Electric thermal storage heating system retrofit (York, Rochester: vacation home, heat pump, to buy)

[comrade_ny]

Hello,
we are looking to buy a vacation home in PA, and i think we found one in Pocono springs Estates. We like it very much, but the problem (or not?) is that the house has Electric thermal storage heating system. I know that these rates will go away this year, and since it is 20 years old, it is probably as good as dead. Did anyone replaced it with regular baseboard heaters? Maybe something else like the heat pump? Any suggestions? We do like our place to be warm, without freezing overnight, waiting until these heaters store enough heat for the day, besides it will be a vacation house, so only weekends
thanks a lot

[thecoalman]

Cheapest heat in NEPA is coal. They have everything from small inserts and stoves to supplement your current heating system up to boilers/furnaces for primary heat.

Keep in mind this anthracite coal which is unique to NEPA and is suitable for use in an urban environment. It's only mined in NEPA so it's not used anywhere else unless it's shipped there. If you're interested I'll answer any questions you have.

Compared to something like electric it's about 1/3 the cost. There is a little work involved but that amounts to a few minutes each day.



------edit-----

oops, didn't notice you would only be their on the weekend. I'd recommend small stove/stoker to supplement primary heat when you're there. Keep in mind you're going to have to heat this place all winter long so the pipes don't freeze but the coal won't work because you can only get 2 or 3 days out of a stoker without some big modifications.

[Riverside4ever]

We have a propane unit with a thermostat ..

[comrade_ny]

Thanks, but i need to heat the whole house, not individual rooms, so far i've seen plug in electric baseboard units

[Riverside4ever]

Originally Posted by comrade_ny

Thanks, but i need to heat the whole house, not individual rooms, so far i've seen plug in electric baseboard units

A 30,000 Btu unit will heat the whole house .. Leave the bedroom doors open..

[thecoalman]

Off the top of my head with average house 30K BTU is going to do about 600 to 700sq. ft., it will keep about 2 or 3 average sized rooms warm. Lots of factors involved in sizing a unit correctly, for example there's a huge difference between 2*4 and 2*6 construction. 2*6 can just about halve your costs. Windows, insulation, teenagers running in and out....... The list is really endless on what you need to consider. For proper sizing you need a to do a heat loss calculation.

Thanks, but i need to heat the whole house, not individual rooms,

Depends on your setup but there is various ways to distribute heat from a coal stove, most people put even the smaller ones in the basement and run ducts to each room with a cold air return.




The solver part is called a hot air jacket and would direct most of the heat into the top duct. Which can then be distributed to individual rooms. At a far end of the house or upstairs somewhere if it's two story you have another duct for what they call cold air return that goes back to the base of the unit. This creates a natural flow of air, the heat goes up the ducting and the colder air will come back through your return. It's not ideal but if you have another form of heat like electric you can use the coal to to take most of the load with the electric taking up the slack.

The unit pictured is 90K BTU and cost $2K, it could take most of the heat load for 2000 sq. ft.

[comrade_ny]

thanks, it is pretty cool, but i priced a duct work and it will cost a considerable amount, since it has to be built from scratch

[thecoalman]

The only thing to put in that is cheap to install if you want to heat a whole house is electric but you have to consider the long term costs too which will be much more than the install costs. If you're paying 10 cents/kWh the fuel cost for the coal are 1/3 that of electric, an average home might need 100,000,000 BTU's for the winter so you might pay $800 for the coal or $2250 for the electric.

You can do some comparisons here for any fuel if you have the rates:

Fuel Comparison Calculator for Home Heating

New coal stove or stoker usually pays for itself in the first two or 3 years. Since you will only be there for the weekends of your payback is going to take longer so that is something to consider too. I'll also mention you'll have to light this every weekend which may take some time to learn to do fast, generally people light a coal stove once. Once it's lit for stoker like the one pictured you should be good for the weekend.

[elncttr]

We bought a house in Pocono Springs last year. We absolutely love it. We are also using it for weekends. We have electric baseboard and it is expensive. We are looking into putting in a coal stove to cut down on costs. Just not sure if we want one with a blower, that will require electric, or one without.

[thecoalman]

If you're concern is about the electric going out there is two types of units and both could have fans.

Stokers are more common and easy to operate because everything is automated but they require electric to run. They usually have thermostats, could have pumps if it's boiler, etc. They will always have one fan for combustion air and if it's hot air stoker it will have one for distributing the heat too.

The second type is hand fired stove, this is the same thing as using a wood stove. You don't need electric to operate it and if you're in a rural area where the power goes out a lot it's something to consider. Some do have heat distribution fans on them to assist in better distributing the heat but these are not required to operate the stove.

While on the topic they do have hand fired stoves that can double as cooking stoves and/or ornamental pieces like this one:

Antique Base Burner Stoves by Barnstable Stove. Antique Coal Stoves, Antique Wood, Kitchen and Parlor Stoves

If you are looking for a mint, over the top outstanding stove, look no further. Built in 1895 in Rochester, New York, this coal stove can also burn wood. Large mica windows, large fire pot, fantastic nickel all wrapping a very efficient antique stove. Full of ornate details from top to bottom, simply stunning.

$8500!