Have a dilemma - looking for expert opinions

[turbulator]

Ok - I will try to make a long story short.

My wife and I are looking to purchase my mothers large farm house through an ugly divorce/court deal....not 100% how this will work yet - very complicated....but we have a chance. It is a 3000+ sq. foot farm house from 1865, remodeled and has old-school cast radiators and a boiler (I put a Chapee wood/coal/oil in last winter for her)....

I came a cross a spectacular deal and bought a Tarm HS 4.0 brand new from someone who never installed....this is slated to go into that house....if we get it.

Now - if we dont get to buy the house - I have a few choices - we are going to stay where we are.....we totally remodeled the place over a few years time - we love it here, but I won't pass up a chance to move into a huge old farm house...

The Tarm is a bit big for this place and we are not set up for radiant heat.... I just installed a St Croix SCF-050 here and its a bit small....

SO if we stay here, what would you do if you were me:


1.) I convert over to radiant heat, and put that big arse Tarm in.... Keeping in mind I will add space and a garage w/ loft that I could use as a dump zone to keep out of constant pilot
2.) Keep the forced air, install the Tarm and put an air/water heat exchanger in the duct work
3.) Sell the Tarm, keep the SCF-050 and put a pellet insert in one of my fire places to balance out the heat
4.) Sell the Tarm and the SCF, get a bigger pellet furnace

Any input would be helpful. I'd prefer 1 because I am a geek and really want to burn that Tarm.....but,,,,maybe not the most practical decision.

Thanks

 

[jtakeman]

You missed one thing. Try to tighten up the joint. The tighter you make it the less BTU's you lose thru heat loss.

Insulating the duct work can also have gains in what heat heads upstairs. Don't for get the air return. If your heating the basement with the air return your loosing BTU's. The furnace should rediate enough heat on its own to warm the basement. At least keep it from freezing anyway!

I'd do the above before I'd do anything. They will save money for years down the road. And you can start now! If these don't provide enough gains? Then opt for whats easiest to install. Most likely another forced air furnace. Changing to the bioler and radiators will be a large expense. Force air done right is just as efficient. So #4 for me because it should be the least expensive overall!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Go for air leaks first, very cheap to fix and an extremely large and fast pay back. In most houses this is the single biggest heat loss.

 

[turbulator]

Ok thanks will do - actually this is something I am going to do anyway - sounds like an easy thing to do with the most return.

Forgot to add - the furnace is in our basement - which has been completely remodeled to 2 bedrooms and a laundry room.... The furnace / utility room is off our walk-in closet, and is small.....no radiant heat is coming outta there for sure..... The family room upstairs above the furnace does get warmer than the rest of the house though!!

 

[DexterDay]

I agree with Jay, but would also buy a small Freestanding stove upstairs (cheaper vent than buying a liner). Tighten the house up and insulate the ducts.

I have newer windows and still see a vast improvement in efficiency when I put up the plastic film kits that cover the windows (I do every window in the house). Also sealing all exterior points and interior points with Caulk/Silicone. And putting insulated electrical outlet covers in on all external wall outlets and light switches. Sealing the sill in the basement, adding an OAK, and connecting a Cold air return, will all vastly improve the effectiveness of the Furnace.

The small freestanding or insert wont have to run long. I had the Quad and Fahrenheit both set to the same temp last night. T-stats in different locations. Because the Fahrenheit only is ducted to half the house, the other half (Quad is right in the middle of it) gets a little colder. The Quad kicked on once yesterday evening for about an hour, and was on this morning when I got up for about an hour. Just adds that little bit to the Living Room, Dining room (Quad room), and Family room, that the Fahrenheit does not provide. All in all, I am really happy with the outcome. I could raise the heat setting on the Furnace (on 3 of 5) but I am still experimenting to what works best.

Best of luck and I am sure you could get some good coin out of that Tarm. Those are nice units and I can understand how you would want to use it. But my vote is for sealing up and possibly a small stove upstairs in on of the cooler areas that the St. Criox may be lacking in. Craiglist normally has some good deals.

 

[jtakeman]

Ok thanks will do - actually this is something I am going to do anyway - sounds like an easy thing to do with the most return.

Forgot to add - the furnace is in our basement - which has been completely remodeled to 2 bedrooms and a laundry room.... The furnace / utility room is off our walk-in closet, and is small.....no radiant heat is coming outta there for sure..... The family room upstairs above the furnace does get warmer than the rest of the house though!!

Sounds like you need to balance the duct some. Your getting more volume to the warm area. Reduce the the volume there and more heat will travel to the cooler area's. Most duct registers have adjustments to restricked the air coming out of them. Close it off some.

Run the air return out of the utility room and have it in the the other area. You'll stop the heat from being sucked into the utility room. It should reduce some sqft you need to heat. And it should radiat enough to warm the utility room.

Don't forget the second layer of pink stuff in the attic! Use the clear film to cover any windows you don't need in the winter. You'll see big gains with these!

Our buddy dexterday would have a pellet stove in every room. We think he has one in the john as well! ;-) A furnace set up right and balanced should keep the whole shack toasty! But if it does'nt do to it's size(BTU"S) then adding a stove will do two things for you. Add some extra BTU's and give you something to look at. Should be able to sell the tarm and get a dandy of a stove. MAy I suggest an M55 cast! Pretty stove! ;-)