[MauroDarudo]

So i just purchased a house and will be moving in, in September. (FU German laws, don´t ask) Anyways we will be renovating the complete heating system.
Basically our options are Oil, Gas or Pellets.
So what do you guys have running ? I´m pretty sure the wood pellet solution is the cheapest (3-4 tons a year @ 210€ a ton) but i´d like to hear what you guys have/use.

[SonicPs]

Have gas. It's very effective but then again I live in southern California. Only drawback is it makes the air dry (which is once again a small issue living close to the ocean)... oh and being accidentally poisoned. No idea what the cost comparison is.

[bp9QxekG]

So i just purchased a house and will be moving in, in September. (FU German laws, don´t ask) Anyways we will be renovating the complete heating system.
Basically our options are Oil, Gas or Pellets.
So what do you guys have running ? I´m pretty sure the wood pellet solution is the cheapest (3-4 tons a year @ 210€ a ton) but i´d like to hear what you guys have/use.

the wood pellet solution might be cheapest... but it also sounds like a lot of work and therefore a pain in the ass. Natural Gas imo. Cheap, cleaner, plentiful...

[Oberjej]

Gas. I'm in the midwest where you go to work without your coat because it's warm and rainy and when you head home from work the roads are ice and your testicles retract so fast you punch yourself in the nuts with your nuts. Being able to go from heat off to warm and cozy is important.

Over here Natural Gas is reasonably affordable and quite efficient, even in really cold weather. Where I live people do heat with wood because it's cheap and plentiful around here. Downside is filling the furnace, smoke, that sort of thing. Gas is less hassle and overall forced air/gas does a mighty fine job of heating up a house. With a 90+ furnace it's a great option.

[AccusaJalsBub]

I have had 3 different kinds of heat over the years. current house has a heat pump, which is fairly new and a much bigger unit than we really needed for our small house. does a good job overall but gets expensive and struggles on really cold nights.

I liked the oil furnace we had growing up, but it was old and oil prices just keep going up making it an expensive venture when looking to the future. also here it gets very expensive during the coldest months, so you have to remember to fill the tank in the summer when its cheaper.

gas would be my choice overall if I were building a new house or retrofitting one. gas furnace is very efficient and clean, and in addition to that you can get all your appliances and hot water in gas as well. I have a set of gas logs I am going to install when I get the money. also you still have some heat if the power goes out, which does happen around here a lot during ice storms in the winter. sucks living somewhere you get more ice than snow.

[toksenveste]

All the fuel costs will be increasing, perhaps the wood pellets would be best as at least that's a theoretically renewable source
I assume the house is already fully insulated - roof, walls, floors and double glazed?
Are you able to make good use of natural heating from the Sun? If you have the house well insulated, it'll minimise heating costs, whichever option you choose.

[77rexulceme]

I would go with water or gas.

[Tactattcahhaw]

Gas might not be an option down to the location of his house. A mate of mine bought a house in Germany (same deal with not being able to get in yet)
And his house is also not hooked up to the gas line.

After looking for an alternative, we heated his whole house with electrical heating.
Tho you need good planning for it, when done properly its very cost effective as you can set a smart thermostat for each room / corridor.

For example, he works the daytime so the whole house is kept at 14 degrees. (Lower and heating it up would be more expensiven then keeping it 14 degrees.)
He comes home around 17:00 and at that point the main hall is 18 degrees and his living room 19. Bathroom is 20 since he'll shower at that point.

He has a fireplace and when he heats that up the room thermostat feels that and no heating is there. While preheating his bedroom.

Mind you, innitial costs are higher then a normal setup. But in the long run he pays less then a Central Heating system.

[flowersnewacq]

Mind you, innitial costs are higher then a normal setup. But in the long run he pays less then a Central Heating system.

This seems strange. I guess i just do not understand the heating system you are using. I mean, I have heard of central heating/cooling systems with multiple smart thermostats, but it sounds more like you have a heating system for each room? That just does not sound efficient to me.

Also, it has been my experience that gas costs for heating is much less than electrical costs for cooling. I.E. Gas bill might go from 30 a month when it is warm to $80 a month when it is cold. While in the summer electrical costs go from $150 a month to $350 a month. Mild winters and hot summers have a lot to do with that too, I suppose.

[bestonline]

Gas might not be an option down to the location of his house. A mate of mine bought a house in Germany (same deal with not being able to get in yet)
And his house is also not hooked up to the gas line.

After looking for an alternative, we heated his whole house with electrical heating.
Tho you need good planning for it, when done properly its very cost effective as you can set a smart thermostat for each room / corridor.

For example, he works the daytime so the whole house is kept at 14 degrees. (Lower and heating it up would be more expensiven then keeping it 14 degrees.)
He comes home around 17:00 and at that point the main hall is 18 degrees and his living room 19. Bathroom is 20 since he'll shower at that point.

