This Old House, this man's hell. Water Stove issues.

WARRIORWELDING said:
I can do that. Maybe some of the graveyard too. It's still segregated....

Place does have slot of history. At one time a post office was ran out of one room. I have an old ledger and the crude desk they used.
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I'd like to check out the cemetary sometime. Been seeing that house for 38 yrs.
 
Come on we will camp out right in the center. Metal detected several hand cut nails in odd rectangle patterns...and some odd decorative pieces.

One of their relatives has a large stone. He walked home from the Battle of Appomattox. (spelling?)
 
Loganwayne said:
That would make it slightly more difficult lol

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
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They just crumble. The mortor is sand and clay. Only reason the house style stands is good dirt and interlacing. It has no foundation..
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
Come on we will camp out right in the center. Metal detected several hand cut nails in odd rectangle patterns...and some odd decorative pieces.

One of their relatives has a large stone. He walked home from the Battle of Appomattox. (spelling?)
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Lol, I know I'm not helping your thread out, but I'm definitely gonna hold you to the graveyard tour offer. It'd be cool to camp there too, as long as it's S&W friendly. Lol.
 
Call my buddy Daniel Ruiz (336) 655-8641. He does heat and air work. He won't screw you or try to sell you on something you don't need. If nothing else you'll meet a hell of a nice guy. Tell him Matt Mitchell sent ya.
 
WARRIORWELDING said:
Behind the air handler is a water exchanger for the solar/water stove.
In front of the furnace is the air conditioning unit.
Water. Oil, Air. Lovely.
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If you need any help reworking the solar thermal system, let me know. I know a little bit about that sorta stuff.
 
Well here we are on the first days leading to the need for heat.
Current situation.
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Me and the family removed the water stove. Carolina brand circa 1985. Bottom has through rust in several areas.
We rebuilt my father in-laws Hicks brand. Started with new bottom and extensive cleaning. Put it in service only to have all the flue piping rot out in one more season. Thinking I don't want a repeat of the same senerio.

So I'm debating new boiler unit? Complete rehash of the existing oil furnace? Or what?

As for the house. A complete remodel of all windows and a lot of issues is the only way to make efficient. We are now heating more space as our daughter moved back in.
 
We used oil about a third of the heating season last year. Like a dummy didn't get a good idea of oil consumption. But I can say the air handler difference wasn't noticable. Power Bills shows no huge swing from previous year. So I can only infer the added cost of the fuel oil. The amount of oil is questionable.
 
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I have seen this before....oh wait it was a septic tank.
 
Oil is expensive. I'm betting electric heat is cheaper. It was the last time I checked, and if that furnace is old and inefficient, the numbers are probably further apart.

I'm trying to decide what I'd do if it were me... I might do a new heat pump (especially if that AC unit is old), and/or install a new water furnace. Depends on how much you like burning wood.

Only way I'd keep the oil furnace is if it were reliable and only used as a backup to the wood stove.
 
So what exactly are you trying to accomplish/eliminate here? Your post had too many elements and I've had a few beers and my attention wanders around the second paragraph.
 
awheelterd said:
Also, what is a water stove?
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One of those deals where you have a wood stove out in the yard, and it has a water loop that circulates hot water into the house like a boiler. Sounds like his system has a hot water coil in the air handler.
 
Ooohh....

Yeah that's just called a boiler around here.

A stove is the top half of the appliance that you boil water or fry bacon on. The bottom half is called an oven. Silly mountain people.
 
@shawn the house was built and added too for over one hundred years....let's say they were frugal. The oil was left as a back up.

The air conditioner is about 15 years old. It makes the meter spin hard in the summer. We've seen power bills over 350.00. Really sucks.

The ceiling and underside of home are insulated. The windows are old...as in they used window weights to help lift. Single pane with storm windows. We don't have money or desire to remodel the old girl. Single bath, huge cut up rooms, and zero closets. The bathroom was the front porch...

But we want to buy or invest in something we could reduce our expenses best with. I am scared a heat pump will be like the a.c. Bills.

Currently the power bill in the winter is almost identical with the oil or " wood boiler".

We just don't know about buying another fairly expensive boiler or heat pump efficiency. My 800 as. foot rental house is fairly happy on a heat pump. This place scares my pocket book either way.

I need advice cause I have been over thinking this for months.
 
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WARRIORWELDING said:
Currently the power bill in the winter is almost identical with the oil or " wood boiler
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It's not the power bill I'd be worried about. It's the fuel oil delivery fee, if that oil furnace is going to be your sole heat source. All-in, electric is probably cheaper.

The windows don't bother me, so long as you have storms. You described every house we've owned. Newer windows are more efficient, and can improve comfort by cutting drafts and such, but I don't think it's going to fundamentally change the math here.
 
