Heating. Propane vs Electric vs Wood Pellet

[Rustyiron]

I also can't say enough good things about mini split heat pumps! Now for the OP in TX, I would think that heating would be in 2nd place behind cooling. The mini split's will do both. For my climate and shop, I have infloor radiant with a wood boiler that I also can't say enough good things about. Our m/s are in the house portion (some call our place a barndominium) and in use for cooling and heating up until about late Nov. and the wood boiler/radiant takes over until some where in April. He's got the insulation part handled with spray foam, and truth be told, with a well or super insulated structure such as spray foam, your heating (fuel source) decisions become rather insignificant.
I'd bite the bullet and pay a manufacturer approved dealer/installer and spring for a major "name brand" such as Mitsubishi, LG, Daiken and there are others. These things apparently have been around for decades over in Europe and they will be able to offer a 12 (ish) year warranty.

 

[MRollins10]

Thanks everyone. I think i have decided to go the route of the Mini split! Thanks for all the great advice. I love this group!

 

[5030]

As of this minute, I'm heating with propane (central furnace) and also running my bio-mass stove on free corn with pellets 50-50. I use the bio-mass stove to offset the central furnace when it's bitter cold out and it gets bitter cold up here in Michigan.

 

[jasonzee]

I have a 30x40 pole barn and the outside boiler heats it. Keep it nice and it's also sprayed foamed.

 

[Smokeydog]

Pretty good explanation on mini split efficiency. They do vary in efficiency and cost. They take the heat in the outside air (solar) and simply pump that heat into your home/shop. The heat is free. The pumping(compressor), fans and phase change cost a little electricity. Mine will give 100% output at 14F, dropping to 80% at -4F. There are people who tweak them to go lower. Equally efficient at cooling especially in high humidity. Only con is they are a pita clean once a year.
Heated only with wood for over 30 years and still available for backup. Nothing beats a hot stove when you have been working out in the cold.

In the shop have a couple of radiant electric units above the benches that take the chill off and warm my hands. If I need more heat just fire up one of the blacksmith forges. There are times I wish I had air conditioning. Hard to weld standing in your own puddle of sweat and sweat dripping on your glasses and hood lens.

 

[ericm979]

For a 30x40 shop you might want a fan or two to move the air from the mini split around.
Here is a mini split size calculator:
Mini Split and HVAC Sizing Calculator - What Size Mini Split Should You Buy

It comes up with low sounding numbers for my planned shop, but the climate in my zip code varies quite a bit depending on actual location- it's colder in the winter and warmer in the summer here than in the more populated parts of the zip code. Also I don't need to heat or cool a shop as much as the house, which would also cause lower numbers.

 

[tguy]

You should consider usage habits. Propane gives you fast heat-up. Get in and get the job done. However, if you intend all day heating and overnight maintenance temps propane may not be the best choice.

 

[5030]

I have to say that I'm inherently frugal (cheap) so I use the least expensive heat source available to me and that is free field corn. Now, if I lived in Florida......:laughing:

 

[CobyRupert]

You should consider usage habits. Propane gives you fast heat-up. Get in and get the job done. However, if you intend all day heating and overnight maintenance temps propane may not be the best choice.

Considerations:

Usage habits
Btu's (and btu/unit, and btu/$)
Initial costs (and/or payback)
Efficiency (over a defined temp range)
Convenience
Response times
Reliability (availability, interruptions, dependency on 3rd party, etc..), both in the heating system and the fuel supply.
Lifespan (of OP's and the systems)
etc..
etc..
Only OP can assign values and priorities to what's more or less important to determine which is "better".
:2cents:

 

[deserteagle71]

Considerations:

Usage habits
Btu's (and btu/unit, and btu/$)
Initial costs (and/or payback)
Efficiency (over a defined temp range)
Convenience
Response times
Reliability (availability, interruptions, dependency on 3rd party, etc..), both in the heating system and the fuel supply.
Lifespan (of OP's and the systems)
etc..
etc..
Only OP can assign values and priorities to what's more or less important to determine which is "better".
:2cents:

You left out the most important factor...cost of the "fuel".

I keep seeing post where people are paying $1.50 a gallon for propane. I wish! Here propane closely mirrors the cost of gasoline and that is hovering right around $3 a gallon. Natural gas is not available in this locale. Electricity is also very expensive - I double my power bill just by turning on my lawn sprinklers in the summer.