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missylu999

Help my son needs some suggestions on heating his home.

Missylu999
10 years ago

My son has a beach house. There is no attic and no insulation in the walls. In the winter he can see his breath come out of his mouth it gets so cold. It is a two story with one bedroom upstairs and a family room, bedroom and kitchen downstairs. He has one double pane window installed in the downstairs bedroom. This is all he can afford at the moment. A baby is due in December. He has two wall heaters. One downstairs and one that is broken in the upstairs bedroom. We want to help him with the heating expense. What would any of you suggest that would give this home some heat without costing a fortune. I looked at the Mitsubishi heating system and it sounds expensive and confusing. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Comments (6)

  • ionized_gw
    10 years ago

    Where is this beach house? Is natural gas available? What are the gas and electrical rates?

  • Missylu999
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Hi, my son lives in Santa Cruz, California. I will check about the natural gas and the gas and electrical rates and get back to you. Thank you for responding.

  • Missylu999
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    He does have natural gas. Both of the wall heaters are run by gas. His electric and gas bill was 400.00 in the winter using the wall heaters, but as I mentioned one is broken. I forgot to mention that he has a wood burning stove downstairs in the living room.
    It cost about .15040 per kilowatt and 1.0304712 for gas therms.

  • ionized_gw
    10 years ago

    Energy costs are going to be about 3-4x using pure resistance electric heaters compared to an efficient direct-vented gas heater. A heat pump will still be more expensive to run than gas, but less than simple electric heaters.

    If the gas heaters are unvented, I would not continue to use them. Direct-vented heaters can be installed in their place.

    The least expensive in the short run (installation) is electric heaters. Next would be window unit heat pumps. Most expensive would be new direct-vent gas heaters. Price it out. On-line calculators are available to compute operating costs, but you should include all costs vs. just the cost per kWh or therm.

    Part of the reason your son can see his breath in the winter might be because the unvented gas wall heaters are adding a lot of humidity to the house. They also add combustion gasses and this becomes a problem as the house is progressively sealed up.

    Using pure resistance heaters could be a problem if the electric service does not support them.

  • jackfre
    10 years ago

    I would recommend a Rinnai EX38. It is Direct Vent, 82% efficient! modulating gas valve and blower. Easy install and a quick fix for older inefficient units. I heat my home with them here in the foothills.

    Regardless of what he puts in for this winter, windows, insulation, etc are going to be necessary going forward. I think for this winter I'd line the inside walls of a room or two with some type of thermal blanket, just to have a place to hide in. It won't be pretty, but neither is seeing your breath in the house.

  • Missylu999
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thank you both for your feedback. I'm passing this information on to my son. We don't want our first grandchild to turn into a ice cube.