Saving money on utility bills

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Actually, I was thinking Minneapolis...but no farther further more.

And farthermore...

[Bimmerbill]

I need a new furnace. I am looking at wood boilers, or multi-fuel boilers (wood and oil). I'd like to investigate geothermal too. I live in New England, gets cold up here.

Anyone have a wood or multi fueled boiler?

[bosco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by theoldwizard Ouch ! It's hard to believe that at 48" below grade (typical frost line) it could freeze.

catching up on my posts after being gone for a few days when I found this.....

uh, it's called the 'frost line' because that's how far down the frost goes (i.e. depth of freeze).....if it didn't freeze that deep they'd give it different name.

Where I am currently stationed (in permafrost), the real question is depth of thaw, not freeze....

[pedorrero]

Not for everyone perhaps, but here's one idea: I am in the process of booting my ex-girlfriend due to various psychological, pharmacological, financial and other issues. I do expect I'll save on heating and (especially in FL) cooling. Oddly, she has to have it hotter in winter and cooler in summer than my tastes. Ahhhh, I can taste that lower electric bill already...

[Khan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pedorrero Not for everyone perhaps, but here's one idea: I am in the process of booting my ex-girlfriend due to various psychological, pharmacological, financial and other issues. I do expect I'll save on heating and (especially in FL) cooling. Oddly, she has to have it hotter in winter and cooler in summer than my tastes. Ahhhh, I can taste that lower electric bill already...

One of the 65 in the summer, 75 in the winter crowd?

[tryan]

We installed a geothermal open loop system at the lake house. The sales people cite a 7 year pay back. Need to have some place to dump the water ... being water front helped. Need to get my neighbor to disclose what he paid for propane heat (similar houses). Then I'll know if it was worth the added expense.

One cool part is "free" AC ... the process is reversed and cool air is circulated instead of heat.

FWIW, the house is in VT ... no backup (unless you count the wood stove) ... no problems (yet).

[bpp3]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cute fuzzy bunny Split air conditioning systems are pretty cool and pretty easy to install. Condenser unit the size of a small suitcase sits outside, small blower unit mounts to the wall inside, drill a 3" hole in the wall to pass the wire/refrigerant lines through[...]

I guess that's what we have. (Didn't know what they were called before, other than "aircons.")

Quote:

Problem with split-airs is that while they're more powerful than a window unit and a lot easier to install than central, they're still pretty expensive. A refurb system with about 12000btu's is around a thousand bucks and a new system with enough kick to cool a small house is closer to 2k.

Yeah, they are kind of expensive, but we only heat/cool one or two rooms at a time, so they are relatively efficient in that regard. Heating/cooling when you need it, and where you need it, only.

[Telly]

A "mini-split" is the proper name for the small system with a hang-on-the-wall fan coil.

Just "split system" by itself refers to the usual AC system where the compressor and condenser are outside, the evaporator is inside, and the two are connected by the suction and discharge lines. This is in contrast with a "packaged" system, which has compressor, condenser, and evaporator in one unit, and return and supply air are ducted to and from the unit.