My wife and I currently live in Mass and are looking to purchase a small piece of property in NH in the next year or so. I'm planning to frame a small home on this space with maybe 1k sq ft or so of living space. So with starting this research I wanted to reach out to anyone that also has a second home in a cold climate and frequents on the weekends and holidays etc. I'd like to heat it with a woodstove, I know that for a fact but I also would like to have a forced hot air furnace installed as a backup, my wife insists. If we walk through the front door on a cold February day she wants instant heat ( and I don't blame her ). Another thought I'm having is maybe considering 'on demand' electric hot water. I'm looking to limit what it takes to drain or keep from freezing of any water pipes without having to turn the heat on to a minimal temperature. That's why I think a hot water heater would not work for what I'm trying to do. I think you kinda get the idea of what I'm trying to do, anything anyone has to offer in a similar situation would be appreciated.
Sounds like a gooder plan MISHMH. You have a clean slate........do it up gooder. You'll still need to drain or blow out water lines, including the lines in the "on demand". Have you considered a mini-split "backup"? Slab, full basement, or crawl? I'm nosy. When we had our 2nd place in East Tawas, we got a call from our renters saying they didn't have much water pressure. They lived in the main house, and we stayed in the attached converted garage when we went up there. Turns out one of the lines in an outside wall got cold from a small air leak. Almost like a little blowtorch of frigid air and it split the pipe. Had to leave work early and drive over 3 hours to fix it. We ended up staying a few days after I called the boss and explained, so that was fun. That was about the time I finalized my plan to tear out the kitchen cabs and redo it all. Insulate, insulate, insulate.
Mini-split backup? Can't say I have heard that before...do tell The foundation will depend on the lot. I'm leaning towards full, in hopes of using the space and knowing that access to things is easier. It will bring the cost up a bit on that end but I'm saving a bundle building it myself on the other end. And I hear ha on insulation, after this year and all the ice dams I had to shovel off and repair this spring, it's a gentle reminder when it comes time to do my own (again)
Do raised heel trusses (unless you plan to build your own rafters). It's always a pain to fit full thickness insulation down at the eaves. You could always do sprayfoam. We bought this ranch purposely so we don't have to use stairs. If you do a crawl, make it deep enough to get into easily. Mini-split............ Have fun watching. The newer systems are very efficient, and simple to install, but some don't like the indoor unit hanging on the wall.
I have heard of the mini-splits before, just haven't used them much in the construction we do. Good tip, may look into the costs and see if it would work. With the building construction, I may step it up a bit and go 2x12 on the ceiling joists in order to get more insulation in. I will probably do my own rafters and modify to eaves in order to get the space I need to insulate this area. Iconene is nice but it is expensive. Not sure I'll go that way because of the cost and since I'm doing the labor I'd probably insulate myself. Blow in in the attic may be a better idea in order to get more loft, or batts with blow in placed on top.
I don't have a whole lot, but here is what I've learned over the past year. 1. Have a way to kill the water at the well below the frost line. My place up north has a quarter turn shut off valve accessed through a 2" PVC pipe right next to the well casing. A five foot long 'tool' is needed to turn the valve on or off. That setup is kind of a PITA to work with, and I darn near broke the valve this spring, so I'm planning on having it changed out to a newer style which has a much easier to access handle just above ground level. The new shut off valves also have an adapter where an air compressor can be connected to blow the supply lines out from the well all the way to the house. 2. My place has hot water heat. It's a single zone and only heats about 950 square feet. The system has 'no burst' antifreeze in it. From what I understand, it will begin to freeze or 'slush up' around -25, but won't expand enough to blow pipes until -50 or lower. I had no issues last winter (luckily) even though my digital thermometer showed a low outdoor temp of -24. 3. I dumped RV antifreeze in the drain traps, toilet trap, and dumped some in the washing machine and ran the pump until I saw pink come out the drain hose. No easy way to drain the pump on a washer. We shut it down in early November last year and opened it in early April. In the early spring and early fall, we set the heat at 48 when not there. It's on a slab and is concrete block construction. The only insulation is some R19 in the attic and the foam board under the vinyl siding. Let's just say if I lived there year around, I'd be doing some insulation work. Edit: item 1 might not be applicable, but my place up north is in the land of flowing/artesian wells, so the shut off valves at the wellhead are there to make sure water doesn't make it into the winterized water lines. Or so that's what the locals have told me.
Indiana isn't that cold normally so I don't have much to add but I'll throw out my initial thoughts of how I treat deer camp. Invest in cases of rv antifreeze and and air compressor to leave on site. Just on my camper, I use 3 gallons each time. If it's in a rural area, have a big portable propane heater in case the furnace or power is out upon arrival. Marine batteries and an inverter can be useful in the outages as well if no genny on site or don't want to listen to it run just to charge a phone. Can't add much on the insulation.
On #1, can you just kill the well power and shut the water off as enters the house? I was hoping to do something like this and drain the water at this point as well. Maybe even put some heat tape on the pipe where it comes through the foundation into the open air. On #2, I was hoping to avoid a glycol heating system and go with FHA as a backup to the woodstove. #3, the anti-freeze in the traps and pumps is a no brainer, has to be done...good tip. In all of this research I'm just trying to find ways to keep the setup and close down process as easy and less invasive as possible.