He has a fireplace and when he heats that up the room thermostat feels that and no heating is there. While preheating his bedroom.

Mind you, innitial costs are higher then a normal setup. But in the long run he pays less then a Central Heating system.

The current family that´s living in the house has electrical heating installed and mentioned that they pay around 400€ a month just for electricity. I´m not sure if that´s believable, but it´s what they said. Imo that´s an absolute no-go.
Gas is a option, but the house isn´t connected yet and getting it connected would cost around 3000€ and from what i´ve heard the Gas prices are on the rise just like oil is.
To the question earlier, the house was built in the mid 70´s, it´s decently insulated and the windows are double glazed

[juyrett]

what i´ve heard the Gas prices are on the rise just like oil is.

i think gas is $4 and change per 1000 cf. While prices can rise since your supplier is Russia and unstable, on the whole with the increased discoveries due to fracking, natural gas should be least effected by other things that are increasing oil costs.

[Gcromqgb]

The current family that´s living in the house has electrical heating installed and mentioned that they pay around 400€ a month just for electricity. I´m not sure if that´s believable, but it´s what they said. Imo that´s an absolute no-go.
Gas is a option, but the house isn´t connected yet and getting it connected would cost around 3000€ and from what i´ve heard the Gas prices are on the rise just like oil is.
To the question earlier, the house was built in the mid 70´s, it´s decently insulated and the windows are double glazed

Decently insulated @ 400euro eleccy bill? They growing cannabis?

[banditorfv]

Decently insulated @ 400euro eleccy bill? They growing cannabis?

lol, tbh i think they were just highly exaggerating the heating costs.

[Unergerah]

I live in the UK (north ) coal was and is still cheep but we were made to be smokeless 20+ years ago for environmental reasons how is it ok to use wood in this day and age, just asking?

[MP+4]

lol, tbh i think they were just highly exaggerating the heating costs.

The last time I had electric baseboard heat in an apartment (single bedroom) I paid around $150-200/mo in the winter to heat my place. It's why in my house hunting I have 100% ruled out electric heat.

The only way it's efficient is how it was mentioned earlier. You use timed thermostats in different rooms so that while you're away it turns off or real low, then when you're going to be home it's back to normal but only heating certain rooms.

Depending on the cost of electricity around where you live, and the heating setup, the price may not be exaggerated.

[masterso]

The current family that´s living in the house has electrical heating installed and mentioned that they pay around 400€ a month just for electricity.

That could be true if they are using normal electric oil based heaters (the portable ones)
Or something like that.

We installed a system for someone in the Netherlands who used to have a Central Heating.
And he pays less per month then with gas / electric. Somewhere in the 5-10 Euro saving per month. Not a whole lot less. But certainly not more.

2 basic systems are around:

1. Floor / Wall heating by infrared floormats (100W/m2)
   This system requires alot of planning and special insulation.
2. Electric accumulators, during the cheap hours of electrical usage (dont know if Germany has that) the accumulators heat up the special compressed core. Then during the day a simple fan switches on whenever heat is needed to pull the room air past the heated core and blow out warm.

but it sounds more like you have a heating system for each room? That just does not sound efficient to me.

That is what the other system you described do, but more energy efficient. Since the heat doesnt have to travel pipes to reach the room but start in the room itself.

[satthackacibe]

I say being dependent on only one heat source is not good. I use electric because here its all hydro and cheap. But when the electric goes out, then there's no heat. My gas furnace won't fire without electricity. So I still use wood and a small propane heater in emergencies. Go with whats cheapest in your area and then have a backup ready.

[DF9sLGSU]

Akira, that sounds like the old 'storage heaters', we had one back in Scotland and it worked very well.
Oh, it is NOT more expensive to allow the house temperature to drop and then heat it up again - the amount of heat energy that escapes the house is higher when the house temperature is higher, so a lower house temperature would mean less heat energy being replaced. I've seen this belief expressed numberous times - what I would suggest is keeping the minimum temperature high enough to avoid pipe freezing issues, though.

Golem', insulation has moved on a long way since the house was built, you may wish to review what it has, like underfloor insulation, and, perhaps, upgrade it - there may be subsidies you can claim to reduce expenses.

Madgoat (a fellow Capricorn?), that's a very sound idea - especially in the colder areas of the world. There's talk that a big solar storm could take parts of the power grid down for weeks, so it'd pay to make sure you've plenty of fuel to go with it

[Zugaxxsn]

Akira, that sounds like the old 'storage heaters', we had one back in Scotland and it worked very well.

Yes, its just an improvement on that design (better insulation, better core material)
And like you said, keep a backup. If even a simple fireplace in the living room.