At 09:35 PM 12/12/2005, Bill Gingerich wrote:
>FWIW, I paid $1.65/G when I filled my 1000 gallon tank 2 months
>back. That should heat the 1500 sq. ft. house and the 2100 sq. ft.
>shop for about 4 months here in south central Minnesota.
OMG! You're paying over $400/mo for fuel?!?!? Have you heard of
or looked into ground source heat pumps? Whereas a regular air
source heat pump / air conditioner tries to dump heat into > 80dF air
in the summer, and suck heat out of < 40dF air in the winter, a GSHP
puts a heat transfer pipe loop in the ground below the frost line
where it's typically a constant 50dF or so. Efficiency can approach
650% compared to pure electric (100% by definition.)
I'd love to install one here for the beauty and elegance of its
design, but the weather is mild enough here in western North Carolina
that it would take > 10 years to pay off. If I still lived in a
miserably cold place like Ohio, or an intolerably cold place like MN,
I'd install one yesterday.
I have two air source heat pumps in our two floor 1600 sq-ft place,
and our electric bill runs from $75 to $130, with temps at 68 winter,
71 summer. We also bought a Whirlpool "Duet" front-load washer and
dryer. They're absurdly expensive, but the lower water consumption
appears to have cut our propane bill by over $150 a year. Can't say
enough good stuff about 'em. And we're saving on clothing expenses,
because it doesn't shred stuff like an agitator washer.
-Wayne
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