Home heating costs?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by IndyIan

I purchased a kill-a-watt off ebay, it was $25 shipping in, from this store Shop eBay Canada Store - Battery Gallery:: Rechargeable AA Batteries
My parents have a big old freezer that we could have for free but we had no idea how much energy it used, turns out 3 times as much as a new one... So a new freezer pays for itself in 8 years vs. the free one.

In my experience big electricity loads are:
Forced air fans, especially if they are on all the time, people do this to keep basements drier.
Older freezers and fridges.
Old wash machines that leave lots of water in the clothes for the dryer.
Dryers.
Hot water tanks.
AC.
Dish washers.
And of course electric heat.

Also, the best payback that I know of in alternative energy sources is a clothesline, solar hot water heaters are good too. Simple and they last a long time too.

Also a wood stove is great alternative energy source especially if you can get free wood which isn't too hard in most urban areas, as most arborists have to pay to dump wood. We do nearly all our heating with a wood stove and its paid for itself plus the chainsaw in 4 years. I don't have a gym membership either so its good exercise splitting and stacking too.
It takes a year to figure out how run the stove well and work out your wood management system but once you have it sorted its not to much labour. Sounds like you'll have lots of help available too!
Ian

IndyIan,is there ever any talk of the "Canada House" built in the 1970s? It was created in response to the "energy crisis".The home was so well oriented and insulated that they claimed the body heat from the occupants,plus heat from burning daily junk mail,would be enough energy to easily keep the house comfortable,even during Canadian winters.They also claimed that if the the house was at operating temperature,and you shut off all utilities and then vacated the premises,that it would take 21-days for the house to coast down to freezing temperature in the dead of winter.Sounds really good!

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted by aerohead

IndyIan,is there ever any talk of the "Canada House" built in the 1970s? It was created in response to the "energy crisis".The home was so well oriented and insulated that they claimed the body heat from the occupants,plus heat from burning daily junk mail,would be enough energy to easily keep the house comfortable,even during Canadian winters.They also claimed that if the the house was at operating temperature,and you shut off all utilities and then vacated the premises,that it would take 21-days for the house to coast down to freezing temperature in the dead of winter.Sounds really good!

I haven't heard anything about it, but I don't remember much of the 70's (born 1976). I think though that was the era when people thought it was ok to seal your house up like a plastic bag. People put in air exchangers now but with our wood stove we are pulling in fresh/cold air mostly from around our doors. There is an R2000 standard which is basically very well done standard construction, using all the tricks but nothing "exotic" is necessary.
I guess you could build an windowless cube with r50 walls and double doors that would perform close to the Canada House idea but that's abit extreme for most people.
My house is pretty standard constuction 2x6 walls, new doors and windows, exposed to the north and west, some passive solar gains, and I go through about 3 cords of hardwood a year.
My buddy down the road built a strawbale house with a masonary stove, more comprehensive passive solar design and they use about 2 cords a year but their place has less temperature fluctuations then our place. 3 tons of stone in the living space has its advantages!
My place has enough windows that usually lights are unnecessary during the day in any room plus we chose a nice location for the views out of the house.

I think you are on the right track with the partially buried house though, ground temperature is good place to start heating or cooling from. I think a house has to have a balance between the number of windows and its heating and cooling needs but what that balance is depends on the person living there.
Ian