How should we heat our lower level?

[Skier76]

Background: Picked up a roughly 1,000 sq/ft A-Frame in Southern VT to use as a weekend house.

The only heating source is a Rinnai wall heater located on the main level of the house. It's the biggest unit Rinnai makes....the 1004 I beleive. (House has a main level, sleeping loft and a downstairs area that's semi below grade, but has a walkout).

The unit does just fine heating the main level and loft. However, it doesn't heat the downstairs area. We are eventually going to get a wood stove downstairs, but that won't help much when we're away during the week. So I'm trying to figure out what to do downstairs....

I had a guy out from the propane company Friday. My thought was to install another Rinnai downstairs and that would be that. Well, building codes bit us in the arse... The way the tanks are now, there's no way to install the unit and have the vent 10' or more away from the tanks. To make a long story short, the current tanks would have to be removed from the side of the house, a 500 gallon freestanding "submarine tank" would be installed in the side yard and then the wall unit could be installed. The propane company owns the tanks, so the cost would be for labor and the copper...oh, and a regulator to split the lines. I'm thinking this will run between $2500 and $3000(tank, heater, installtion)...my estimate. I'll have a better idea when I get his in writing.

I was talking to a buddy and he said "Why not just install a few baseboard electric heaters?" My concern there was the cost. It obviously has a much much lower up front cost, but I worry about the electricity costs in the long run.

My main objective is to keep the washer/utility room warm when we're not there. That's where most of the copper for the house is located, along with the water heater and the well tank. I suppose a baseboard heater in there...and maybe just outside of the room would do the trick.

I'm all for saving money, but I'd rather do the job once and do it the right way. I've seen the effects of frozen pipes (had one let go before we bought our primary house...seller didn't want to top off the oil tank before the closing) and that was not fun at all.

Any thoughts on this one?

 

[Highbeam]

Depending on the costs of fuels, the electric can be cheaper to run. I only pay 9 cents per KwH here in WA and propane is over 2$ so I am rather fond of my wall heaters. That huge installation cost makes this a "time to break even" issue even if your electric is way high.

 

[gpcollen1]

If all you want to do is keep that are from freezing or even keep you at 50 all the time then I would go with electric - whether baseboard or other. They do make wall mount heaters for residential and 'shop' heaters. If you are trying to keep that thing 70 all winter, I may go another route.

 

[Skier76]

Thanks guys. Never an easy choice! I'll keep you posted. Still waiting on the estimate from the propane company.

I'm trying to get in touch with the guy who put in the septic tank. Of course, the propane tanks are close to the septic tanks and leach field. Nothing is ever easy! LOL!

 

[Skier76]

Talked to the contractor who put the septic system in a few years ago. The submarine tank can't be installed where we wanted to. There's not enough material over the top of the leach field to dig down 18". Back to the drawing board! I'm glad this is happening as we're getting out of heating season...and not into it!

 

[woodsman23]

I would go with electric set it at 45-50 when not there and raise it to a higher level when you are there. Even if electric costs more the install will be so much lower and will save you money with the electric heater. 2500-3000 spread out over 5 years will more than cover electric per month.

 

[Skier76]

Estimate was $2837 for the propane heater, moving the tanks and installation. :bug:

So, we're not leaning more toward electric. Again, something to keep that lower level warm when we're not there. And we'll probably upgrade the breaker box while we're at it....tis a bit messy.

 

[Skier76]

Sorry to bump an older thread. We're going electric with this. We're going to have two base board heaters installed...one in the "utility room", one on the back wall of the main living area(down stairs). We'll use the electric heat when we're not there during the week. On the weekends, we'll use the woodstove; which ironically, we don't have yet.

The utility room is where about 95% of all the piping is for the house; well tank, hot water heater, washer/dryer and a lot of copper piping. It has a door we can close, so that should help a lot with keeping the heat where it needs to be. Above the utility room is the bathroom...and there's a small vent in the floor. Things should work out nicely.

We went electric because we're going to have our breaker box updated, and electric meter moved. Figured while the electrcian was there, might as well have him run the wiring and install the heaters.

 

[Highbeam]

I think it is a wise choice. These heaters have no moving parts to fail, gas to leak, chimneys to maintain, tanks to refill, and very little abillity to light your house on fire. They must have power though and since your plumbing depends on constant electrical power I hope that you keep the trees trimmed from around your power lines.

 

[Skier76]

We're going to invest in a "freeze alarm". It's a temp unit you hook up the phone line. It will call you when the temp drops to a certain set level or if the power fails (battery backup). We're about 2 hours away, so if it really hits the fan, I can drive up and light a fire and keep the place warm.