Got Heat?

As the ice piles up I was wondering how everyone heats, and if you like it? Natural gas? Propane?

Natural has forced air. I'd really like to use ground water heat pumps, but that's a major expense. But what I have is OK, and doubles up for A/C, and is low maintenance.

I have oil/hot water baseboards. It works well enough but I am saving my coins to replace the baseboards with in floor radiant. A friend did it and the house feels much warmer.

Natural Gas - Forced air. Equal billing is $150/month and that includes the pool heater. Quite happy with it.

Up here Propane is WAY more $$$$'s!

Wood with electric back up. It's inexpensive but a pain in the ass. We don't have natural gas available out our way yet. Propane and oil are both more expensive than what we have.

Pellet stove and gas-powered hot water and an electric fireplace for psychological warmth

When I lived in Canada, I preferred hot water/steam radiators. Forced air is intrusive.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

Reindeer pellets?

Oil/Forced hot air. It's fine but the temp fluctuates quite a bit.

Our last place had natural gas with steam radiators - and also had no insulation. And nobody living on the top 2 floors of the house. That was EXPENSIVE.

Most of Illinois is Natural Gas. I miss having a fireplace though, when it got really cold, it came in handy and gave the furnace a break.

I'm in the same boat as Duke. Not bad, I'd like a wood burner for back up though.

Natural gas and I am paying out the ass to heat my leaking house. I am so fed up with it but there is nothing I can do about it

No gas out here so .stupid baseboard heaters that rarely if ever get used after the Big Fireplace Upgrade of 2009...it looks like a fireplace but acts as a forced air wood stove that has a cat to add even more heat and make for no smoke out the chimney. Heats the whole dern house and has cut our winter power bills in half. Yah chopping wood is a pita but heck widdit I need the exercise that time of year anyhow.

Down here most places are electric. But, what kills the wallet is Summer not Winter.

Oil/forced air. I have a small house, so for the past 22 winters I've been here a single 250 gal tank will get me through. However, this year in the northeast has been especially cold and windy and I had to add oil last week. I have gas on my street and the heat-exchanger is on its last legs (smell diesel fumes during start-up), so I'll be converting this year.

Natural Gas/forced air. We just got our combined water/sewer/gas bill and it's ~$450 for last month...although we're heating 7k sq-ft between our 1st-floor shop and 2nd-floor living area, and the shop has ~12-high single-pane glass windows all across the front(about 50' total) so there's not much thermal value there. The upstairs is insulated pretty well at least.

Natural Gas/Forced air here as well. Where I'm at it doesn't get too much of a work out though. I think my budget billing is $35 a month for gas with Gas heating, hot water, cooking, and dryer.

Here in the northeast, almost all of the new houses I work in are going natural gas forced air or natural gas with hydro air. A couple of high end builds have gone nat gas with radiant. The places that don't have nat gas are going propane. Only done 1 oil fired system in the last 7 years for a new install. Do several a year as replacements for what is there. The advantages are being able to run AC thru the same duct work and equipment, the ability to direct vent gas as opposed to chimney venting oil, and of course the cost. Nat gas stuff is cheaper to buy, cheaper to install, and cheaper to run. Steam is dead, hot water baseboard is following in steams footsteps. AC is no longer an upsale on new housing, its essential.

Oil fired hot water baseboard.

I used to have a wood stove in the basement, worked well when I was there to feed it and it made a big difference in how comfy the house was. A few years ago I went to a coal stove in the basement. (delivered in 40lb. bags) It runs 24/7 and can be unattended for a weekend. Much easier to deal with, easier to handle bags than wood and coal doesn't get bugs or mice. My oil consumption is down 40%.

Dan

Last place had electric but weak insulation so it sucked. Always felt cold.

Current place is gas, second floor can get mighty warm, but first floor seems cold. Sucky insulation.

Dream home would be insulated properly with electric and either a gas backup (fireplace/stove).

Nat gas forced air here in Cincy. Pretty happy with the efficiency level of the new house. Still just a modern stick built house but they used 2X6's and all the highest efficiency goodies.

oil … hot water baseboard

no AC, don't really need it here (would be nice, but not so nice to add an entire new duct system and cold air supply)

Oil furnace/forced air

Nat Gas with Furnace and A/C. We have a pellet stove in the back room that was built on a slab (the rest of the house has a basement). We only use the stove when we are in the room, so the $200 pallet of hardwood pellets will probably last us two years.

If I build/design/remodel our next house, we will have a heating boiler that supplies parameter radiation with select zones of floor radiation. The boiler would also serve as the water heater. The A/c would have a separate system, probably ducted.

Natural gas hot water w/ cast iron radiators.

I may never want another type of heating system, I is spoilt.

We also have a fireplace, which actually works pretty well to heat the 4 rooms directly surrounding the chimney (the house is kind of a square, with the bedrooms in "wings" off the main floorplan). The problem with that is, the only thermostat in the house is in the same room as the fireplace. So the living room, dining room and kitchen are nice and warm, and our bedroom is freezing.