Natural gas?

[Sigarms]

What size tank did you buy just for your cooktop?

I can tell you this on my end, with 3 90%+ gas furnaces in our current home with a direct vent hot water heater (gas), our first year in our home we had our 500 gallon tank filled up 3 times during the winter months here in NC (LP was even a lot cheaper back then).

I got tired of that fast, so the next year I dual fueled that attic system the next year with a 80% VS furnace, and that following winter I was down to only using 2 tanks during the winter.

Couple of years later, straight heat pump on the main floor with a indirect gas fireplace insert for back up heat, and that got us down to about a tank and half during the winter time.

I just dual fueled the basement couple of weeks ago because the AC wasn't working (don't need it below grade) but put a new system in because the realtor suggested it (made sense) and I'll be using less LP this upcoming winter, letting the heat pump handle most of the heating needs down stairs, but left the existing Trane gas furnace because it runs like a champ so I left it for the blower).

I still need to replace the attic system, not certain what I'm going to go with, but it will be on the cheaper end because the job itself is a royal PITA up there.

 

[Sigarms]

Geothermal probably makes more sense farther north where I'm at.

Honestly, Geothermal makes more sense where ever you live IMO if you can afford it or do it yourself.

 

[Torvy]

What size tank did you buy just for your cooktop?

We planned ahead for a generator, so it's a 250 gallon tank.

 

[ning]

FWIW, next time a quick rinse with carb cleaner and cycling the valve usually works to restore the solenoid to normal. Propane has heavier hydrocarbons in it and in my experience over time they can build up on the inside of pipes and valves.

The solenoid was embedded in the entire valve assembly and it was allegedly "non-serviceable" and while that's rarely stopped me before, the fact that I found the tapping method and a new valve assembly was hundreds of dollars made me loathe to mess around with it. I'm happy to take apart a diagram-less thing to attempt a fix if there's no cheap alternative, but this wasn't the case

 

[ponytug]

The solenoid was embedded in the entire valve assembly and it was allegedly "non-serviceable" and while that's rarely stopped me before, the fact that I found the tapping method and a new valve assembly was hundreds of dollars made me loathe to mess around with it. I'm happy to take apart a diagram-less thing to attempt a fix if there's no cheap alternative, but this wasn't the case

Oooh. One of those. Yeah, I carefully disassembled one of those. Once. I would go along with the "non-serviceable" rating. Mine had a tiny leak in the control diaphragm.

For mine, I found a no name valve at a small, small percentage of the OEM valve that worked fine for the following decade.

All the best, Peter

 

[ning]

Oooh. One of those. Yeah, I carefully disassembled one of those. Once. I would go along with the "non-serviceable" rating. Mine had a tiny leak in the control diaphragm.

For mine, I found a no name valve at a small, small percentage of the OEM valve that worked fine for the following decade.

All the best, Peter

The year it died the solenoid sticking was getting to be often enough (ie, I was being woken up at 0500 by my wife saying "there's no hot water!" - luckily the water heater was such a monster that it made the water hot enough for a shower in about 10 minutes) that I was going to bite the bullet and either fix it or break it (and thus expect to replace the heater) but one day water coming out of that closet left me with no choice. It was perfect timing as my wife was going to a music camp for the next week so I was able to order everything (supply house dot com is amazing) and learn how to sweat copper and have it ready for her return; luckily a very strong son was home to help move the old tank because heavy barely touches it

 

[t1kilo]

End of the day, down the road, would prefer a tankless gas water heater. We have a pump at the furthest run to the master bath in our current home and we've both been very happy with it (and given that it's just myself and wife now, no doubt we shouldn't exceed the flow rate if sized properly and undersize it if we can get away with it).

The issue is for the free gas hook up, I've got to install a gas furnace. Since the future house is slightly less than 1,700 sq feet, would go with a 2 stage 96% and two stage heat pump (used primarily for heating). Luckily with the unfinished basement, I have plenty of room for a up flow system where as in most homes in NC, you're really stuck for space dealing with a crawl space or small attic (have an attic in our current home and it's not even fun to change the air filter).

Gas furnace may not even come on using that heat pump. If I didn't work in the HVAC industry, probably would use a single stage gas furnace. It's not going to cost me a whole bunch more to go with a dual fuel system vs straight heat pump (electric).

Originally my wife mentioned she would love a gas stove vs the old electric counter top she's been using for the last 20 years in the current home. Going to mention about an induction stove as well and she can pick whatever she wants. End of the day though, although the current electric water heater may not come out right away, but when it does come out, we can use gas.

The future home has a fireplace, but that room is laid out separate from the kitchen bedrooms and bathrooms in the home and we're still trying to figure out what to do with the fireplace. Doesn't make much sense to add money for a added fuel source to utilize the fireplace for really only one room.

Probably go with electric on the dryer. Only thing we have to change there is a hall to the room with the fireplace is basically going to be used. That hall is going to disappear and there will only be one way into the room with the fireplace. Both bathrooms are going to be enlarged using that hall space (believe me, master bath is SMALL where the secondary bath is at least twice the space) and we will be using a under and over washer and dryer to use in a portion of the hallway that is going to disappear. Current washer and dryer in the basement in the future home and that is one thing we don't want. Whole idea is to make our lives easier as we get older, and the basement washer and dryer is what finally made my dad come to live with us when he couldn't do his clothes anymore when he fractured his back.

With regards to the fireplace, this is what we did in our new house. First, the attic space is insulated with closed cell foam on the rafters. I did a standing seam metal roof, so leaks should not be a problem. Second, we don’t have a centralized return for hvac. Instead, each room has x number of registers for air coming from the plenum, and an equal number of registers for return air to the attic. Essentially, my entire attic is the return, and it’s the same temp as the interior of the house.

For our fireplace, we did a direct vent propane insert. When it’s really cold outside, we fire up the fireplace and turn the fans on. We also turn the hvac unit fan on recirculate. As the heat rises in the room with the fireplace, the hot air is pulled into the “return duct” (attic) and circulated through the house. Works pretty good for us.

I will say that I have an ICF house, so the thermal mass tends to help as well. Our average electric bill over the past six years is $160. We have 10k heat strip in the hvac system and use conventional ac. A single 3 ton unit heats and cools 2400 square feet. We keep the thermostat on 72 on warm days and 74 on the cold ones. That electric bill includes an apartment in the barn with a 3 head mini split that my daughter is currently occupying, my shop, water well, a small greenhouse, and aerator for the pond.