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home buyer with questions about a strange heating setup Jim Faulkner 03-07-2007
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Posted by Jim Faulkner on March 7, 2007, 8:55 pm

Hi all,

I'm a first-time home buyer here in Connecticut. I just
saw a great house at the right price, but I'm worried
about its combination heating setup.

The house is small, a little over 1,300 square feet.
Originally it was just 1 story with an unfinished attic,
but the investment company that is selling it converted
the upstairs into 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.

However, they were too cheap to extend the house's main
heat source, an oil furnace, to the upstairs. Instead
they put in electric baseboards in the upstairs bedrooms
and bathroom. Each of the 3 rooms upstairs has a separate
thermostat, and there is 1 thermostat for the oil heat
downstairs.

Heating with oil is expensive these days, but then in New
England heating with electricity is even more expensive.
My worry is that the combination of paying for both
electric heat and oil heat each month will be more than I
can afford.

The house should be well-insulated, since it has all brand
new windows, but I probably can't be sure until I live
through a winter in it. My questions are:

Since the baseboards heat around 1/3 of the house, will
the cost of heat-related electricity roughly be 1/3 of the
cost if baseboards heated the whole house?

And the same question for the oil-heated part of the house,
will the cost of the oil roughly be 2/3 of what it would
be if oil heated the entire house?

Basically I just want to know if I'm going to be paying a
lot more for heat than I should be because of this
combination heating setup.

Jim


Posted by Bubba on March 7, 2007, 9:11 pm
On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 20:55:35 -0500, Jim Faulkner

>
>Hi all,
>
>I'm a first-time home buyer here in Connecticut. I just
>saw a great house at the right price, but I'm worried
>about its combination heating setup.
>
>The house is small, a little over 1,300 square feet.
>Originally it was just 1 story with an unfinished attic,
>but the investment company that is selling it converted
>the upstairs into 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.
>
>However, they were too cheap to extend the house's main
>heat source, an oil furnace, to the upstairs. Instead
>they put in electric baseboards in the upstairs bedrooms
>and bathroom. Each of the 3 rooms upstairs has a separate
>thermostat, and there is 1 thermostat for the oil heat
>downstairs.
>
>Heating with oil is expensive these days, but then in New
>England heating with electricity is even more expensive.
>My worry is that the combination of paying for both
>electric heat and oil heat each month will be more than I
>can afford.
>
>The house should be well-insulated, since it has all brand
>new windows, but I probably can't be sure until I live
>through a winter in it. My questions are:
>
>Since the baseboards heat around 1/3 of the house, will
>the cost of heat-related electricity roughly be 1/3 of the
>cost if baseboards heated the whole house?
>
>And the same question for the oil-heated part of the house,
>will the cost of the oil roughly be 2/3 of what it would
>be if oil heated the entire house?
>
>Basically I just want to know if I'm going to be paying a
>lot more for heat than I should be because of this
>combination heating setup.
>
>Jim

Hold on Jim........Let me get out my crystal ball.
...
...
....
Ok, Ive got it.
Yeah, sure. 1/3 of the cost will be from the electric
Yeah, sure. 2/3 of the cost will be from the oil
1/3 + 2/3 = 3/3.
Your lights and appliances will be free.
Anymore dumb questions?
Break open your tight little wallet and pay for a knowledgeable home
inspector or HVAC company to look your system over and give you the
"scoop".
The crystal ball is now being turned off.
Bubba

Posted by Jim Faulkner on March 7, 2007, 9:36 pm
On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:11:54 -0500, Bubba wrote:


> Your lights and appliances will be free.
> Anymore dumb questions?

Well I did say "heat-related electricity."

> Break open your tight little wallet and pay for a knowledgeable home
> inspector or HVAC company to look your system over and give you the
> "scoop".
> The crystal ball is now being turned off.
> Bubba

Thanks for the tip, that's exactly what I'm going to do. :)

Jim


Posted by on March 7, 2007, 10:03 pm

>
> Hi all,
>
> I'm a first-time home buyer here in Connecticut. I just
> saw a great house at the right price, but I'm worried
> about its combination heating setup.
>
> The house is small, a little over 1,300 square feet.
> Originally it was just 1 story with an unfinished attic,
> but the investment company that is selling it converted
> the upstairs into 2 bedrooms and a bathroom.
>
> However, they were too cheap to extend the house's main
> heat source, an oil furnace, to the upstairs. Instead
> they put in electric baseboards in the upstairs bedrooms
> and bathroom. Each of the 3 rooms upstairs has a separate
> thermostat, and there is 1 thermostat for the oil heat
> downstairs.
>
> Heating with oil is expensive these days, but then in New
> England heating with electricity is even more expensive.


What's the cost of each fuel in your area?


> My worry is that the combination of paying for both
> electric heat and oil heat each month will be more than I
> can afford.


Hum, see the above question... get the figures and I'll figure it for you
real quick.
(you might find out they are pretty close to being equal)


> The house should be well-insulated, since it has all brand
> new windows,


What's the 'all new windows' have to do with the overall insulation in the
walls?


> but I probably can't be sure until I live
> through a winter in it. My questions are:


Ask to see the last couple of years 'heating bills'. That will give you an
idea...


> Since the baseboards heat around 1/3 of the house, will
> the cost of heat-related electricity roughly be 1/3 of the
> cost if baseboards heated the whole house?


Load Calculation...


> And the same question for the oil-heated part of the house,
> will the cost of the oil roughly be 2/3 of what it would
> be if oil heated the entire house?


Load Calculation...


> Basically I just want to know if I'm going to be paying a
> lot more for heat than I should be because of this
> combination heating setup.


Do a manual J and you'll than know what the homes requirements for heating
and cooling are... till then, everything is a guess.

If you want the figures for each fuel... get me your cost per gallon and
cost per kw for your area.




Posted by Jim Faulkner on March 7, 2007, 10:20 pm
On Wed, 07 Mar 2007 21:03:28 -0600, kjpro wrote:

> If you want the figures for each fuel... get me your cost per gallon and
> cost per kw for your area.

12 cents per KWHr

$2.85 per gallon


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