Moving to Maine from Oklahoma!! (live, floor, oil)

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by t_t1393

Wow thanks atleast someone answered one of my questions THANKS SO MUCH!!! were planning more central Bangor so if it says heated and h/w included that means the landlord pays the oil and it runs the hot water.......

So would that mean its like gas and it heats a hot water tank? Here in Oklahoma we have Natural Gas which is our heat and heats our hot water tanks but it dont cost nearly that much maybe 400 the whole winter.

Probably be better to get a place that had a wood burning stove or fire place huh?

Yes heat and hot water included means just that. Cold water is a given. Oil setups differ in the way they deliver heat. Some heat air and are called forced hot air "furnaces". Others heat water and are called forced hot water "boilers". Usually the "boiler" type of oil heat will have a hot water coil in the boiler. This is how they make hot water. It's an on demand system for the most part though some of the newer ones have a holding tank. The forced hot air "furnaces " usually do not have a water heater. These homes usually have a seperate electric water heater. You will pay for hot water with your electric bill in these homes. I talked about wood stoves in another post.

[t_t1393]

Well u have help us so much i Thank you

While you call it a cord we call it a rhic of fire wood my husband drives a diesel truck is fuel hard to find????

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by t_t1393

Well u have help us so much i Thank you

While you call it a cord we call it a rhic of fire wood my husband drives a diesel truck is fuel hard to find????

Glad to help. Diesel is fairly easy to find around here . I have to go to the next town over form me to buy it for my tractor. You'll most likely need to add an anti gelling agent to the diesel in January and February as it can get cold enough to gel up diesel fuel at night. You MAY find a house in the Bangor area which will allow tennents to burn wood though I think it's a rare thing. Good luck!

[t_t1393]

Well Thanks you so much.....

Why do ya'll not use Natural Gas?

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by t_t1393

Well Thanks you so much.....

Why do ya'll not use Natural Gas?

Some do.

We have LPG it provides our clothes dryer and it can heat our hot-water and radiant floor. Without an oil furnace, the gas folks give us lower rate prices on our LPG. [ If we had an oil furnace then our LPG prices would be higher ].

Our setup also allows us to heat our hot-water and radiant floor using our woodstove. We have gone through the winters burning: coal, peat, wood, woodchips, and WVO.

Our LPG does not come from a local source [unlike Oklahoma] here it comes from Canada. There have been efforts to pipeline it directly from Canada into Maine, and a previously existing pipeline is already in the ground from Loring to Searsport which could be used for this [this pipeline cuts across my orchard]. However all efforts to allow this have been blocked in Augusta. So it must be shipped, which is more expensive.

[t_t1393]

Wow so thats why people use oil!

So in the long run Gas ends up more expensive then oil huh?

[Submariner]

It can be.

Prices fluctuate all the time.

As we were building that portion of our home, we saw that gas was cheaper, so that was what we did. We wanted multiple methods of heating our home, rather than only one way. So we decided to go with gas as a secondary heat source [our tertiary heat source being electric]. Then right after we got it all installed the prices of gas went up. LOL

But then a year later oil prices shot up, so over all who knows?

The price of wood tends to stay the same.

Now I think that a 'rick' of wood is only a third of a cord. But you need to check on that as I am not entirely sure.

We see cords of green wood selling for $150.

Last year we burned about 10 drums of wood chips. Plus a small bit of cord wood. I think a total of about 3 1/2 cords of wood.

So far this year we have been given a lot of chips. I need more drums to store them in, we likely have 50 drums worth of woodchips we have been given this summer. If we burn only woodchips, I think that we should have enough now for the next two winters.

[t_t1393]

Wow i thought that having Electric heat would be expensive! I dont like Gas heat myself i perfer centeral heat and air but Gas is cheaper here and our house is gas it just makes my skin so dry and if it gets to hot i feel like i cant breath only time people know i have asthma i dont know about oil is it dry like gas?

I dont remember how long and wide a 'rick' of wood is id have to ask my Grandpa he does that not me

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by t_t1393

Wow i thought that having Electric heat would be expensive! I dont like Gas heat myself i perfer centeral heat and air but Gas is cheaper here and our house is gas it just makes my skin so dry and if it gets to hot i feel like i cant breath only time people know i have asthma i dont know about oil is it dry like gas?

Gas is only a fuel. Others are oil, wood, coal, electric.

Central heat/air is a method. Others are baseboards, radiant flooring, etc.

My folks had gas-fueled central heating in their home [Forced air heated by gas flames blown through duct-work into each room of their home].

[t_t1393]

lol yes that is generally what Center heat is.....i guess while bill are higher here durning the summer months they are higher there during the winter months.

So i guess we need to get Flannel sheets huh?