Insulating an OLD House-Oil Costs

dpg · 02-07-2011, 07:22 AM

Cate - I understand a home is a HUGE purchase but your looking for EVERYTHING in one package and your simply not going to find it (of course in my opinion.) According to your posts you'd like location, reasonable costs of ownership, something old(er) with some style and I'm sure I'm missing out on many other requirements.

You'll pay what you pay for heat no matter what type it is. I also heat by natural gas (Mass.) and pay a fixed budget of 200.00 a month. I don't really considor that cheap, you talk like you think your monthly gas bill is. What burns me is paying 200.00 a month April thru September whan my gas usage drops by almost less than half. As many other posters have stated 300.00 a month in a climate like NH is to be expected. Cheer up my neighbor in Mass (and relative) heats with electricity, not on a budget. Her electric bill for January was 772.00.

Slickcraft · 02-07-2011, 11:52 AM

Thanks for the analysis tummyman.

An update on pellets and oil for our situation:
Our pellet stove model was tested at 83.5% efficiency by the EPA and pellet prices are down this year. We have purchased 3 ton at an average price of $202/ton this fall. Using this data I calculate:
$2.02 to generate 138,000 BTU for our pellet heat.

Our oil burner, coincidentally, was tested at 83.5% efficiency this fall. In December we had both tanks filled for the winter at $2.869/gal. This works out to:
$3.44 to generate 138,000 BTU for our oil heat.

Obviously we run the pellet stove all the time except for a brief daily cleaning.There is some electric cost, the unit draws about 120W in the run mode and there is a sizable initial investment.

As you have pointed out propane is not the way to go for heat in this area.

CateP · 02-07-2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpg

Cate - I understand a home is a HUGE purchase but your looking for EVERYTHING in one package and your simply not going to find it (of course in my opinion.) According to your posts you'd like location, reasonable costs of ownership, something old(er) with some style and I'm sure I'm missing out on many other requirements.

You'll pay what you pay for heat no matter what type it is. I also heat by natural gas (Mass.) and pay a fixed budget of 200.00 a month. I don't really considor that cheap, you talk like you think your monthly gas bill is. What burns me is paying 200.00 a month April thru September whan my gas usage drops by almost less than half. As many other posters have stated 300.00 a month in a climate like NH is to be expected. Cheer up my neighbor in Mass (and relative) heats with electricity, not on a budget. Her electric bill for January was 772.00.

Hi DPG- We have a wish list, not hard and fast requirements. (Although some items have a higher priority than others). We ARE hoping to find a place with as many items on our wish list as possible, however we also aren't going to spend years looking for that perfect house that doesn't exist. I think talking to the good folks on this forum is helping us prioritize AND recognize what capital improvements we might need to budget for the future. Based on what I'm learning on this thread so far and some very helpful private messages, energy efficiency may trump "old house charm" in our new house.

BTW-This will be my second home purchase and I currently live in a victorian house that may be as old as 1879. (Dwelling appears on my land in old town map) Believe me, I have gone through a lot of hard lessons renovating my current home.

Our overall goal for our NH house is to downsize and spend less on house operations.

02-07-2011, 07:22 AM	#1
dpg Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 2,619 Thanks: 157 Thanked 235 Times in 172 Posts	Cate - I understand a home is a HUGE purchase but your looking for EVERYTHING in one package and your simply not going to find it (of course in my opinion.) According to your posts you'd like location, reasonable costs of ownership, something old(er) with some style and I'm sure I'm missing out on many other requirements. You'll pay what you pay for heat no matter what type it is. I also heat by natural gas (Mass.) and pay a fixed budget of 200.00 a month. I don't really considor that cheap, you talk like you think your monthly gas bill is. What burns me is paying 200.00 a month April thru September whan my gas usage drops by almost less than half. As many other posters have stated 300.00 a month in a climate like NH is to be expected. Cheer up my neighbor in Mass (and relative) heats with electricity, not on a budget. Her electric bill for January was 772.00.

02-07-2011, 11:52 AM	#2
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and The Taylor Community Posts: 3,347 Thanks: 1,250 Thanked 2,121 Times in 970 Posts	Thanks for the analysis tummyman. An update on pellets and oil for our situation: Our pellet stove model was tested at 83.5% efficiency by the EPA and pellet prices are down this year. We have purchased 3 ton at an average price of $202/ton this fall. Using this data I calculate: $2.02 to generate 138,000 BTU for our pellet heat. Our oil burner, coincidentally, was tested at 83.5% efficiency this fall. In December we had both tanks filled for the winter at $2.869/gal. This works out to: $3.44 to generate 138,000 BTU for our oil heat. Obviously we run the pellet stove all the time except for a brief daily cleaning.There is some electric cost, the unit draws about 120W in the run mode and there is a sizable initial investment. As you have pointed out propane is not the way to go for heat in this area.