Ideas for backup heat in new construction (small house)

[begreen]

The unit I saw was the AOU 12RLS. 12KBTU is it's cooling capacity. 16K BTU is its nominal heating capacity. I am pretty sure the unit I looked at was rated 25 SEER 12 HSPF. They rate it for heating down to 5°F. The fact that they can do this at all is remarkable. That it is so quiet and efficient doing so is simply amazing.

(broken link removed to http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/PDF_06/halcyon06_brochure.pdf)

I just ran a basic heat calculation for this unit compared to electric resistance heat for a 50 yr old house in Olympia at $0.10/kwh. The calculator showed $1706 total annual heating cost for the resistance heat and $816 for this heat pump. Using a 90% efficient propane unit, with fuel costs at $3.50/gal the difference was $2461 vs $816. You can see how this can save a lot of money quickly. And you get a nice, quiet AC unit with the deal.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

If you decide to go electric they have a nice built in the wall type heater at lowes about $120.00 FIts nice between 2 wall studs,and has a grill type cover that is flush with the wall. also a temp dial. . Much nicer than bulky wall baseboard units. I use em in bathrooms for extra heat with hot tubs.If the main furnace fails at least the bathroom would have heat
They have different size models but i usually only need the small ones. A larger one would do a whole floor to keep it above freezing.

 

[Alan Gage]

Lots of thinking and mind changing the last couple days but this evening I settled on electric and feel pretty good about it. If I use it as little as I hope the extra expense of running it will be more than offset by the money saved on buying the heater.

It will be no problem installing the electric after the house is built so I can wait until next winter and see how the basement and house hold heat first before deciding how big of a unit to get. If in the future I decide I don't want to use the wood stove as my main heat source I'll probably add a ductless heat pump upstairs. The electric in the basement will always be there as a backup.

Then again there's still a couple months before I start building so I'll probably change my mind about a dozen more times by then.

Thanks again for all the good ideas.

Alan

 

[GaryGary]

Hi,
For the keeping the pipes from freezing when you go away, I'd consider making the plumbing system so that its easy to drain, and letting the cabin go cold.

I used to put in some time at a volunteer labor ski lodge. The lodge was only open on the weekends -- for the rest of the week there was no heat to the building at all. The system for protecting the plumbing (as near as I can remember) 1) open the plumbing drain valve, 2) go around and open all the faucets, 3) drain the hot water tank (which could be a tankless these days -- so would drain very easily), 4) flush the toilets and pump the toilet bowls out.
This sounds like a bit of work, but it was actually very fast.
This lodge has been in continuous operation since the 1920's, so its a pretty well proven system
There was no power of any kind into the lodge when it was not occupied as a fire safety measure.

The plumbing in this lodge was all built with a bit of slope for drainage -- if you did not have this, you might have to have a little compressed air to blow the water out of the pipes.

The nice thing about this is that you aren't spending money (or carbon) for heat when you are not there, and you don't have to worry about power failures or running out of fuel.

You do have to be careful to let things warm up when you get back so that the pipes are above freezing when you turn the water on.

Gary

 

[jebatty]

Draining a system can be a bit more critical, with refrigerators with ice/water systems, dishwashers, washing machines, and other appliances connected to water. Most if not all of these retain some water after draining, and unless blown out very well, might be subject to freezing and damage; or introduction of non-toxic antifreeze may be required.

 

[henkmeuzelaar]

If it is just to prevent "the pipes from freezing" while you are away and the areas that need some heating are limited in size I would just go with electric as it is safe, easy, clean and cheap to install.

I just phoned the Sensaphone monitor in our house in the Idaho Rocky Mountains that we often need to leave alone for awhile and heard that everything is fine (temperature, power, noise level). A landline-based Sensaphone does not cost more than $ 350 or so and they will call YOU if anything is wrong. (For the record; I do not have any connection, whatsoever, with the manufacturer or dealrs of this device)

Although it is a relatively big log home and the temperatures do get plenty low, just a few electric heaters set very low will do the job. For one area over the garage where some water pipes run in the floor, we sometimes even spread a simple heating blanket on the floor and set it at the lowest level.

Also HomeDepot and other home improvement stores sell simple, inexpensive plug-molds that only switch on at 35F, or so. Just in case a particular heater might break, a second heater set at "high" and connected to that plug-mold might save the day (together with the alarm system).

Unless you enjoy installing some of the more advanced back-up systems as a hobby of sorts, I do not see why simple electric resistive heating solutions would not fit the bill (unless your electric power rates are exorbitantly high).

Success!

Henk