's a great product we used for the stair pull down.

    BATTIC DOOR R-50 ATTIC STAIRS INSULATOR COVER NOW AVAILABLE IN 3 SIZES: 22x54, 25x54, and 30x54
     
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