primary or secondary heat?

primary once temps drop below freezing, secondary when temps are above freezing

Primary with a propane FHW boiler as back up.

Primary, secondary and thirdary. No back up. Earlier this past spring, I removed all furnace ducting and had the gas company turn off the gas. Now I am going to have them remove the meter as heat was the only usage of natural gas. For my particular situation with the house so poorly designed that with cyclical heat, it would become so humid it would warp books and cause mildew, I'd rather just go without heat than ever use that furnace again.

It would depend on who is asking, likely.

(I wish I had access to NG here - how does a NG furnace cause excess humidity?)

Im surprised those of you with natural gas arent using that as primary?? Natural Gas is so cheap here, I wish I had it at my place.

Cigarettes an booze are extremely expensive here and we dont have sales tax. Since I dont drink, smoke or chew, my good, cozy heat is worth any extra money. However, I did score a really good price of 148/ton soft wood doug fir pellets, so I'm good.

Cycling heat. A furnace or heater that goes on for a minute, then shuts off for a few minutes, then on...........etc., combined with a house that has no wall insulation, but good attic insulation, makes for condensation to appear on all surfaces that can not get up to temp during the furnace on cycle. That's why I stated that in my situation.

Think about a garden shed. If you have several things made of metal, heavier then better, and it is cold out, start a heater in there for about 10 minutes and go look what happens. As the metal is all still cold but the air is starting to warm, the metal surfaces will bead up with water condensation. Tat is an extreme, but it is the same principle or concept. When things inside the house do not quite get up to temp and furnace cycle shuts off, then on again, the warm air and cold surfaces make for disaster.

Secondary.
I use my downstairs (family room) pellet stove when temps drop below 25F overnight.
I will be using it for the first time this season starting tonight (and a lot in the days to come).
Primary heat is geothermal which always runs (but a lot less when the pellet stove is being used).

Primary for me
Eclectic baseboard for back up

I use my pellet stove to heat a 400 sq ft enclose porch. I set my oil, forced air, furnace's thermostat at 64 and leave the sliding glass doors to the porch open, while running he pellet stove 24/7 at the lowest setting.

At outside temperatures above fifty degrees the pellet stove heats both the porch and the house. Below fifty degrees, the oil furnace cycles on and off to maintain temperature.

So I guess the pellet stove is the primary heat source, augmented by the oil furnace.

I know that the oil furnace burns about four hundred gallons less fuel a year, since I got the pellet stove, which burns about two tons a year.

With the winter coming online NG is rising. Crude prices are coming back down.
My stoves are the primary heat with a off peak electric boiler for the in floor heat available and a cute propain stove fireplace for the upstairs. No electricity needed for the propain stove so if the power ever goes out like today with falling temps and sustained winds at 37 gusting to way to *&^% much we have no worries.
Looks like that movie I ordered won't be delivered as the visibility is 200 feet. Hate to be the postal carrier today.

Mikey pellet guy said:

Wow! Sounds like you live in extreme conditions. I have a small generator i use for power failure just in case , i have been here 6 years no power failure yet knock on wood. Even if i lost power my gas furnace is useless anways.

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Same here. No power, no furnace. Been there, done that. I too have a couple quiet Honda 2000I generators. My Castles run on so little power, I could run a small off grid solar setup and have a warm house when the power is out for 2 days in 15 degree F temps.

I have a diesel generator that'll run the whole house, I've only had to use it once, since I got it.

I use it as my primary source of heat (for the main floor at least). I have our furnace as a backup which uses propane (hence the pellet stove). We also have two electric baseboard heaters in the back entry (no heat back there, old house). And our bedrooms have a small electric convection wall heaters for when it gets really cold. If our power goes out we are out of luck, can't afford a generator right now, maybe someday....

NYBurner said:

Im surprised those of you with natural gas arent using that as primary?? Natural Gas is so cheap here

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Not here.......
Every November they double the price of the gas until April.

Dan

This year I'm treating it as secondary, use when it's below freezing only for the most part. Going to try to save a few bucks and see how low I can get my usage.

Main floor St Croix Prescott EXP, and basement has a Harman P61a for when it gets really cold and could freeze basement pipes. Propane forced air furnace as backup and typically use less than 20 gallons per year.

Just purchased a house with my first pellet stove.

Just discovered this site, so far so good.

My plan is to use the pellet stove as much as I can thinking it will save a few bucks and I like the heat it produces.

backup is the gas furnace, have a gas generator if need be.

4T

Primary with a 4 ton supply of pellets, Propane is second, but I really hate the way it heats, the wife and cats like the 77 degree temps

Not sure as this is my first year with a pellet stove. Right now I use the stove with a remote thermostat and it cycles as needed however when I light the wood stove then it doesn't run as the heat from the wood stove keeps the thermostat off.

Primary here. Electric baseboard heaters for the rooms that the stove doesn't quite get to, only when someone is in there, and just enough to make it habitable