Seeking Advice

[mtnhiker70]

Hi. I live in no RI. We live in an under-insulated 1940s, 'center-hallway' cape that's about 1300sf. We spent over $1k insulating the attic last winter. The walls are only 2x4 and insulated with rock wool (looks like cotton balls). We can't add insulation in the walls bc the exterior walls have a lot of horizontal framing, randomly spaced. Fortunately the house is buffered from the wind.

my goals are to be OFF THE GRID and reduce our fuel bills to the minimum. we have a 6 acre yard with plenty of trees that can be harvested. my husband has started stacking some of the bigger cedar logs. lots of cedars here, and maple and typical NE trees. and i'm considering adding pv solar panels when we add-on.

The current heating system sux (even though it's only 4 yrs old) - oil forced hw with oil direct hot water heating. we used 1,000 gal of fuel last year (12months March-March). The attic ceiling was open for a couple of weeks though while we were insulating in Jan. we also had a large (6' long!) steam radiator removed from our enclosed porch. I'm hoping that it's removal will also save us a lot of $$, bc this house is crazy $$$ to heat. The porch is now 'heated' by a 6' long piece of copper (it's basically unheated now).

We are planning to add-on to the house (i'm an architectural designer). I want to add a large (16'x20' min) family room on to the side of the house (opening up to the kitchen), and a garage on the other side of the family room, with bedrooms above the new family rm and garage. I might even add a new stair going up. And i might have 1/2 of the new family room have a cathedral ceiling. I want an area for a 10' tall xmas tree, and a REAL fireplace with a mantle for Santa. I also want it to heat our entire house, which will be approx 2,500sf when we add-on.

i've been looking at the quadra-fire 7100, sequoia by vermont castings, montecito estate by lenox, and fireplace xtrodinair online. i'm wondering if the models with venting to heat auxillary spaces are worth it? Do they work? the bedroom and living room on the 1st floor will be on the opposite side of the house from the new family room. they'll be far from the heat source. Can i run one heat line in the crawl space to the other side of the house?

Alternatively, does anyone know about a wood burning boiler? is that an option in RI? only problem with that is the crawl space under our house is very cramped. i'd be hard pressed to find a spot to put it that's 4'x4'x4'.

Any input would be appreciated.
Thanx!

 

[begreen]

The core issue here is not the oil system, which sounds like it is in good order. It is heat loss. Adding a woodstove will not change that. I would close off the porch from the house and remove the copper pipe bypass through there completely so that it is not cooling down the hot water in the system. The porch close off could be temporary for the winter only, using 4 mil plastic. The other possibility would be to rebuild this space so that it is well sealed, top to bottom, and set up to be an efficient, conditioned space. Also, how well insulated and sealed are the floors in the house? Is the hw heat piping insulated?

The addition is going to add a lot more heat loss to the system unless it is done to very high standards. Rooms over a garage are usually harder to heat due to more than average heatloss. Try to not design in problems. This will mean a superinsulated jacket, very high R value glazing and meticulous sealing. Chat about your plans in the green room forum here for more suggestions.

For the wood heater, there are a lot of options. A big stove would help or a high-efficiency ducted prefab fireplace can handle the load. You are looking at some good units and there are several more brands to consider from Kozy, RSF, BIS, etc. In general, the further you have to duct the heat, the greater the heat loss in the ducting. One thing you might consider is two stoves. In moderate weather, one stove could carry the house. In cold weather it's often nice to have an extra area heater.

If you are interested in a wood boiler, it sounds like it would need to be outdoors. Check to be sure that local regulations allow this. They are restricted in some areas. Some folks have set up nice wood boiler systems in an adjacent outbuilding. We have a boiler room forum that can provide you with a lot of additional information on this topic if it sounds interesting.

