Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area
 [Register]
Seattle area Seattle and King County Suburbs
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 11-29-2014, 08:40 AM
 
4,038 posts, read 4,862,808 times
Reputation: 5353

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey View Post
I believe electricity in Seattle (City Light) is cheaper than natural gas. In Seattle, electricity prices are lower than the national average, while natural gas prices are higher than the national average:

Average Energy Prices, Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, October 2014 : Western Information Office : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
This was my experience in Seattle. My bills heating with electricity were lower than when I had a place heated by natural gas.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 11-29-2014, 09:00 AM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
What furnaces? Most people with electric heat have baseboard heat.
OMG!!! I hope not!!!
worst elect heat (most costly and inefficient) = Ceiling resistance
2nd worse = Baseboard electric. (unless using hydro / water thermal mass)

Heat Pumps are by far the largest source of full electric, and most efficient.

I use Wood as backup (free source). I just go to my neighbors late at night and make like an Eager beaver.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2014, 01:16 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,210 posts, read 107,859,557 times
Reputation: 116138
Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit View Post
OMG!!! I hope not!!!
worst elect heat (most costly and inefficient) = Ceiling resistance
2nd worse = Baseboard electric. (unless using hydro / water thermal mass)

Heat Pumps are by far the largest source of full electric, and most efficient.

I use Wood as backup (free source). I just go to my neighbors late at night and make like an Eager beaver.
The hydro baseboard electric is the only kind I've ever seen in Seattle. It's widely used in the Southwest, too.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-29-2014, 05:39 PM
 
5,075 posts, read 11,072,535 times
Reputation: 4669
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
The hydro baseboard electric is the only kind I've ever seen in Seattle. It's widely used in the Southwest, too.
Not many homes were built in Seattle when forced air electric was common. You have to go out to the burbs to find it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2014, 01:50 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth View Post
The hydro baseboard electric is the only kind I've ever seen in Seattle. It's widely used in the Southwest, too.
Oh please let me know the manf of hydro assist Electric Baseboard.

It is VERY hard to find in last 20 yrs. (Manf discontinued it)

I have only seen Electric Baseboard resistance in homes I buy (including Seattle and Olympia areas)
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 11-30-2014, 02:06 PM
 
9,618 posts, read 27,337,354 times
Reputation: 5382
Quote:
Originally Posted by StealthRabbit View Post
Oh please let me know the manf of hydro assist Electric Baseboard.

It is VERY hard to find in last 20 yrs. (Manf discontinued it)

I have only seen Electric Baseboard resistance in homes I buy (including Seattle and Olympia areas)
Recently, I saw some hydronic baseboard heaters called Softheat. I've got no idea if they're any good or not, just that they were newly installed. I think Cadet makes them. I also saw some hydronic electric wall panel heaters recently called Ecotherm. They were intriguing looking, and apparently are Canadian.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-01-2014, 04:02 PM
 
3,695 posts, read 11,370,975 times
Reputation: 2651
A neighbor of ours with a north Seattle home of the exact floor plan we have has a ductless mini split heat pump and it worked fine even over the last couple of very cold days. He has a couple of portable oil-filled radiators in case the mini-split can't keep up. It's also nice to have the air conditioning in the summer time. He spends about half of what our other neighbor with a gas forced air furnace does and almost a quarter of what an oil furnace does. The mini split is also much quieter than a forced air system and a regular heat pump.

If you have electric baseboards you can get a big rebate from City Light to replace them with a mini-split system.

These houses have about 1600 square feet of living area on one story, with low ceilings.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-01-2014, 09:22 PM
 
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
563 posts, read 1,787,278 times
Reputation: 534
ductless would be nice if they weren't such an eyesore.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-04-2014, 08:20 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,705 posts, read 58,031,425 times
Reputation: 46172
Quote:
Originally Posted by PNWGuy View Post
ductless would be nice if they weren't such an eyesore.
hide them behind a creative soffit / indirect lighting / diagonal shelf (mini-loft)

I like to make angular 'hideaways' in various parts of my house. I will have to be creative on one 'low ceiling' cabin type home that I plan to add Ductless. They really are a great HVAC source for smaller living spaces. Been using them for 20+ yrs in Asia. They are way too expensive in USA. (~$5k). I need to add some 230v 50 hz.

For cooling my 'passive' homes, I will go back to buried 'earth-tubes'. (inclined, for convection, but about 6' deep.) I keep the intake end located in a sheltered shady spot and use sprinklers in early evening in the area, then run 'whole house fan' for a couple hours. ~ $3/ month for AC.

When not being used for planting flowers around the house...It is handy to have your own dozer and excavator for installing ground source heat pump fields and cool tubes.
//www.city-data.com/forum/membe...-ls-way-up.jpg
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 12-05-2014, 10:29 AM
 
3,695 posts, read 11,370,975 times
Reputation: 2651
Quote:
Originally Posted by PNWGuy View Post
ductless would be nice if they weren't such an eyesore.
They can be, but they have one of the ceiling cassettes which isn't as disruptive as the wall unit.

I can handle a bit of ugliness if it is saving me $1000+ a year in heating costs and it means that I don't have a slowly-corroding 60 year old oil tank under my backyard.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Washington > Seattle area

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 06:02 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top