Need advice on choosing the least expensive heating system

Joe Brix

Will the house continue to be used (Sold, rented or bulldozed)? If razed, I'd look at thru-the-wall
direct vent space heaters. Hot air system, would be next.
Exposed duct. Maybe put a packaged unit outside the building if you want some AC also. Keeping all the mechanicals exposted will keep the install costs down.
Efficency will not be the strong point here.

johnri

inexpensive heating system

I am looking for advice and choosing a very inexpensive heating system.

We own a very old home in Massachusetts which we will move into until we build a new house on the property. The home presently has NO HEAT. It may be 1 to 3 years until the new home is built...so we may need to spend a couple of winters in this old house.

Can you make suggestions on some options for choosing what would be a low cost heating system? The system will need to run on propane. It's not a problem to have exposed piping or duct work. The house is relatively small and all living space is located on one floor. There is a small root cellar in which a boiler or furnace can be located.

Thank you for your suggestions.

nicholas bonham-carter

least expensive system

is that least expensive to run, or least expensive to install?

do you anticipate at the end, moving this system into the new house, or keeping it in the old house?

is there anything left of the old heating system in the old house?--nbc

johnri

reply-inexpensive heating system

Thanks for the reply:

Least expensive to install and hard costs for boiler/burner.....

We will NOT be reusing the system in the new house. This low cost system is just to provide some minimal form of heat to the old house to get us through 2 or maybe 3 winters.

There has never been any heat in the old house... so no old system is there.

nicholas bonham-carter

low cost heater

if you had wood available, you could get a wood stove. some of them will heat for quite a while on a fill, and it could be re-used in the new house. you would need a good chimney though.

2nd suggestion would be to get mini-split-system heat pumps, which are much better now than they were a few years ago, and could be moved to the new house, when it is ready to move into. there would be no worry about how full to fill the propane tank in the end of the last winter in the old house. mitsubishi is one maker.--nbc

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

The least expensive heat

Is probably a hot air furnace. It's not that comfortable, but it's the cheapest. Why not put in a boiler and move it to the new house?

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

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Unknown

those monitor heaters are fairly cheap if comfort is no issue.

billtwocase

my suggestion

electric heat and electric hot water. Sounds like this house had nothing in it, so no chimney, basement, etc. It would probably cost you more in the long run just to buy and have installed whatever you choose. Oil guy here, but in your case, I think electric is the answer. peace

[Deleted User]

as n b-c said,

wood would be it, and a great one that i have been using for 13yrs is the century fireplace furnace. it has the option to be used as a convector, or to be a forced air unit with whatever ducting you decide on

otherwise, a mini-split or two would be it. a tad expensive but they're a snap to install. mitubishi is good and so is lg

but if your sold on propane and want to go real inexpensive, easy/simple; install a couple hanging reznors et al. no ducting, bam!

Tombig_2

Temporary? Heat

Electric is a good option but I'm sure a service upgrade would be required. Maybe the utility could give you the upgraded drop for the new main house on a temporary pole and you could sub to a temporary drop to the temporary house.

If propane is the answer and proper venting and combustion issues are addressed then forced air of some sort will give you the best bang for the temporary buck.

Tom G

Stephanie Custis (yes, Mark's wife)

Geothermal

Drill the wells now, use the equipment to heat the existing house, move it when needed. Temporarily use flex ductwork.

Plumdog_2

Least expensive Propane Heat

Scrounge around and find an old propane space heater. The kind that looks like a small cabinet. Preferably get one that is "direct vent"; it will exhaust and bring in fresh air thru the same outside wall penetration. Some are made with decorative ceramic burners to look like a fireplace when burning, others have a modern look. Very surprising how well a single, simple heat source can work for a small space. These kinds of heaters are available new from Empire, Cozy, and others.

bobby b

old house heat

i would recommend going with a pellet stove, either new or used. Being at the end of the season you might get a great deal.These units are easy to install and easy to run.

Supply House Rick

Step one: set oven to 450 degrees

Step two: Open oven door

Step three: set up fan in front of oven to blow heated air throughout the house

Tombig_2

Step four

Step four is...Have the paramedics on standby when the entire family succumbs to CO poisoning....good answer!!!

nicholas bonham-carter

amazing but true

when we had a BIG boiler problem in early jan 1974, we used all the ovens and stoves in our 7-unit as heat. temperatures were in the 0 to-10 degrees. we didn't know about CO then, so we put our daughter in her bassinette on the old "detroit jewel" open oven door with the oven set at 450 deg! naturally, as the only source of heat-we lived in the kitchen for about a week! the ice was an inch thick on the inside of the dining room windows, and thicker in our bedroom! amzing to me now, we only lost 1 rad to freezing, and no toilets or traps!

so you may have the same adventure we had if you heat with the oven! our oven door would never stay closed properly after putting our daughter on it, that so now we have a 1960's norge--nbc

johnri

thanks all

thank you all for the suggestions. I can evaluate all the options. Cost of components and installation are really the issues, since the system will really only be temporary..... couple of seasons. The idea of stand alone through the wall direct vent heaters would be great, except I'd need 3 or 4 units to warm the house... that might be pricey. But thanks again to all. Appreciate it.

tim smith

Run Romex to all rooms, install cheap pik a watt heaters in each

room if you have the power available. Cheap, cheap cheap... Tim

Rich L.

\"Used\" LP furnace

If it's for temporary use how about a used furnace? Talk to a few local contractors and let them know what ypu're looking for. Ask them to keep an eye out for a decent used furnace when they do a change out for a newer, higher efficency unit. We have people around here that will do that to get a cheap heater for their garage or workshop. You could put it in your root cellar, cut a few holes in the floor for registers and run some flex duct.

While most people run their furnaces until they are no longer usable a few will change out to gain efficiency or to upgrade to geo-thermal.

I have two like this sitting in my shop right now.

billtwocase

used furnace

Bad idea. If it's a brand new furnace and co is found in the living space, manufacture defect most likely, used furnace someone dies, who's gonna be hung out to dry? Best to go new nowadays. Lawyers luv it when they can put a finger on someone. I know some guys mean well, but the price could be too high. A garage or non living space somewhat of a different story. peace

Jed_2

If it's all on One floor...

I'd suggest a Miller or Nordyne furnace on a cottage base.
Doesn't get any cheaper than that. And, you could probably re-sell that set up fairly easily. The venting would have to be looked at carefully, though. Monitor or Rinnai wall furnaces might work, as well. Easier venting with those units.

Jed

p.s. And you wouldn't become slaves to the cord, as n b-c and Mike suggest. Electric! These people are trying to SAVE for a new home. Geeeeeesh!

Steve M_2

Rinnai direct vent

I can't believe nobody has mentioned a Rinnai RHFE series wall unit. I've seen one heat a 1200 sq foot single story house including bedrooms. You need to cut doors sometimes to have a 2" gap at the bottom for air flow. I removed a Cozy direct vent heater from a cottage and used the Rinnai and the customer said it was 100 times more comfy.