back to the woods

[ALACOWMAN]

after this winter we've had and the dam ""ridiculous"" power bills bet folks will be buying up wood heaters again , alot of folks power bill's ranging from 500.00 to nearly a 1000.00 last month :shock: id have em pull my meter, take down the wire and poles and fill in he holes.. and get the he#$ of my property, before id pay that kinda price..these folks gonna have to relearn how to turn a dam switch off

 

[highgrit]

We have burned over 3 truck loads of wood so far. But the power bill is still 250.00. But the 9.00 fuel surcharge and 33.00 in state and local taxes is a bunch of B.S.

 

[cowboy43]

Electricity is sold by the kilowatt , just like gas is sold by the gallon, the amount used determines what the bill is. The more you drive the more gas is used, the colder the weather the more kilowatts are used. Compare your past bills with the kilowatt useage then you can determine why your bill is so high. The consumer makes the bill by the kilowatts used and not the elelectric company.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I've gone through a lot of wood in the wood stove. Had the central air running the whole time but the heat of the wood makes that huge living room much warmer than the central unit does for the rest of the house. The draft down the hall way goes through the thermostat so I know the wood has helped.

What really gets my goat on taxes is city taxes. I don't live in the city. The new 911 addresses took out the old, "Route 1, Box...." address. So your cell phone bill and practically everything else includes city sales tax. There words are, "We have no way of knowing...." The city isn't offering refunds.

Taxes in general get me steamed enough. Now they go and levy additional taxes illegally too.

 

[novatech]

I've gone through a lot of wood in the wood stove. Had the central air running the whole time but the heat of the wood makes that huge living room much warmer than the central unit does for the rest of the house. The draft down the hall way goes through the thermostat so I know the wood has helped.

What really gets my goat on taxes is city taxes. I don't live in the city. The new 911 addresses took out the old, "Route 1, Box...." address. So your cell phone bill and practically everything else includes city sales tax. There words are, "We have no way of knowing...." The city isn't offering refunds.

Taxes in general get me steamed enough. Now they go and levy additional taxes illegally too.

If you fireplace uses outside air for combustion then I think there is a savings. If the fireplace uses the air from the house then it is comming from where the ac is trying to keep up with it. So I guess you gain on one end and loose on the other. So I guess only you can calculate if there is really a savings.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I've gone through a lot of wood in the wood stove. Had the central air running the whole time but the heat of the wood makes that huge living room much warmer than the central unit does for the rest of the house. The draft down the hall way goes through the thermostat so I know the wood has helped.

What really gets my goat on taxes is city taxes. I don't live in the city. The new 911 addresses took out the old, "Route 1, Box...." address. So your cell phone bill and practically everything else includes city sales tax. There words are, "We have no way of knowing...." The city isn't offering refunds.

Taxes in general get me steamed enough. Now they go and levy additional taxes illegally too.

If you fireplace uses outside air for combustion then I think there is a savings. If the fireplace uses the air from the house then it is comming from where the ac is trying to keep up with it. So I guess you gain on one end and loose on the other. So I guess only you can calculate if there is really a savings.

I haven't figured out why he would be running his a/c unit when he is trying to heat the house
now if he is running his central heat unit then I could understand that

 

[Suzie Q]

Probably a reverse cycle air conditioner that heats and cools?

 

[MO_cows]

$500 to $1,000 for ONE month's electricity? Somebody would have to call 911 if I ever got a bill that big, 'cuz I would have a heart attack right out there at the mailbox.

 

[novatech]

I've gone through a lot of wood in the wood stove. Had the central air running the whole time but the heat of the wood makes that huge living room much warmer than the central unit does for the rest of the house. The draft down the hall way goes through the thermostat so I know the wood has helped.

What really gets my goat on taxes is city taxes. I don't live in the city. The new 911 addresses took out the old, "Route 1, Box...." address. So your cell phone bill and practically everything else includes city sales tax. There words are, "We have no way of knowing...." The city isn't offering refunds.

Taxes in general get me steamed enough. Now they go and levy additional taxes illegally too.

If you fireplace uses outside air for combustion then I think there is a savings. If the fireplace uses the air from the house then it is comming from where the ac is trying to keep up with it. So I guess you gain on one end and loose on the other. So I guess only you can calculate if there is really a savings.

I haven't figured out why he would be running his a/c unit when he is trying to heat the house
now if he is running his central heat unit then I could understand that

An air conditioner down here does both heating and cooling.

 

[Angus Cowman]

An air conditioner down here does both heating and cooling.

Guess I have never seen one even when I lived in Texas
we had central heat and air units and still do
they have an A/c compressor outside and condensing coil in side and they also have a heat strip or gas furnace but the only part that runs on both systems is the blower fan
I have never seen an A/C unit run when it is trying to heat
that is why there is a switch on the thermostat that has heat or cool it either does one or the other but is 2 separate units
on all the ones I have seen

 

[plumber_greg]

I wonder if they're talking about what we call a heat pump? gs

 

[novatech]

Well I'll just go with ya'll and call it central heat.

