I've been away at school , I have not been home to feed my woodstove at all this yr. As a result ive bought 380 gallons of fuel oil already . I'm curious if I would save $ by switching to LP. My current furnace is running well, I believe it to be about 30yrs old. I suspect I'm best off running it until it needs to be replaced. Im curious about the differences of efficiencies. A new furnace LP or oil would presumably be more efficient as a result of 3 decades of technology. How does my inefficient old house effect the numbers? When these new LP furnaces claim huge upper 90s numbers does that assume a modern tight house? I'm not sure where to begin this research, so any leads are apricated.
The efficiency rating of a furnace does not make any assumptions on the condition of your house. Maybe this helps explain it better. In any given amount of fuel (LP or fuel oil) there is a given amount of BTUs. A gallon of LP has 91600 btus. A gallon of fuel oil has 140000 btus. When a furnace has a efficiency rating of , lets say 94%, that means of 100% of the fuel that is burned, you will realize usable heat from 94% of it. A new updated oil furnace can have efficiency ratings in the mid to upper 80's AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) whereas a new updated gas furnace may have afue as high as 98%. There are generic LP vs fuel oil calculators to be found on the web, make sure that after your calculations, you use the efficiency rating of your appliance to realize a bit more accuracy in estimating. Gas vs Oil vs Propane vs Electric Heating Cost Calculator (remodelingcalculator.org)
Are you going to continue to be away? Or will your schedule change to permit you more time at home? If you are away for extended periods of time, does your setup allow you to winterize your home and shut it down by draining all the pipes and using antifreeze in the traps? How do you manage the thermostat while you are away?
Probably his best solution and it is not difficult to do and that is what my wife and I did for the winters we spent in AZ.
Yes, I have a 200. I’m coincidentally 200 miles away attending school and will be next winter too. My original Hope was a roommate to feed the Kuma but that fell through back in November Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I would try to minimize or eliminate your need to heat. I know people who have as little as a traditional 60 watt light bulb providing heat to the city water valve as it enters the basement. They box it in with foam insulation and just leave the light on. The rest of the house is allowed to go cold. I believe if the light goes out, the pipe can freeze without damage because the length of pipe that freezes is so short and the ice expands into the portion that is underground and never freezes (but don’t quote me on that). These are seasonal homes anyway but setup to run all year if desired. One is in the heart of the Adirondacks where it gets down to -35° Look at it this way, it’ll take some investment of time and money to get the place setup so it’s easy to shut it down. But after that initial investment, if it takes you an hour to winterize and it saves you $100 in heating costs, you’re making $100/hr.
Correct...they have been claiming "returning soon" for 2-3 (4?) years now...I think CV19 and the mess that is the EPA 2020 testing procedures...which just recently changed, yet again, have held things up. Prior to that it was the big move into their new facility, which was a little less than smooth...I have no doubt the VF200 will be back at some point, it was a big seller for them...a lil over 50% of their VF sales IIRC...
I stopped at the lumber yard this morning. Sign on front door for prices of LP. A 100 lb tank is $70. The last time I bought one it was around $40.
LPG gas prices are going through the roof…. Plus supplies are becoming scarce. It’s going to get ugly…. Fast…. Soon.
It’s actually lower here in the pnw than it was months ago. Dropped from 2.99 to 2.49 per gallon at the local hardware stores and gas stations that fill tanks.
Over in VT LP peaked at $3.30 a gallon in nov/dec, dropped to about $3 by mid dec, and is now creeping back up to $3.15. If you can get an energy audit done they might be able to measure the efficiency of your unit and give you ideas for what you can do to help weatherize.
Our cost would be up 26% per gallon if we have to purchase off contract. Then there is a 25% fuel surcharge from the transportation department…. End result = customers are going to pay dearly.
I just checked my regular supplier for heating oil and he's up to $3.38/gallon. Yesterday he was $3.30, and all last week he was $3.14. When I bought 200 gallons a few weeks ago it was $2.72. I can't wait to see where things are at once oil hits $100/barrel
