Plan B Forum

So the furnace guy just came to clean/service my furnace, which I knew was pretty old when I bought this money pit . . . he says I'm basically throwing 70% of the propane I purchase out the window, because the furnace is so old and inefficient. It will get me through this winter and probably even another one, but I should really be thinking about replacing it by next winter because I'm throwing money away (not to mention I HATE wasting energy!).

The thing is, I know nothing about furnaces, etc.

My heating system is steam/hot water heat, so I'm looking at propane boilers - which of course are the most expensive - and I want to buy the highest efficiency rating I can afford, but I'm seeing prices close to $10k.

So, anybody who knows anything about this stuff and can share some thoughts about good brands, etc. - please weigh in!

The prices for high efficiency boilers are well, high, but get the smallest most efficient one you can afford. I believe the gas companies have some significant rebates (a couple grand), but 10K for a new system is about par for the course. The last time I looked at replacing mine, I was quoted at 12K, not including rebates. I'm limping along on the old one for now, and trying to sock away some extra cash every year for when I have to replace it, because I want to do that in a thoughtful way (I really want new floors and radiant heat, but that's an even larger project). My heating costs aren't that high, even in the coldest windiest weather, so as long as it works, I'm sticking with it.

The gas companies around here also are required to send monthly "efficiency" statements, which compare usage in your zip code. It's a lot of apples and oranges comparisons, but it also held give you some idea of just how well or how poorly you are doing. I'm consistently in the lowest/most efficient range, so that's another reason I'm not too worried (yet).

You could look at getting a heat pump.

Forced hot air sucks, don't do it!

I've been doing some browsing on the web and I think I've decided on a combination boiler/hot water heater wall unit that runs just under $4k, with probably a few hundred for installation. That is, assuming it will work with my system - I don't understand all the specs, but I'm hoping it will.

A few months back when my contractor friend (our courthouse maintenance director) was here fixing a leaking flange that had allowed 5 inches of water to accumulate in my basement boiler room (luckily, there is a 10'x6' well built into the basement, under the boiler, for just such occurrences) he mentioned a system like that as a good option.

It looks like I could spend as much as I had money to burn, but I'm not sure how much better the far more expensive units are? They seem to have comparable efficiency ratings and warranties, so . . .

I would NEVER go back to forced hot air again unless I had no other choice. I absolutely LOVE radiant heat! We have enough dust in Montana as it is, LOL. Next summer I want to pull some of the radiators that look like they've been painted several coats over and have them sandblasted, etc. But even as is, they are really lovely radiators - works of art, really - and I think with a new boiler my system will be very efficient.

Guinevere wrote:Forced hot air sucks, don't do it!

Shorely shome mishtake? "Blows"?

Ha. Yes. In either case, I hated it. So happy to have radiators in this house. Can't wait to finally install my nice warmed floors. Bliss!

I love radiant flooring, too - some friends built a house with it and it's the coziest! I won't put that much into this place because I'm saving for the sailboat on which I'll live in my retirement - winters in the Caribbean, summers on the New England coast. I finally have a plan!

What about a wood/wood pellet stove? Some can tie right into a HW heat system.

but I'm seeing prices close to $10k.

Seems a little high.
Peerless boilers around here are in the $4k range. Can't see where it would be $6k to install.

http://www.peerlessboilers.com/Home/tab ... fault.aspx

I'm looking to replace my boiler too.

you may want to consider an oil fired boiler instead of propane, they are dirtier, but may be cheaper to operate with the price of oil falling fast. a heat pump is only efficient if sized and installed properly in a well insulated house. if you have horsehair plaster walls I would say your house does not qualify as well insulated. boilers work great if your piping and radiators are in good shape.

She's in Montana. I would bet NOBODY there heats with oil. That's a New England/Northeast thing.

maybe when the keystone pipeline is finished...

This house used to be oil-fired, but the last owners switched to propane, which is slightly cheaper here.

I used to have natural gas fired furnaces on the Hi-Line, but this small town doesn't have natural gas because the cost to run the pipeline under the Missouri River from Helena is too much to put it in, according to our provider NorthWest Energy, because the population base in our small county is too small for the cost-benefit ratio to work out for the company.

It would help the people here A TON, because natural gas is MUCH cheaper than propane.

Lots of the poorer folks here spend their fall days 'getting wood' from the surrounding forests, and that is how they can afford to keep their houses warm all winter. The air quality in town (in a valley) during the winter is not very good at all.

I kind of miss my wood stove.

(I do not miss $4/gallon heating oil!)