What do you all use for backup heat?

[N.E.K. - D.D.S.]

What is everybody using for a backup heat source?

I am mostly thinking about when out of town.
Do you maintain temperature of the whole house, or just a critical area (kitchen for example) and gather all items that should not freeze in that location?
What about the basement?

For those of you with basements that are heating with wood from the first floor with stoves... are you applying any heat to your unfinished basements?
Fortunately the basement averages 50 degrees or so, with a range of perhaps is 40 to 60. In January it has been cold, and I have basement temps that were getting close to freezing (34 or so) in the area where my natural spring water flows in. It was during these times that the cold from the basement started to affect temperatures upstairs. Normally I can't imagine heating it, but I think keeping it around 50 or so would be ideal.

I am curious if people are using boilers or air furnaces or electric. Sure we like to burn wood, but how do you fill in the gaps?

 

[peakbagger]

Most mortage firms will not write a mortage loan on house with no permanent heat and they typically do not regard wood heat as permanent. The reason is if they end up owning the house due to owner default they need an unattended system to keep the place from freezing. I have heard that some banks will write a mortgage for pellet boiler with bulk storage but my guess is its case by case basis for the bank where they plan to hold the mortgage instead of selling it.

Electric heat, oil, propane or natural gas are all regarded as permanent. The least installed cost is typically electric but incredibly expensive to operate.

An oddball to consider is Toyostove vented "kerosene" heater. They can run kerosene or low sulfur heating oil. Its space heater similar to a wood stove but they are relatively cheap to install. They are popular up in Maine.

I have my minisplit for my lead backup (set at 60 F) with my original oil boiler set at 55 and about 100 gallons of well aged heating oil in my fuel oil tanks.

Odds are your basement has lots of air leaks from infiltration, even in your climate the temps should stay above freezing but my guess is given the age of the house, its granite or rubble foundation.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

If were not around, ill set the gas fireplaces to 63 and the furnace to 60.. the gas fireplace needs no electricity so if power goes out it still runs.. furnace is oil.. I dont like to run it.. I haven't burned a gallon yet.. gas is cheaper and vent free we get all the BTUs produced

 

[Tar12]

Propane for back up here when the wood stove dies out..I walk out the door and dont think twice about it..

 

[Gearhead660]

Varies depending on location/ what's available. Propane boiler here for backup if we need to leave for an extended period of time. NG is widely used in the area but not accessible to all rural areas.

 

[c604]

We have a Waterfurnace 5 series geothermal with electric resistance back up. It also preheats our hot water. It's a closed loop system. It's pretty efficient and it has no problem heating and cooling our 2600 sq. ft. home. If we are not burning our fireplace the electric resistance will only kick on when it's around 0 or below and then only for brief moments. Being all electric home the most expensive electric bill we've ever seen before we put in the Kozy Heat was $300 for the month. Probably take forever to recoup the cost of putting the Kozy Heat in, however, something about that wood heat and being out collecting your own firewood that appeals to us!

 

[jalmondale]

The house had an oil furnace already, so that's still my backup system (it also handles all the hot water). Between being out of town and hot water, it looks like I'll use about 1 tank a year (down from 4 pre-wood stove). I've got an automatic transfer switch and backup system, so my furnace will still work fine if there's a power outage while I'm gone.

 

[Prof]

For the reasons peakbagger pointed out we originally had an electric forced air furnace listed as the "primary heat," I think we turned it on twice in 4 yrs. We then wanted whole house air, so we had a Bosch heat pump installed. I couldn't say enough good things about the heat pump. I keep the house a little crisp in the summer (68F) and the electric bill only goes up about $20. It heats well too down to about 25F with probably about the same cost as summer. Of course, by this time I am rarely using it because I am in wood heating mode by then. We have electric strip heat for temps below 20s. I've never used this mode, outside of making sure it works, but I'm certain it would cost a fortune to run. We have a vent in the basement so it puts some heat down there. Also it puts some conditioned air down there in the summer and works to dehumidify things a bit.

 

[savageactor7]

When I was away the wife replaced our dated oil backup plant to a propane one. And thanks to the big propane tank we decided to get a whole house generator...life is good.