We always kill power to the pump when we're not there just in case something decides to leak for a week or two when we're not there. I'd rather deal with a few gallons that comes out of the tank if a leak were to occur than come back to a real mess. Since my place is on a slab, I don't have access to a low point to drain the line between the well and the house, and I don't know how low the line is where it leaves the house. I suspect it angles upwards towards where it enters the house, but I can't tell without a lot of digging. Killing the water right next to where it leaves the pitless adapter seems to be the common method used in that area, but some places have a well pit where the lines and valves are accessible. That would be a lot easier for draining the whole system. From what I was told by the well contractor this spring, the shut off valve I have drains back from the house when it's closed. If you'll have a full basement it shouldn't be any problem draining the line from the well to the tank, especially if the well contractor has the pipe sloping towards the basement on its way in. I wouldn't have a hot water heat system if I had anything to say about it, but it's there and functional, so I'm living with it. If it ever ceases to function and hits the "non repairable" standpoint I'd have to consider whether it would make more sense to replace the boiler or try to retrofit a forced air system with insulated ductwork in the attic. The original and second owners used it as a year around home until 2001. I'm the second owner who uses it seasonally. I'm still learning all the little things myself.
Lots of good thoughts. I opened and closed our farm every year for 19 years when my folks went off to Florida. I sure do wish I'd had the chance to "do it right" before hand, like you're going to IS. Would have reduced the open & close times a lot. Ever use Monitor gas heaters? They're popular in Maine as a way to get heat fast in camps, etc. Couple of those in the size place you're planning, ought to make your honey happy real quick. Looking forward to pics when you start your project. I know, it'll be a while.
I was always told that you shouldn't leave a house get too cold because the Sheetrock can crack, we always leave the heat set at 45. Even set at 45, it has to be around 30 degrees outside before the furnace kicks on. I have a compressed air quick connect fitting right at the entrance of the well pipe coming up out of the slab and blow all the lines in the late fall. Hot water tank blows out also, so I don't see the need for anything other than a tank. You will need to blow the lines, even if you leave your heat on, to be prepared for a power outage or a furnace issue. RV antifreeze in the traps, stool, dishwasher and washing machine. Leave the cabinet doors open to allow heat to enter under the sinks to exterior walls. Whole process takes about an hour. I wrote up a list of all the steps and use it each year so I don't miss anything. If you have a dishwasher, ice maker or washing machine, those need to be blown also. If your on a slab, I would insulate the outside of the footer, it will help with keeping the slab warmer. It takes below zero weather to get my place close to 32 degrees inside without heat. Having ductwork and furnace is a good idea. Takes a lot of BTU's to heat up a cold place.
This home sat vacant and shut down with zero heat for several years, down to -30* temps and the drywall was not cracked, we probably just got lucky. Almost 1/2 this home is concrete block walls, took FOREVER to warm it up, two pre epa stoves blazing and still took 12 hours.
I can't confirm or deny the drywall cracking theory as my place is all knotty pine. I can confirm it being a pain in the rear to get a concrete block building warmed up after it sat all winter.
Never heard of the heaters you mentioned, will have to take a look. Are they like LP portable heat? Similar to the cans we use in construction maybe?
My buddy has a place up at Newfound lake NH, he has the same kind of list you have...open up list and a shut down list... All in sequence. Since it's a second home he is a penny pincher, no heat stays on. Thanks for your input. Good stuff....
I really would love to leave the heat off also. Had too many contractor friends talk me out of it. I can't really say if it's the right call or not. I just googled it and there's all kind of opinions, many think 45 is too low. Set at 45 I use about $300/ year in propane when I'm not there. Small price to pay for not having freezing issues with building materials. Just post pics when you start the build!
There was one here when we bought the place, it ran on propane. It was precariously tapped into the two bulk propane tanks. It was safer to remove all the funky propane lines here. We kept it though, to hook up to a 20 gal RV propane tank if needed.
I can understand the difference of opinions. Here the Polar vortex has become common and the temps can get below 0. Those kinds of temps aren't friendly to houses. Set traps or shore up the house. Even at 45, the mammals, birds, and reptiles are going to try to come inside for warmth. They will keep at it if no one is home. My friend had to clean out the snakes every spring from her camp.
Hey My IS heats my home ... here's a link. If I was trying to heat a 1000 sq ft home with these, I'd go larger than what they spec (potential to bring the stone cold temp up faster) and use a couple, or 3 of the 3800 models. They're also available fueled by oil (kero, because of freeze issues). I'd feel pretty good knowing I had these ready to fire up the second I walked in, to bring a zero degree inside temp up to "comfy wife" temp in no time. My daughter and son have rented apartments in the past with these as the primary heat. They were always toasty. http://northernlightsenergyinc.com/monitor-gf-3800-heater/
If you want good insulation, I would suggest using closed cell polyurethane spray foam. It creates an airtight seal, and also acts as a vapor barrier. Oh, and it has a much higher R-value than traditional insulation materials.
