Energy Conservation Projects for your House?

[Carl_NH]

Installed a new Buderus GB125 Boiler with indirect hot water tank to replace 30 YO oil boiler for our forced hot water heating and domestic hot water.

Previsous years 900 gal oil in 07/08 and 890 08/09 and same period 09/10 with new system used 600 gal - so 300 gal saving @ $2.50 or $750 annually. Also tax credit for the new boiler for this year will add another $1500.

 

[AHNC]

Installed a new Buderus GB125 Boiler with indirect hot water tank to replace 30 YO oil boiler for our forced hot water heating and domestic hot water.

Previsous years 900 gal oil in 07/08 and 890 08/09 and same period 09/10 with new system used 600 gal - so 300 gal saving @ $2.50 or $750 annually. Also tax credit for the new boiler for this year will add another $1500.

When you consider the difference in btu/per gallon (oil 140,000/lp 92,000/NG 100,000) your fuel saving is even more significant.

 

[forgeblast]

With us i put a lot more insulation in the attic, added a floor (in the attic) and will eventually be putting on a metal roof.
We also plan on replacing the doors to the house. With the rebates it seemed now is the time.

 

[magicheater]

ANY energy saving upgrade is good. Some payback more than others. Some just make life more comfortable. This is the last year of the 30% tax incentive so now would be the time. I have considered putting in a gas boiler for my in-floor heating system (sand beds) to augment my wood boiler. Use would be seldom and more for the transition times and going away in the winter.

 

[OlderToday]

If you have an older home (20+ years?) look into "air sealing" your home as one of the first items. The return on investment is one of the best bangs for the buck.

I live in Columbus Ohio and had Columbia Gas of Ohio do a Home Energy Audit, which cost me only $50 (since I use over 1000 CCF/year) for about 3-4 hours of their time. The best test they did was the Blower Door Test, which showed I had a typical old leaky home (built in 1962), and it was not mostly from the windows. Their computer estimated the cost to seal would be about $800-$1000 to contract out with an ROI of only 3-4 years, and that estimate was for gas, not the electric used for cooling in the summer. Adding an additional 6" of attic insulation would cost about $1000 (contracted out price), but the ROI would be over 9 years.

One item they also checked was furnace draft, they make sure if you do seal your home, the draft would still work and not kill you from the carbon monoxide.

Bet you can guess what's one of the first items on my list to do or get done!

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I got an estimate for solar hot water: $7,600. Also got an estimate for geo thermal: $26,000. These won't pay out. The latest for heating hot water is a GE Hybrid unit. This Old House Hour had a film on how to replace your electric unit with one of these. You can use either the GE or an Air Tap in series with another electric one and achieve the same economy (1/2-2/3 reduction in hot water heating) for about the same price (the GE unit is a bit expensive).

Ralph

I've seen the ads for the GE water heater with the heat pump on top. Just remember the heat pump is displacing heat from your house into that water, i.e. cooling your house with the water, so your house heating system has to do more work. I'm sure GE isn't including that number in their efficiency numbers.

 

[AHNC]

Having run the 18 yr remodel gamut on siding, windows, wrap, insulation, weatherstripping, etc I am now trying to reduce lighting expense with flourescent and looking into LEDs

ON the mechanical side I have my oversized central boiler being replaced by a Rinnai Q85s, with individual system temp settings for the radiant (bathrooms and kitchen) and the rest of the higher temp baseboard. My primary heat has been my Rinnai EX22 direct vent heater. While we have 3000 sq ft we live in about 750 so the EX22 handles that nicely.

I have added a Fujitsu mini-split heat pump ( tax credit qualified and a local $500 rebate)in the common area and have been very pleased with the result both for heating and cooling. I'm doing a 4 evaporator system for the rest of the hosue this spring, so I will have boiler/heat pump combo and run the hp as much as possible.

For hot water I have a Rinnai RC98HPi condensing on demand water heater, which qualifies for the up to $1,500 tax credit and a local $700 rebate.

I represent both Rinnai and Fujitsu in my business, so bias noted...but they are both excellent!

 

[captin_insano]

I'm in the middle of building an addition on the home with an indoor pool. Once its done I'm building an open to atmosphere (not pressurized) hot water furnace that will be in an out building away from the home. It will heat the pool, hot tub and the hot water year round and I'm going to try to run it to the dryer too. I have a heat exchanger that I plan to build into a plenum routed to the air intake on the dryer. Its a good thing I enjoy cutting wood, I'm going to burn a bunch of it but my cost savings will be huge. I figure by the time I retire I'll have saved almost enough for retirement! :laughing:

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I've put in more insulation, and will put in a geothermal system once my installer gets off his computer and starts working

 

[marchse]

yeah, i would like to do it for my house...
thanks for all here who have posted very good tips and provided useful info.


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