[midnight-gamer]

I use one of these and it works well. http://cgi.ebay.com/Monitor-Heater-MPI-422-Rebuilt-Warranty_W0QQitemZ180313863628QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0
I don't know about that seller though, I think it would be better to purchase one locally with access to a repair man.

Edit: 100 gallons lasted all winter in a drafty old home

[Pops]

Unless your house is already very tight I doubt you could get to less than .5 air exchanges per hour - most average homes are 3 or 4 I think and mine basically depended on how much the wind was blowing - 20 oer 30 AE per hour maybe

Get a CO alarm if you are worried and the guy testing your house can certainly tell you - if it is too tight, crack a window.

[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', ' ')... And one of my neighbors told me that he hasn't paid for the last two tankfuls of heating oil, and now needs a third (at $650 per fill up).
What's going to happen to people who can't afford to heat their homes and can't afford to convert?

[Puchica]

And the screwwy thing about my electricity bill is: Quick Energy audit found that my mother's live in caretaker (my mother has Alzheimers) has two old inefficient electric heaters going in her room, round the clock. Estimated energy cost, 170$ a month! who would believe it! Simple solution; eliminate electrical heaters, make that room warmer. (haven't figured that part out yet, but probably will put in a second wood stove.) Here's a principle; people who don't have to pay an electric bill never give a second thought about how much electricity they use.

[vtsnowedin]

From a very old manual I have (1908) I find that a man requires 537 cubic feet of fresh air each hour so a 2000 sq. ft. house with 8 ft. ceilings with two people in it could go fifteen hours without opening the door or a window. Also a one foot square chimney thirty feet high will draw 50,472 cubic feet of air per hour through the house if the drafts are open. For the age of the text it is pretty thorough , noting that an oil lamp uses as much fresh air as four humans and suggest several methods to heat exchange between incoming cold air and outgoing heated stale air. It mentions the coal bill for a house in Wisconsin was $98.50 for the year.
If you do build a supper tight house you do have to consider adequate supply of fresh oxygen for both you and the heating unit and with a little planning you can direct the air from the outside directly to the heating unit and never waste fuel heating it. If you use baseboard hot water or steam heat you need to provide for changes of air in a way that lets the incoming air mix with the already heated air before it runs across your toes.

[Texas_T]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Puchica', 'A')nd the screwwy thing about my electricity bill is: Quick Energy audit found that my mother's live in caretaker (my mother has Alzheimers) has two old inefficient electric heaters going in her room, round the clock. Estimated energy cost, 170$ a month! who would believe it! Simple solution; eliminate electrical heaters, make that room warmer. (haven't figured that part out yet, but probably will put in a second wood stove.) Here's a principle; people who don't have to pay an electric bill never give a second thought about how much electricity they use.

[Adelaidewonderer]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', 'F')rom a very old manual I have (1908) I find that a man requires 537 cubic feet of fresh air each hour so a 2000 sq. ft. house with 8 ft. ceilings with two people in it could go fifteen hours without opening the door or a window. Also a one foot square chimney thirty feet high will draw 50,472 cubic feet of air per hour through the house if the drafts are open.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Adelaidewonderer', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vtsnowedin', 'F')rom a very old manual I have (1908) I find that a man requires 537 cubic feet of fresh air each hour so a 2000 sq. ft. house with 8 ft. ceilings with two people in it could go fifteen hours without opening the door or a window. Also a one foot square chimney thirty feet high will draw 50,472 cubic feet of air per hour through the house if the drafts are open.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Texas_T', '
')There is no such thing as an "inefficient" electric heater. Since electrical losses dissipate as heat, every electric heater is by definition 100% efficient.

[misterno]

I am seeing some people recommending wood stoves in this thread.

Can someone explain how to get the same heat burning wood can be cheaper than oil? It does not make sense to me.

Unless of course you pick up wood from the nearby forest

[digging]

Also the type of stove you use can make a huge difference we just bought a wood gasification boiler and yes you can collect your own fuel and save even more money.
But often fire wood costs less that oil per BTU of heat energy.

http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/ ... ation.aspx

Digging

[timmac]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pops', '
')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')e put on more clothes and use a blanket when watching the tube and have electric blankets on the beds upstairs. Our forced air heat decMMided to poop out the day the temps dropped to -12 last month, we brought out the air mattress and slept in the LR by the wood stove - and let the faucets drip.

[TheDude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'W')hile the media is making lots of noise about the cost of gasoline going up, I think they're forgetting that lots of America still uses oil to heat their homes.

[furrybill]

Hope_Full,

I think you've made some really good points in your post and for me here's the thrust of it: We've got a crushing amount of housing stock that isn't even close to ready for the age of post-peak oil. We also have a lower class and eroding middle class that doesn't have the resources to address this problem. Yes, there are far too many who are ignorant of the problem, and many more who are too lazy to do anything about it.

But I think for those who are aware and want to do something there is an option I haven't seen brought up yet. Google PAREI or "Plymouth Area Renewable Energy Initiative". This is just one example of people banding together and working to help each other out of this mess. They exchange ideas, just like on this forum, they provide labor to reduce the cost of installations, etc. Perhaps working from their model you could do something similar in your area?

Hope this helps...Bill

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('TheDude', '1')6% of those households are in Maine/NH/VT. This article recommends moving to pellet stoves instead of NG, ala Scandinavian nations, where this strategy has proved effective. Reinsulate to the max in the meantime. I recall a story about people using on road diesel on the sly; apparently it has neglible effect on the boiler's performance, and doesn't require purchase in bulk.

[vtsnowedin]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', 'I') am seeing some people recommending wood stoves in this thread.

Can someone explain how to get the same heat burning wood can be cheaper than oil? It does not make sense to me.

Unless of course you pick up wood from the nearby forest

[anador]

I mean, for our wood boiler system, it is alot less complicated.

We are able to burn full sections of logs, so we only have to split what we put in our fireplace.

We do still have to cut the large logs down into sections but that is not hard.

We can burn green wood and trash wood (like pine) that you typically cant burn indoors because of creosote.

You fill the thing up once a day in winter and it the furnace controls the burn based on demand.
When the thermostat calls for heat the computer opens a damper and activates a blower fan quickly generating alot of heat. Once the water jacket is at the right temp the damper closes and the fire essentially goes out, the damper allows in just enough air for the coals to smolder, like a cigarette, and if the system doesnt call for heat it can sit on this (standby) mode for days, consuming little wood and waiting for the system to call.

You dont have to start a new fire every time the thermostat calls for heat. That would be ridiculous.
Its kind of a fill it and forget it thing.

As I said, wood is free for us, but you dont have to use virgin lumber as feedstock and you don't necessarily have to buy wood even if you dont have a connect like we do.

Pickling plants, vegetable packers, furniture factories and other such places usually ship and receive alot of merchandise on pallets. Usually you can go down to such an operation and take tons of dry pine from their trash heaps as pallets. They never mind, as they have to pay to get rid of the stuff anyway.

Its easy to find waste wood for free if you really put your mind to it.

our system also has a catalytic converter so dangerous fumes and smoky releases are uncommon, typically the stack has only clear air coming from it, or small puffs of grey pleasant smelling woodsmoke.

[vision-master]

What will you do come ill heath and you cannot burn wood anymore. My brother HAD to go to propane - then what? I mean if yer healthy enough you can live in a tent without heat.

[anador]

Well I am 22 years old, so thats awhile off.

Simple answer I will reproduce and make my children do it.

I also intend to be a part of a society after the collapse, not hiding in a double fenced mansion somewhere in the countryside.

I will hire someone to do it.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')imple answer I will reproduce and make my children do it.