jbefumo

Oh - didn't I mention that I live in a thatched hut?

One thermostat upstairs. Had one in the basement & convectors down there, but we rented the house out for a bunch of years and the tenant destroyed them. Do have a programmable thermostat though, and we typically keep the temperature quite low - around 60 or less. Got used to it because with the coal furnace burning full blast,that was as high as it would get.

Actually, based in no small part on the valuable advice and feedback received here, I've decided to stick with oil for at least this season while I really think this through . . . due diligence and all that . . . I just ordered a new motor for the boiler ($62 with shipping), and am about to start searching for a service manual for my boiler (Burnham v-15A). I watched the last time I had the system serviced, and it didn't look like anything I can't handle myself. (The gentleman we used to use retired, and finding someone else trustworthy, reliable, and affordable in these parts is probably an exercise in frustration.) Thanks again for the sanity check!

Duh! Meant to say OSCILLATING fan, not reciprocating . . . trying to do too many things at once . . .

At the moment, I'm leaning toward something like this: http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/accesso ... sale.shtml (The LX 60). It's vented, and I'd just mount it in my basement so it seems as if it should do the job as well as the coal burner did. I figure I can always run a 220 line for an electric baseboard or two if needed in particular rooms. I have plenty of capacity in my panel, and am comfortable with electrical work. The main issue that has steered me away from just installing electric baseboards is that all of my existing hot water baseboards have electrical outlets above them, and since THAT is contrary to code, I'd have to move them all, which greatly complicates what would otherwise have been a fairly straightforward process. Thanks again to all for the advice.

Yeah, it's coal country, but since they use oil to mine it, move it, etc., the price also keeps going up. Stoker furnaces, which feed the coal automatically are certainly available, but mine isn't one, and I'm not sure I want to go that route. Biggest impediment, which I hadn't considered when I got it, is getting rid of the ash. Unlike wood ash, the residue from coal is full of all kinds of nasty stuff you don't want getting into your soil, ground water, etc. I fed numbers into a calculation program and at the moment, propane is about the cheapest on a per-btu basis, followed by electricity, and oil the highest. Haven't really considered pellets - trying to stay away from anything that requires frequent negotiation of the basement stairs, as my knees ain't what they used to be . . .

Sorry - it's an oil fired hot water furnace - heated water circulated through baseboards. When I last looked during the winter, oil was around $3.60 a gallon. Probably cheaper this time of year. Checked propane today and it's $2.39. Not sure about the details of the oil burner offhand. It's a Burnham unit that I had installed when I bought the house - 1993, I think. Coal burner is a 60,000 btu Hitzer heater - not a stove. Reciprocating fan - you know - one of those free standing units that rotate back and forth on top of a pole - used to see them in offices?

Thanks, John, Yeah, if I had property and wood, that would be ideal, but buying it is prohibitive. Haven't checked the cost of coal this year, but the last time, I think the price was about $220/ton, and I needed about 7 tons for the winter, so all in all, it wasn't much cheaper than oil, not to mention the inconvenience factor. I asked the question because I have the same suspicion about unvented burning of ANYTHING . . . My next door neighbor uses one of those open blue flame, unvented wall-mounted furnaces, in her living quarters, and reports that it's relatively inexpensive, but again, the idea just doesn't impart a warm fuzzy feeling for me. Had a heat pump when I lived in South Carolina, and it was excellent, but my understanding is that they're less efficient in colder climates. Aside from being in NEPA, I'm on top of a mountain, in a weather belt that's always the coldest in the area. Thanks again! Joe

I'm not an inspector, but I figured this was probably the best place to get advice from people who actually know what they're talking about ;^) I live in a 1500 sq ft, 1960s vintage ranch home, upgraded insulation & reasonably tight - area is Northeastern PA. Have a relatively new forced hot water oil furnace but with the cost of oil, it's still prohibitive. I installed a 60,000 btu coal burner in the center of my basement, and have used that exclusively for the past three years. With the addition of a reciprocating fan and registers cut in the floor of each room, it is adequate, but a pain to keep up with, and, of course, I can't GO anywhere lest the fire go out. I'm thinking about putting some propane units in the basement. My first thought was to use two or three, 30,000 BTU, blue-flame, wall-mount, ventless units, strategically placed, but wonder if this is the best/safest/most efficient approach. Cost is definitely a factor - I need to keep the installation cost under $1k. Something that will operate without electricity is also preferable, since we often lose power during the winter, though I can always supplement with the coal/wood burner. Speaking of which - I do have a double-wall, stainless steel chimney in place for the coal burner, which might or might not be usable for some kind of propane unit. I WILL be letting my supplier do the actual hookups, btw. Thanks in advance. Joe