[FLPERMACULTURE] heating systems

[Marty Hiller]

Winter heat is a challenge. The bottom line is, you need to use less of 
it. Regardless of what form you choose it's worth investing money in 
efficiency improvements -- insulation, weather stripping, insulating 
shades, passive solar/thermal mass -- because all fuels will increase 
in price as oil and natural gas get scarcer. It can also be useful to 
have multiple heat zones or other ways to heat only the rooms that are 
in use.

I have mixed feelings about ground source heating. You need outdoor 
space where you can dig trenches to put the heat collecting pipes, and 
it requires a *lot* of electricity, which is a dreadfully inefficient 
and often dirty form of energy. On the other hand, I wouldn't trust the 
fuel prices to stay reasonable for gas/propane/oil, and biomass options 
are really limited for central heating. Oil furnaces can take biodiesel 
as an alternative, if you have a source for that -- it's unlikely to 
help with the cost, but it might make you feel better about greenhouse 
gas emissions. I don't favor wood pellet boilers because the pellets 
are a by-product of the sawmill industry, and there isn't any good way 
to ramp up production if demand increases beyond sawdust production. 
Cordwood boilers don't have that problem, but it's quite a bit more 
work to keep them stoked. You can get space heating biomass stoves that 
are flexible about the kind of fuel you use, but the technology isn't 
there yet for central heating (though it might be by the time you have 
to replace your system.) Solar hot water with evacuated tubes works 
well if you have a place to put the panels, but I don't think you can 
get enough that way to heat a home. Compost/methane systems aren't 
designed for household use, and seasonal thermal mass is only realistic 
for new construction. (I think that's all the options -- have I missed 
anything? Other than piling on the blankets?)

Good luck making your choice when the time comes.
- Marty


On Jul 29, 2006, at 9:28 AM, Charlotte Williams wrote:

> I'm wondering if anyone has any experience, advice, or thoughts on 
> using a ground source heating system in this climate (ithaca)?  We 
> currently have a natural gas baseboard hydronic system. We really like 
> the heat it puts out, but the furnace will have to be replaced at some 
> point. So we are pondering what would be the most economically and 
> ecologically thoughtful replacement - a high efficiency natural gas 
> furnace? Ground source heat pump? Something else?
>
> We'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. Thanks.
> Charlotte
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Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of 
stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.
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