Heating bills in Idaho (Boise: how much, big house, water heater)

[jeanie missouri]

I'm looking at Real-Estate and wonder what is the most efficient heating source for those cold Idho winters?

[cleosmom]

I can tell you the worst is ceiling heat!!

[twinprism]

I'd say oil furnaces are worse than ceiling heat as far as cost, but I'd stay away from those and electric baseboards. Propane can be sort of expensive too, particularly because like oil furnaces you have to fill your tank all at once, which can result in a big bill.

Any forced air furnace (electric or natural gas) is pretty reasonable (electric depends on your utility whether gas or electric will be cheaper. (Idaho Power and community utilities are cheap, Utah Power much more). Natural gas used to be cheaper, but I'm not sure that is still the case with price increase. Because of the availability of hydropower Idaho has one of the lowest electric rates in the nation, though it does fluctuate based on drought and such.

I have a couple gas fireplaces and the rest electric cadet style heaters and it is remarkably cheap, of course I have a programmable thermostats and thermostats in each room which gives me the power to heat certain areas of the house more or less.

[rgrouse]

Seems I hear from some people in NID how much they love their "heated floors". Anyone else have good/bad experience with this type of heat? Expensive?
And... do you really need air conditioning up there? Thanks!

[jeanie missouri]

When you say forced air do you mean Centreal Air Units/Furnace?

[twinprism]

Yes, by forced air, I mean central air/furnace. In most parts of Idaho you can live without central air if you are young or have other fans and coolers, but it sure is nice for a couple months in the summer. N Idaho is think is a little milder in the summer, but here in SE. Idaho it gets hot in the summer for a couple months. It is dry heat and cools off at night so it's not too bad. I like it, we have a few months where it's not too cold to get in the lakes and reservoirs.

Heated floors are awesome, my parents have that on a propane boiler as they are out of the city away from natural gas. I don't know how it compares economically to heating air but you never run out of hot water(depending if hot water systems are interconnected) Depends on how you heat the water for the floors, I guess. Maybe others have some comparisons.

[Sharon06]

I think having a fireplace or wood stove is a big help. I have gas forced air, and it is high, but I have a big house and my elderly parents live below. I live in the LC valley and it doesn't get too awefully cold.

[jeanie missouri]

In Missouri the going thing right now is outdoor wood furnaces that you hook up to your hot water heater and forced air gas or electric furnace. We put wood in it twice a day and it heats the whole house (toasty) and were never out of hot water. If we have to leave for a few day's we just flip over and use the gas. Do they have anything like that out there?

[Lacerta]

For the person who asked about Air Conditioners, it really depends where you are in the state. I wouldn't want to go through a summer like Boise had this year without A/C. It hit over 100 every day for most of a month. Its dry, but that's hot anywhere. Many (most?) other areas of Idaho you can get by without, with only a few uncomfortable days.

As far as heating goes, yes, a high efficiency wood/gas stove that is tied into your ductwork can do a very good job, especially on smaller houses. My parents had one on their house, which was larger, and they used it as a supplemental source of additional heat to good effect. I don't know anything about hooking up to water heaters, don't know if that's available locally or not.

Heated floors can be hit and miss. If installed properly, they are really good, especially under tile, which otherwise is typically pretty cold. However, it is really easy, even for professionals, to mess them up. Unfortunately, fixing them means tearing out/destroying your floor, be it concrete, tile, whatever, which can get expensive really quick.

One source of heating that no one has mentioned is South Facing Windows. Idaho gets a lot of winter afternoon light from the South, and having some large S. Facing windows can help keep a house warmer.

[rgrouse]

It sounds like northern Idaho, around the CDA area, could get by without air conditioning. Never had it here in Oregon, so probably won't miss it. We have family in Spokane that we want to move closer to, and they say the winters there can make heating quite expensive. That's why we were wondering... I think we will get a good, efficient wood stove and maybe use a forced air furnace as supplemental heat. That was a good point about the radiant or hydronic water heated floors and maintenance/ replacement issues. Thanks for the advice!