How much was your heating bill last month? (Madison: home, water heater)

[r x f]

Originally Posted by MisterEd51

I heard a talk by someone that works for the Redstone Energy Group. The Redstone Energy Group operates the Redstone Park and Energy Demonstration Center located at the corner of Airport Road and Memorial Parkway. She claims that a homeowner can economically power a home using solar power.

No way Jose. Using $3.5 per watt installed... If you pay cash, the ROI is >15 years. It's worse if you use a true ROI where you compare solar ROI to what'd you make if you put the solar cash into the stock market or other investment fund.

If you have to lease or finance the solar array, the ROI is never.



Our house uses gas heat. I'd like to have a dual fuel unit, but I haven't seen one in a packaged unit. Actually, I'd like for our current unit to last until after we move into our next home (whenever that will be).

[autobahn]

Love my dual-fuel system. Heat pump and natural gas. Upgraded to a Nest thermostat a year ago and it is smart enough to know the outside temperature using WiFi and my zip-code. It is set to go straight to gas below 35 (programmable). Doesn't even try anymore to run the heat pump and then fail over to gas like my old thermostat. Bill was a bit higher in January and February, but not bad.

[LCTMadison]

I love those Nest thermostats....I want one!

[HB2HSV]

Originally Posted by autobahn

Love my dual-fuel system. Heat pump and natural gas. Upgraded to a Nest thermostat a year ago and it is smart enough to know the outside temperature using WiFi and my zip-code. It is set to go straight to gas below 35 (programmable). Doesn't even try anymore to run the heat pump and then fail over to gas like my old thermostat. Bill was a bit higher in January and February, but not bad.

That sounds cool.

Does anyone know how much does it cost to add a gas heating system in addition to existing heat pump? Often times, it is the up front cost that is crazy & making it not economically viable.

[Coogan]

Our bill was remarkably better than I thought it'd be. With the extreme cold and snow and HSV Utilities announcing that utility bills would be significantly higher than average, I was expecting my last bill to be astronomical. But it wasn't much higher than my December bill, and not even the highest bill we've ever received. Not bad, considering our home's crappily designed HVAC system (freezing cold in the living room and kitchen. Turn the heat up and you'll sweat your face off in the bedroom)

Coog

[r x f]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

Doesanyone know how much does it cost to add a gas heating system in addition toexisting heat pump? Often times, it is the up front cost that is crazy &making it not economically viable.

An HVAC guy is probably going to want to install an entire system instead of adding an interior dual fuel setup.

You could technically install a new interior dual fuel setup with a coil that is similar enough to your current outside coil. Not going to be cheap though. You'll have to run a gas line to the interior unit. Will also need to run an exhaust stack out to the roof. Wild guess, $2-3k.

Heating-wise, one thing to keep in mind for heat pumps is having a good thermostat. A 'dumb' programmable thermostat will help over a non-programmable, but you'll still be wasting money each month. Programmables save by having setbacks (turning the temp down) while you’re away. Our house is 68/62/68/65 - Morning/Day/Evening/Night. Most thermostats will turn on Aux heat (resistance heaters) if the set temp is 2-3degrees above actual temperature.

For example, say it's 62deg inside and you've got it programmed to turn to 68 degrees at 5pm. With a 'dumb' programmable, the heat pump and Aux heat comes on at 5pm to heat your house back up. Heat pumps are ~2-4 times more efficient that resistance heaters(Aux heat). So adding Aux heat really costs you money.

With a 'smart' programmable t-stat the thermostat will 'learn' your house's recovery rate (deg/hr) and figure out when to turn on the heat pump to get you the temperature you want when you want it. It also minimizes use of the Aux heat, which save your $$$.Honeywell calls it "adaptive intelligent recovery". NEST thermostats have this feature too.

[HB2HSV]

Good info r x f

What is involved in changing out the "dumb" thermostat to a "smart" one? Can I just R&R them?

Wild guess, $2-3K

A few years ago I went to a home & garden show at the VBC as I was interested in underground heat exchanger. The contractor wanted to change out my ENTIRE HVAC system & charge me $30K

[LCTMadison]

They are pretty simple to change, HB....I'm sure a super smart engineer like you could handle it if I can do it

[denverian]

Wow! You get some seriously high heating costs!

I heat about 3000 sq. ft. here in Denver (two stories plus a finished basement) and my highest natural gas/electricity combined bill this winter has been about $225. And while we do get reasonably warm days into the 50s and 60s in winter, it still is mostly in the teens at night, and we've had really cold days where the highs were single digits. Are most people in the South strictly on electricity for heating?

[r x f]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

What is involved in changing out the "dumb" thermostat to a "smart" one? Can I just R&R them?

A screwdriver, a drill to mount the new t-stat. Very easy.

Example of install instructions for a random Honeywell thermostat. https://customer.honeywell.com/reque...form=69-2206ES

A few years ago I went to a home & garden show at the VBC as I was interested in underground heat exchanger. The contractor wanted to change out my ENTIRE HVAC system & charge me $30K

That's actually in line for a ground source heat pump (GSHP). They're expensive! I haven't really looked into them becuase they simply don't make economical sense for a normal house down here. My current house probably costs us $1200 a year in HVAC costs. If a GSHP is twice as efficient (a sporting assumption), the simple ROI on a $20k unit is 33 years!