Heating a new house?

[ecc_33]

I am getting ready to build a ranch house. I have been trying to figure out my heat source. My dad and I have a 30 ton wood splitter. Lots of wood. Dump trailer, backhoe, bobcat etc. He also burns lump coal. I am getting sick of the wood deal and was thinking about wood pellet stoves. Everyone has been telling me to run from geo thermal. They said its def not what its cracked up to be when it really gets cold out. I was thinking about doing something like this. http://www.harmanstoves.com/Products/PB105-Pellet-Boiler.aspx Anyone have any experience with wood pellet stoves? or any advise?

 

[DMAXchris]

I've been burning pellets for 3 years after burning wood for 6. Wood gets hotter but the pellet stove is a more constant heat with far less maintenance. I have one stove in the basement as my only heat source and it has no issues keeping my house at 65-70º all winter. Harman stoves are nice but they sure are expensive. There are also stoves that will hook up to regular ductwork and furnace blowers. Check out Tractor Supply & Ebay. I've seen some really nice stoves for pretty good prices on ebay.

 

[PureHybrid]

We have a pellet stove in the barn, it keeps a good temperature but has a very inconsistant flame because of all the broken / varying sizes in pellets even in the same bag. One moment the flame will almost die out because the auger is busy crushing pellets, then they all fall in and it starts burning hot again. For this reason my dad burns corn in ours, but it does help that my uncle farms down the road and can dry the corn more than the mill does, and its dirt cheap.

Ive heard crappy things about geothermal heating too, and IMO I would NEVER burn coal in a house.

 

[Fastorange]

yes we use one in the front room in my parents home.. its burns pellets or corn... when its warmer we burn pellets ... when the temp starts to drop we mix corn with pellets.. when it get really cold we burn just corn..

 

[DBUSHLB7]

Radiant heat. No brainer. Super efficient warm floors

 

[ecc_33]

Thanks guys. We also farm so corn isn't a problem.

 

[rms2012]

A wood or corn fired boiler & radiant heated floors in the house & garage. Maybe even the driveway. And, a small woodstove or fireplace in the main room, just for a little atmosphere.

Pellet stoves are awesome. But, at one time, pellet prices & supply were unpredictable (we ran out in Flagstaff a few years ago). If you have the ability to get decent wood or corn, you won't enjoy paying for pellets.

Cutting, hauling & splitting wood is a real pain (in the neck & back . . . and elsewhere). But, with saws, a trailer and splitter, you control your own destiny.

 

[DBUSHLB7]

I am a hardwood floor contractor.... I am privy to hardwood scraps from installs that put out some BTUs lemme tell ya. One of my best friends is a heavy equipment mechanic and for two winters we heated his trailer home with a wood stove and my scraps off jobs. Oak burns pretty hot! If that ain't goin green I don't know what is haha.

I also install floors in custom homes with in slab radiant heat. It really is a nice comfortable feature. Not to mention warm floors you can walk bear foot in the morning when you get out of bed. Radiant heat is also possible if your house is built on a crawl space... Radiant lines between insulation and subfloor is the cheap route. Also can do a 1 1/16" plywood subfloor called "warmboard" which comes in 4x8 sheets. The sheets are pre channeled for 1/2" radiant lines and lined with a metal skin throughout the whole sheet for heat spread.

 

[duramatt05]

In floor heating gets my vote! We put it in a dairy plant we just built and it is awesome! When I build a house I will be doing it for sure!

 

[dmaxbowtie]

IMO I like radiant as well, but there's nothing cheap about a radiant system, and if you went with radiant will it be heated by geothermal, solar, natural gas/propane, oil, outside wood burner ect

 

[ChevyDieselLLY]

Sub, hope to learn something

 

[DBUSHLB7]

IMO I like radiant as well, but there's nothing cheap about a radiant system, and if you went with radiant will it be heated by geothermal, solar, natural gas/propane, oil, outside wood burner ect

Much more efficient though

 

[dmaxbowtie]

Depends on what your using to heat with, if using a outside wood boiler or a oil boiler you have to heat the water then bring it into a mixing valve to cool it down, if using a high efficiency natural gas/propane heater, and the entire house is radiant the boiler never has to go above 115ish (above subfloor radiant with tile or hardwoods) which the temps are debatable but super efficient.

 

[dmaxbowtie]

For excellent answers on heating questions try heatinghelp.com

 

[cpr_454]

I have 3 sources. Wood, propane and oil furnance. My least favorite is the oil furnance. It is very inconsistant and lots of cold spots in the house. Next on my list is propane, which we have it hooked to ventless logs in our living room it keeps our house very cozy. My most favorite is the wood burner. It has a very consistant heat and is very "warm" but is a total pain in the ass. That being said we use the propane all the time because I get free propane at work so we essentially heat the house for free all winter. FYI my house is a 2 story, 2 bedroom and 1 1/2 bath. Roughly 1,100 sqaure feet of living space.

 

[Hot COCOAL]

A heat exhanger with uv sterilizer is what i used to put into my homes, and i used to also use waste oil heaters. Wood burners are fine ifyou have the supply and get the most efficient one possible preferably with a built in blower.

 

[gmac32]

Depending on how many sq/ft you are heating? My cousin runs a coal stove and puts out awesome heat. It will cost 2-3 dollars a day unless you have a good coal source... I have a outdoor boiler and I wouldn't go any other way...if I had the money I would go with a gasifacation boiler. They are roughly 93 percent efficient where convential boilers are 53-60 percent efficient

 

[DBUSHLB7]

How bout a wall mounted boiler with energy star ratings and low emissions...

 

[dmaxbowtie]

I actually install many of that exact boiler with indirect hot water tanks, that wall hung unit in natural gas is 96% efficient and is an awesome way to heat your home.... Especially with a house using 100% radiant because it will only run above 115*ish for hot water!

 

[rms2012]

Do you know the efficiency of that same unit fueled by propane?