I live in Northern, NJ and paid $3.00 a gallon for LP last fill up, I have a 1,000 gallon tank and I got $1,200 worth! I am an electrician and built this home in 2007, my home is 3,000 square feet with the finished basement and I have two zones of forced hot air (1st and 2nd floor) and my furnaces are 93% and 80% efficient. I heat my water with propane but I have a whole house instant on heater (no tank) that is 90% efficient. My dryer is electric and my stove is propane. My windows and exterior doors are as energy efficient as I could afford they all are low e argon filled. My exterior walls are only 2X4 but insulated as mush as possible. My great room that has a 14' ceiling, the first floor has 8' foot ceiling, and the second floor has 9'6" tray ceilings. The basement is 65% finished and there is no door on the stair to the basement, it is open. My heat settings are: First floor 4:00 am -8:00 am 64 degrees, 8:00am -3:30 pm 62 degrees, 3:30pm-8:00pm 66 degrees, 8:00pm- 4:00 am 62 degrees. Second floor: 3:30 am- 8:00 am 66 degrees, 8:00 am-4:30pm 60 degrees, 4:30PM- 8:30 PM 64 degrees, 8:30-11:30 66 degrees, 11:30pm- 3:30am 64 degrees. I keep my house cold
For the basement's heat we just tapped off of the first floor heat and put in two registers that don't work at all, my finished basement is cold. I prewired for electric heat and it would be easy to put in baseboard but have not done it yet.
Now in a perfect world I could put a pellet heater in the basement and it would heat the whole house, the first floor has a WIDE open floor plan. I don't spend too much time in the basement and heating it would be nice but my goal is to cut down on my heating bills so if the heat would not rise enough to make a significant difference in the rest of the house I would put the stove elsewhere. I do have a perfect spot in the basement that is kind of out of the way and it is right next to the base of the stair leading to the first floor, I could cut some diffusers int the first floor ceiling/second floor floor at the top of the basement stairs to help move the heat.
I like the layout of the first floor and really don't see a spot there to put a stove that wouldn't look out of place. I do have a perfect spot on the second floor in the master suite, it is supposed to be a sitting area but a stove would fit there nicely but then I would only be heating the second floor (not bad as a worst case scenario) but I read that pellet stoves are noisy. A wood burning stove would be nice but they are not as efficient, control of the temp is not as good, and they are more work.
I could really use some suggestions regarding the placement of the stove and what to buy, I HATE paying so much for heat! Thanks in advance.
For the basement's heat we just tapped off of the first floor heat and put in two registers that don't work at all, my finished basement is cold. I prewired for electric heat and it would be easy to put in baseboard but have not done it yet.
Now in a perfect world I could put a pellet heater in the basement and it would heat the whole house, the first floor has a WIDE open floor plan. I don't spend too much time in the basement and heating it would be nice but my goal is to cut down on my heating bills so if the heat would not rise enough to make a significant difference in the rest of the house I would put the stove elsewhere. I do have a perfect spot in the basement that is kind of out of the way and it is right next to the base of the stair leading to the first floor, I could cut some diffusers int the first floor ceiling/second floor floor at the top of the basement stairs to help move the heat.
I like the layout of the first floor and really don't see a spot there to put a stove that wouldn't look out of place. I do have a perfect spot on the second floor in the master suite, it is supposed to be a sitting area but a stove would fit there nicely but then I would only be heating the second floor (not bad as a worst case scenario) but I read that pellet stoves are noisy. A wood burning stove would be nice but they are not as efficient, control of the temp is not as good, and they are more work.
I could really use some suggestions regarding the placement of the stove and what to buy, I HATE paying so much for heat! Thanks in advance.