$$Heating - Cooling$$

[jfakerj]

I'll be building a new house or having one built in about the next 6 mos. or so(hopefully).
My question is, does anyone know where I can look to find facts on heating and cooling options, ie- comparison costs ($ per btu) of different types ( propane-no natural gas here yet), heat pump, underground heat pump, solar, etc. Also the projected trend and or price of each option along with the initial cost per sf, btu of each. I've been thinking of propane (heating, dryer, cooking, etc.), along with an air conditioner, but don't know if that's the best way or not. I'm 50 and am looking for a system that will last me the nest 20-25 years +or-.
Anyone got any thoughts on where to look.

Jerry

 

[ronjhall]

Jerry. If you have access to newsgroups try alt.hvac. Also, try using any of the search engines and look for HVAC. You will get so much to look at you won't be able to make a decision in time to get it installed in your house. One item that I found when searching for my system was a Honeywell 9600pc thermostat. For a forced air system with A/C it gives you control over every portion of the system. It adds a lot of comfort to the system. Of course, with all the power problems on the West Coast these days maybe you need something that will produce heat and requires no electricity.

ronh/w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

 

[jfakerj]

ronjhall

Thanks, I'll try the search. What does HVAC stand for anyway.

Jerry

 

[Bird]

HVAC=Heating, Ventilating, Air-Conditioning

Bird

 

[jfakerj]

Thanks Bird

Jerry

 

[richh]

Jerry one thing to keep in mind is that a gal. of #2 oil has 140000 btu's and a gal. of propane has 90000 btu's. Now I don't know what fule cost in your area but as you can see propane has got to be down right cheap be for it is close to a good by. This is some thing that the gas guy don't like to talke about. hope this helps.
Rich

 

[heehaw]

hate to sound like a broken record, but go to www.dougrye.com
he is one of the best around for information on energy eff building.
heehaw

 

[dmccarty]

For geothermal get the August-September 2000 issue of Fine Homebuilding. The mag is on most retail stores and has a web site, www.finehomebuilding.com. The article priced a closed ground loop system in a 2000 square foot house for $11,000 to $15,000. Heating/cooling costs were about $50 per month in the house.

The writer is a contractor that lives in my area. A guy at work is building a 3000 square foot home and his HVAC costs was $15,000 for a heat pump system. I'm assuming that the geothermal price included everything. The contractor has a web site www.geoevangelist.com.

When we build we are going to seriously look into this technology. We want to build with ICFs which will give a well insulated house to begin with and add geothermal on top should provide very cheap climate control.

Hope this helps...
Dan McCarty