Up here we have Propane or Electric, or a water heat pump or firewood
the later are not very good heat forms, not very effective or efficient either
We have no natural gas up here at all, too much granite they claim to trench thru...
so it's Propane or Electric
solar is a total joke when it snows, don't get me even started
Propane is volatile (cost more to use) & it goes up & down a lot, like the market
when we did ours,
a 'Train' (& Carrier) HVAC Heat split pump & air handler in the garage,
in like 2013 IIRC
4 tone A/C unit, (not sure the seer rating) & 4,000 watts (heat),
we unplugged 1 bank, so it's 2000 watts of heat, 4,000 watts was pricy to run
if the 1) 2000 watt heating element ever burns out,
we always got the other one to plug in to
Now after the 1st month we needed the heater, not so expensive to use,
I set the thermostat at 68* winter & 77* summer
pretty dang affordable & pretty dang comfortable "NOW"
(we have a wood stove too, but dad's breathing is poor, so I don't usually use it,
unless the power goes out, I have a 3,500 watt generator too)
(we had a swamp cooler for years, made the house humid as ****,
house was built in 1989 'archaic thinking even for then', to not do HVAC,
we 'had' a propane heater/forced air handler unit in the garage)
our PG&E (electric) has gone up 40%+,
but not as much as Propane has
we were using like 220 cu/ft per month of propane, mostly in winter
at it's low of like $1.84 per/cu ft, it's nowhere near that cheap now
our electric bill went up like $100-$125 in the winter, after the HVAC unit
(we are in a Co-op 'to buy Propane in bulk prices", to way better price,
that the reg Joe Smoe)
But nothing like the propane bill 'was'...
Propane is like $2.84+ per/cu ft now, with the Co-op even, we saved $3,000+ annually
going electric for us, just in the less propane aspects...
It's 3 bd 2 bath single story, 2x6 walls T-111 siding, comp roof,
18" of insolation blown in the attic & above the 2 car garage,
1660+sq/ft house, it gets to 105*f+ at times here,
stays hot till 10pm at night
in summer, & down to about 15*f at the lowest, norm of 28*-30*f midday
in mid Jan. 'maybe' less some years
our winters are usually mild-ish, 32*- 45*
still able to drive classic cars for about 10 months a year, even here
"most years"
but we get like 3 of every 7 are harsh, winters
like 2021, 2022, 2023, El Ninio years... we got dumped on, big time
we had a crapload of snow/cold/wet weather the past 3 winters
our normal is like 41"s of measurable precipitation annually
those 3 years were well over 110"s to 200"s,
with a 25ft of snow accumulation
110+ days of snow, & another 50+ of atmospheric rivers of rain, crazy winters
but;
the only thing we have on propane now, is our Hot Water heater,
older unit still, 50-gal upright tank
it uses about 100 cu/ft 'a YEAR',
I have a smaller vessel/propane tank like a 120 cu/ft tank now too
it's filled now once a year
(120 cu/ft would be just a partial month prior, to the new electric HVAC unit)
for 2 baths/showers, dishwasher & 2 empty nesters Batchlors
me & my father & my dog (now pup Baron/Lab)
Only thing that sucks, about an electric HVAC split unit,
is when the power goes out
I need to plug in the generator, & maintain it,
mostly for the refer, or to get heat
or we just burn wood, in the wood stove, in the living room & cook on it too...
