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Posted:
Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:30 pmby bruce
Anyone else use oil for heating their home?
My budget jumped $200+ a month for this coming year and I still owe on last years budget plan due to the rising cost.
Needless to say I'm shopping around for a new supplier to see if I can do any better.
Posted:
Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:47 pmby jsa
Reverse cycle air here, might be too cold in your area for that.
Fuel oil is a partial diesel blend isn't it ?
Posted:
Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:45 amby 77-1212596771
Same in europe. Oil, natural gas and electricity cost raised unexpecting high.
By the way yesterday I was at the cheapest petrol station I found: 9,5 US$ the gallon
Good luck finding a cheaper supplier and think about a better house sealing (That got very popular in europe). It won't get cheaper again.
Daniel
Posted:
Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:24 amby bruce
I know we here in the USA should not bitch as it really is a lot cheaper compared to the rest of the world.
I'm seriously considering a wood stove insert for my fireplace and burning some wood for supplemental heating. I'm spoiled though as I like to walk over and adjust the thermostat which requires little effort compared to wood stacking, hauling etc.
My house is pretty efficient in the sealing department, It's all brick ranch style and I installed new windows a few years ago. So not much I can do there. I have about 1800sq ft living space and have a basement that is not yet finished. I can't imagine some of the homes around me that are 2000-5000 sq ft, what it's going to cost them!!
Edited By bruce on 1216895075
Posted:
Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:01 amby 77-1212596771
Having a brick style house helps, you are right. I know that many house owners in Europe add additional sealing with styrofoam shells to isolate even more.
However even easier is to wait for the cold days and ask for a (quite cheap) service to make a temperature check with a temperature camera. Then you can see where eventually energy get lost. Such services are not expensive, but gives you a chance of fixing leaks which you would never see or expect.
Additional switching to wood is not a bad idea. Some households switched over to wood pellets for their heating needs. Since the wood pellets are made of saw mill dust, which is basically an industrial waste material, they are quite cheap.
Good luck,
Daniel
Posted:
Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:58 amby 106-1194218389
My Brother-in-Law has a diesel van. He puts a lot of miles on it so he bought a bio-diesel generator for $2800 and makes his own bio-diesel. Would that work for heating oil? Trouble is around here it has got so popular the restaurants are getting wise and starting to charge for their waste oil. Here is a neat idea at this web site they have produced algae generators to produce bio-diesel from algae and also ethenol
John
Posted:
Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:41 pmby 77-1212596771
I assume that using wood / wood pellets are much easier for heating, especially if you already have some kind of fireplace oven in the house.
Posted:
Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:03 pmby MMack
I found some stuff last winter on a DIY waste motor oil heater. I was really jazzed up about it and showed it to my wife. I think her comment was, "Oh good lord, your not thinking of building one of those are you?" Needless to say, I haven't started construction.
I have looked into geothermal heat pumps. 400% efficiency rating, and they even work in the north east US. My neighbor has a trencher, and we are on 2/3 of an acre. I could make it work, I just have to come up with the 10-12 grand it takes to buy the sytem. Even in the southeast US it should save $100-$150 a month year round.
Mike
Posted:
Thu Jul 24, 2008 6:42 pmby Tony
Another possibility may be to move south and closer to the ocean.......
I am serious.
Posted:
Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:21 pmby 49-1183904562
Mike, Bruce,
Have you guy's looked into the exterior wood fired boilers i see them all the time at the Frederick Fair they will burn up to 12hrs on a load of wood and the nice thing is you dont have to bing all the wood in the house.
I do something similar but it is in my shop and is a wood & wase oil fired furnace i built it will keep the shop at 75 all day on about 20 pieces of wood and 2 galons of wase oil or fryig oil. It is not for the light hearted but it makes some heat and that keeps the upstairs warm too. The problem is it needs monitoring and so i have been looking at the outdoor boilers as they can run so long on load. Also been heavy into the solor research as that is free heat and tax breaks.
Rick
Posted:
Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:37 pmby 106-1194218389
[color=#000000]Rick,
Your mention of solar heat has jogged my memory. My cousin, who is so tight he squeaks when he walks, came up with a pretty neat idea. He has a south facing exposure. In all of his south facing windows he made some aluminum plates as wide as the window but not quite as tall. They are about 1/4" thick. He painted the out facing surfaces flat black and mounted them on the inside of the windows in the rooms. He tilted them in at about a 45
Posted:
Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:07 pmby Malvin
Hi to all That a real good Idea there with the plates jfholm you also could put pipe on the back side and heat water do you know how hot his plates get?? jfholm I have a hot water base board heat in my house it cost me $600.00 to $800.00 last year to heat my house and its 1500 square feet. I am always looking for a better way that is cheaper to heat my house. 
Malvin
Posted:
Sat Jul 26, 2008 9:46 amby 106-1194218389
Hot enough to burn the bajeezus out of your fingers right after your cousin says "btw don't touch those!" :p
Posted:
Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:26 pmby Malvin
Thanks jfholm I think I will try a half size of my window with plate and copper pipe on the back of it so I can see the temp of water with a guage and check temp on front side also Malvin
Posted:
Sat Jul 26, 2008 7:48 pmby pablo
Bruce check out this website www.otherpower.com