 

[mtnhiker70]

We need to insulate our 1st floor! Yes! i got 2 quotes to do it - one for batt for $1k and the other for spray foam at $3.7k. i think the batt is a bad idea - the crawl space is right over the ground in places (mice! moisture!). we just can't afford the $3.7k job right now. we have talked about doing it ourselves with home depot 1 1/2" - 2" thick foam sheets. it's on the 'wish list'. i'm trying to make energy improvements every year until we are on solid ground. baby steps...! i had to supply our enclosed porch with *some* heat bc there are water lines in the wall. i also put pipe insulation over the lines.... good enough for now, we are tearing off this porch - it's where the family room will be in the future.

we plan to gut our existing kitchen and dining room when we add-on. i'll insulate those walls from the inside when we do. the (exist) part of the house will always be 'under-insulated' by todays standards bc it's 2x4 walls and 6" roof rafters... not much i can do about it, unless i tear it down and start over... i will have 12" (R30) of insulation in the attic/roof of the new part. code here is very strict on that now.

 

[begreen]

The core house sounds like it needs a lot of attention first. You have my sympathy. It took me several years to muster up the energy to address our old house's core issues first. Given the plans be sure that the property will support this investment. My advice is to stage the future plans, do them in increments of importance over the years, but the get core house in great workable condition first. Begin with the crawlspace and foundation. We raised the house to do this and poured a new, vermin proof foundation that has made a huge difference. The exterior walls are addressable, it just takes work. A good FLIR reading of the walls will show the voids and the worst heat losses. They can be addressed by removing the interior drywall (great opportunity for rewiring), room by room, a good blow-in insulator, or perhaps un-side the house, wrap it in 1" foam and Tyvek, then re-side it.

It's a lot of work, but once it's done you will have a low-maintenance, easier to heat space. Otherwise this could end up like hitching up a brand new Airstream trailer to a beaten old truck. Gas mileage is still going to suck. And maintenance on old problems will dog the budget for years to come.

 

[Slow1]

Consider code on insulation a bare minimum really. Also code doesn't generally address air sealing very well if at all. If/when you get around to doing anything to the outer walls really seal these well - foam cracks etc. getting things air tight will go a long way, but be sure to do it well and insulate properly so to insure you don't trap moisture where it doesn't belong.

We did our addition and went with code - I now wish we had exceeded it as we have friends who did and I now can appreciate the difference it makes. Yes it costs more, but long term it is well worth the investment - especially if you plan to heat your whole home with a space heater (aka wood stove).

You mention wanting to go "off-grid" and later talk about PV solar. You also mention having cost constraints to your various projects. This sounds a bit like a pending conflict if I'm reading your desires correctly. PV Solar is good - and can be done with a reasonable payback - but not if you are wanting to go off-grid. Batteries are very expensive and the increased collection needs (i.e. panels etc) required to make up for storage losses etc will make the cost/kwh over the life of the system far greater than what you pay on-grid. Good solution for folks in remote locations, not practical for the majority of us.

 

[mtnhiker70]

Thanks for the replies! I don't know the acronyms for those fireplace companies - RSF, BIF or what that energy device you were talking about...

Yes, this house makes the architect in me CRAZY. it should have been torn down, but someone in the family started renovating it without consulting me...
(investing in a new roof and heating system!) i didn't have to pay for it bc it was in the family, so i'm trying to cope with it. we can't really borrow any $$$ to add-on until the elderly owner passes. I think i'm done doing major stuff until that happens...

we already put in energy efficient windows, painted the exterior, refinished floors, did a bathroom over, finished part of the attic, insulated the attic, upgraded the electric... i think the crawl space issues will have to be addressed later... unfortunately the cart is pulling the horse.

the solar panels are pricey, but they used to be $1k each and now they're $600. it's just something i want to do... if there's a tax credit, and i finance it, it should help. hope to put as many as i can on the 2 car garage dormer.

i'd considering selling it if the market improves by the time the owner passes. my husband however has gotten very attached to the land and the area, which is *special*. i'm trying to suck it up and just put on a sweater and crank my electric 'fireplace' for now. LOL!

 

[mtnhiker70]

Any input on cat vs non-catalytic model of fireplaces for my application?