 

[Angus Cowman]

I wonder if they're talking about what we call a heat pump? gs

That could be from what I have seen of them I don't think I would want one
what is your opinion on them Greg

 

[plumber_greg]

I do not have an opinion. I hate furnaces and furnace work, and refuse to talk about them. gs

 

[Angus Cowman]

Well I'll just go with ya'll and call it central heat.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
I had friend that heated with wood and he set it up too his thermostat and ductwork and the blower on his heat/ac unit would circulate it thru the house it worked real slick
kept the whole house warm that way instead of just a room or too
but he also was a HVAC guy so it wasn't nothing hard for him to do

 

[novatech]

Well I'll just go with ya'll and call it central heat.

:lol: :lol: :lol:
I had friend that heated with wood and he set it up too his thermostat and ductwork and the blower on his heat/ac unit would circulate it thru the house it worked real slick
kept the whole house warm that way instead of just a room or too
but he also was a HVAC guy so it wasn't nothing hard for him to do

The old timers that built houses before the advent of insulation and central heating systems, when all they had was a fireplace sometimes extended the fireplace into the walls where the mass of brick could give off heat all night. In the south they were concerned more with cooling. The wall framing was extended down through the floor to the beams. At the top the studs were extended up into the attic. This allowed a convection current to bring air from beneath the house and carry some of the heat to the attic. Some homes had transom windows above the doors and cupolas on the peak of the roof for the same reason. Almost forgot double hung windows.

 

[circlew]

We had a guy down here that finally got electricity. When he got his first bill he took his ax and cut the meter off the house, took it to the power company and told them to get those poles off his place. Well they didn't come get the poles so he cut them off even with the ground! They didn't fall so he hooked the old tractor to them and pulled them down! The whole town didn't have power for two days!

 

[TexasBred]

I wonder if they're talking about what we call a heat pump? gs

That could be from what I have seen of them I don't think I would want one
what is your opinion on them Greg

We have a heat pump. I know very little about them other than the air coming out of the vents into the room is not nearly as hot as a straight central heat unit. Just more of a "warm". Also from time to time the outside unit has to literally "defrost" in order to continue. I believe they also have a heat strip built in to assist in extremely cold weather. We also have a pellet stove that burns hardwood pellets. It keep the den very warm and a 40 lb. bag of pellets will last about 2 days..sometimes more..In the summer time they work great as well.....and are much more effecient. As I said in another post, our house is not huge but it is all electric and our electric bill is seldome over $200 a month even in the summer when it seems to run constantly. But we also sort of went the "extra mile" with the construction and insulation so that helps as well.

 

[backhoeboogie]

An air conditioner down here does both heating and cooling.

Guess I have never seen one even when I lived in Texas
we had central heat and air units and still do
they have an A/c compressor outside and condensing coil in side and they also have a heat strip or gas furnace but the only part that runs on both systems is the blower fan
I have never seen an A/C unit run when it is trying to heat
that is why there is a switch on the thermostat that has heat or cool it either does one or the other but is 2 separate units
on all the ones I have seen

Compressors heat. Evaporation cools. It is all one unit. Run it backwards and it heats. Below 26 degrees it is no longer highly efficient. That is when you switch over to the heat strips on "emergency heat" and watch the meter spin.

The unit is running. This is the same unit that cools in the summer only it is in reverse. I have a wood stove going in the living room. No fireplace. It is more like a wood furnace. The living room is really big but not big enough. I have to open the door and let the heat go into the rest of the house. The heat is picked up by the A/C unit when it cycles in air and it helps evenly distribute the heat throughout the house. It cycles off very quickly because it throws the heat into the room with the thermostat control.

 

[Angus Cowman]

An air conditioner down here does both heating and cooling.

Guess I have never seen one even when I lived in Texas
we had central heat and air units and still do
they have an A/c compressor outside and condensing coil in side and they also have a heat strip or gas furnace but the only part that runs on both systems is the blower fan
I have never seen an A/C unit run when it is trying to heat
that is why there is a switch on the thermostat that has heat or cool it either does one or the other but is 2 separate units
on all the ones I have seen

Compressors heat. Evaporation cools. It is all one unit. Run it backwards and it heats. Below 26 degrees it is no longer highly efficient. That is when you switch over to the heat strips on "emergency heat" and watch the meter spin.

The unit is running. This is the same unit that cools in the summer only it is in reverse. I have a wood stove going in the living room. No fireplace. It is more like a wood furnace. The living room is really big but not big enough. I have to open the door and let the heat go into the rest of the house. The heat is picked up by the A/C unit when it cycles in air and it helps evenly distribute the heat throughout the house. It cycles off very quickly because it throws the heat into the room with the thermostat control.

I can see why we don't have them here :lol:
are they supposed to be more efficient on the cooling part???