Im with Shawn. I would go heat pump or replace the wood boiler. Gas might be an option, if you have NG, but I guess not. Propane is too dirty, and not cost effective, IMO. Maybe install a few smaller units, or multi-stage setup if there are sections of the house that you want to control differently.

Is your water heater elec? You mentioned solar?

I see a flue for the oil, do you have an available chimney/flue that you can add a wood stove in the house? That might be a good option for keeping cost low, if you are willing to put in the effort (likely less than the water stove). Have a HP to knock off the chill and use a wood stove when the temps start getting lower.

My house isnt near as old as yours, but we have an older heat pump with oil backup. I also have a wood stove in the basement. I dont have the desire currently to cut and shuffle all the wood to use the stove all winter, but I run it around the clock when temps hover around or below freezing. With just the oil as backup, consumption isn't much, but when the system stops working, it will become all electric.
 
Using this handy calcumalator:

Residential Energy Calculator

I'm getting numbers saying that an oil-fired furnace is half-again more expensive per year than a 8.7 HSPF heat pump with electric strips. Total yearly heating costs are $1800/yr vs $1200/yr.
 
If your windows are THAT bad then you should winterize them (all but the most needed for sight) year round with heavy plastic. It will save a lot by keeping drafty air out.
 
R Q said:
If your windows are THAT bad then you should winterize them (all but the most needed for sight) year round with heavy plastic. It will save a lot by keeping drafty air out.
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That plastic stuff actually works really well. We used it in a rental house once. It was a night and day difference for thermal comfort and noise exclusion. We just couldn't operate the miniblinds anymore. :lol:

Also, don't underestimate what a bit of caulk can do. Caulk the upper sash shut, make sure the trim is all caulked, caulk the storms to the trim, etc.
 
paradisePWoffrd said:
Im with Shawn. I would go heat pump or replace the wood boiler. Gas might be an option, if you have NG, but I guess not. Propane is too dirty, and not cost effective, IMO. Maybe install a few smaller units, or multi-stage setup if there are sections of the house that you want to control differently.

Is your water heater elec? You mentioned solar?

I see a flue for the oil, do you have an available chimney/flue that you can add a wood stove in the house? That might be a good option for keeping cost low, if you are willing to put in the effort (likely less than the water stove). Have a HP to knock off the chill and use a wood stove when the temps start getting lower.

My house isnt near as old as yours, but we have an older heat pump with oil backup. I also have a wood stove in the basement. I dont have the desire currently to cut and shuffle all the wood to use the stove all winter, but I run it around the clock when temps hover around or below freezing. With just the oil as backup, consumption isn't much, but when the system stops working, it will become all electric.
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1. Gas not an option in my area. I have really been leaning toward multiple units or mini splits due to really strange layout of the usable living space.
2. Water is electric/solar/boiler when it worked. The boiler domestic was the first real issue this old unit had. It leaked into the boiler under heat load and over filled the unit. Only when heated. Crack was small enough thermal properties would make it show.
3. Flue yes. Along with literally eight other non working chimneys. No liners, cracks..... The one used as a oil flue is rough 30 feet from the actual oil furnace and includes 2 ninety degree elbows. Still worries me. The entire house is hand hewed logs and hand cut floor. All very dry and some insect damaged pine. Crawl space is very low, and very wet in its lowest hand dug portions.
4. Oil was left as the back up to the boiler.
 
shawn said:
Using this handy calcumalator:

Residential Energy Calculator

I'm getting numbers saying that an oil-fired furnace is half-again more expensive per year than a 8.7 HSPF heat pump with electric strips. Total yearly heating costs are $1800/yr vs $1200/yr.
Click to expand...
This is the raw data I spent my weekend looking for. I did not find a good simple app like this one. This is the raw data I am looking to crunch.

I basically want the best ROI I can get on this investment. We have talked about removing or fitting any new investment into our future home.
 
R Q said:
If your windows are THAT bad then you should winterize them (all but the most needed for sight) year round with heavy plastic. It will save a lot by keeping drafty air out.
Click to expand...

shawn said:
That plastic stuff actually works really well. We used it in a rental house once. It was a night and day difference for thermal comfort and noise exclusion. We just couldn't operate the miniblinds anymore. :lol:

Also, don't underestimate what a bit of caulk can do. Caulk the upper sash shut, make sure the trim is all caulked, caulk the storms to the trim, etc.
Click to expand...

Now most definitely on the short list. My son is going to get a lesson in scrapping, painting and caulk. I hope the Misses doesn't expect a whole house renovation to follow. She has the most ties to "This Ol' House".
 
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