 

[all night moe]

I heat with wood, obviously to the forum, and my back up heat is also wood.
Last year was a total of 11 plus cords. This year I'm currently into my 6th. At this time, I am not currently heating the whole house. There are 5 of the bedrooms upstairs that are not insulated and still in plaster. These are closed off with old sheets doubled up, and tacked to the door frames with closed doors. There is no heat up stairs and the remaining 4 bdrms and bath, which have been remodeled are a comfortable 65*F. One bath down stairs and the living room with woodstove are in plaster. The kitchen, although insulated and sheet rocked, has no insulation under the floor over a very poor crawlspace. I plan on a IFC foundation in the very near future. Currently keeping the kitchen closed except when needed to use the room. Water gets turned off in the basement between uses to keep from freezing.

I have my work cut out for me. Did I mention I heat with wood.

 

[stoveliker]

The house had an oil furnace already, so that's still my backup system (it also handles all the hot water). Between being out of town and hot water, it looks like I'll use about 1 tank a year (down from 4 pre-wood stove). I've got an automatic transfer switch and backup system, so my furnace will still work fine if there's a power outage while I'm gone.

Same situation here. Oil boiler also for hot water. 1 tank a year down from 4 ish.
No power back up though for the boiler. (Just a portable generator for the fridge etc.)

 

[bholler]

Oil hot air furnace here and a propane gas insert.

 

[marty319]

Electric baseboard but have not used this year.also hang clothes to dry and have not used the dryer lol.yes I'm cheap.

 

[bigealta]

Old coal boiler converted to oil 50+ years ago. Usually only burn 50 -75 gallons per year, and would pretty much never use it except for 1 run of hot water heating loop in the small attic space in a small kitchen addition at basement level. I also run an electric radiator set at about 56F in that addition. I'm only concerned about that pipe run in the attic freezing. Everything else should be safe. If you only need a bit of pipe protection in the basement, you may be able to get away with an electric radiator as well.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

An EFM oil furnace that is pushing about 35 years old but I hope I didn't just jinx it by saying that!

 

[all night moe]

An EFM oil furnace that is pushing about 35 years old but I hope I didn't just jinx it by saying that!

EFM?

 

[shoot-straight]

We have a heat pump. All electric. It's efficient down to about 30. Then the electric backup does most of the work. So when it's gonna be super cold (like tonight), i simply put on the emergency heat. It will kick on every so often. Helps to move heat around and make sure nowhere in the building envelope gets too cold.

 

[wjohn]

Electric baseboard here as well. My house is pretty small though at ~800 sq. ft. It's all I used until finally getting a wood stove installed for this season.

I had intentions of installing a mini-split but I don't need AC and the payback over the electric baseboards is terrible... And even worse now that I have the wood stove.

 

[Highbeam]

Electric resistance wall heaters. Super cheap, no maintenance, individual thermostats in each room. Sure they’re expensive to run but I don’t run them.

 

[ABMax24]

Condensing natural gas furnace and a gas fireplace.

 

[Max W]

Run a mini-split along with the cookstove but it serves as a back up as well. The boiler is a back up to the back up and is rarely used

 

[begreen]

Heat pump

 

[bholler]

EFM?

Efm is a very old brand of furnace electric furnace man

 

[one man's kindling]

Heat pump, very efficient down to about 25, then we often get the aux heat kicking on. But it keeps the place cozy.
Also have a few of those "radiant" space heaters, very good for spot chills. We're all-electric, but even last year during that big snow/ice storm in February, the monthly bill was only $260, and that's high for us. Originally, the home had a forced-air furnace with electric heating elements, but it struggled to keep the temp near 68 on cold nights, and the electric bill was 20-30 percent higher than now. These new heat pumps are impressive. I use the woodburner to supplement the heat pump and control the electric bill, don't burn anywhere near as much wood as many of you. But as kid who grew up with a suburban fireplace burning duraflame logs, I love my cuttin', splittin' and stackin' !

 

[RockyMtnGriz]

The two times of the year I don't get too far from home, unless the weather specifically permits it. are winter, and fire season. That ends up being most of the year, but I've worked most of my life to get here - why would I want to leave?

I have propane forced air, but I have to switch the ducting over to it, and I don't have an automatic transfer switch for my backup power, so propane heat is a bit of a leap of faith in the power company. I've switched over to propane once in a decade, and I was prepared to both return home, and have a neighbor cover with the kindling and wood if that didn't work, since we were a couple of States away in the dead of winter.

There are propane heaters that require no electrical input, and if I had to leave my house empty, I'd have enough of those installed to prevent freezing. Our Fire Dept. uses them as the SHTF backups, they work extremely well, and they end up getting used as a critical source of heat pretty often.

Propane gets a little twitchy too, once you get around -40, but works well with underground tanks, for those who have that kind of cold.