“One thousand bucks is just insane, it’s more than my paycheque in a week by a few hundred bucks,” Joe Hebert said Tuesday of the sky-high electric bills that are arriving in this neighbourhood formerly known as The Villages, where 900 families have no choice but to heat their homes electrically.
“We just don’t know what to do,” Hebert said of the monthly bills that are hundreds of dollars higher than in previous winters due to rising electric rates and the coldest temperatures in 36 years.
[…]
They’ve already put extra insulation in the attic of their two-storey home that totals about 1,000 square feet. They don’t heat their basement and turn off the heat entirely overnight, meaning the wakeup temperature is around 12C. Hebert and his neighbours say the conservation measures suggested, such as putting in new windows and doors, don’t seem to help much.
h/t kcdist
You too eh? The “blue” box is perfect for kindling. 😉
Oh really? Someone better tell Home hardware.
http://www.homehardware.ca/en/rec/index.htm/Heating-Ventilation-Cooling-Home-Comfort/Heating/Stoves-Fireplaces/Wood-Burning/STOVE-WOOD-EPA-ESCAPE-1800-SAT-NKL/_/N-2pplZ1r4p8e/Ne-ntc74/R-I5530939?Num=0&gclid=CLmGoY2ktL0CFe99OgodmFUAeg
This one looks much like ours save for I opted for a pedestal base – no dust bunnies underneath, thank you very much.
Does a great job.
Last year we ran out of wood in the last month of below freezing nights, our bill was $788 for ONE MONTH! This yr around 3 hundred per month, same as in summer.
Currently looking at generators to run in the future as well.
One of the best and most efficient wood stoves is the Summit model made by Pacific Energy in Duncan, BC. Mine’s been going for a dozen years and works like new. An efficient and clean burning stove won’t leave creosote deposits in the chimney while holding a fire for eight hours overnight. At the time I purchased it, the Pacific Energy Summit was one of the few stoves to meet EPA standards without a ‘catalytic combustor’.
“pfft… GolfFoxtrotYankee”
This is how you show respect to other posters?
I still wish that SDA would show the posters name at the top of the post. It would spare the readers of reading a line of nonsense.
err … make that self-righteous nonsense.
No, that’s how I reply to personal insults from trolls.
I made no personal reference to anyone, however: If the boot fits, you’re welcome to wear it.
Please explain then, how a question asking how something happening in Ontario affecting you … somehow translates into a personal insult?
Specifics only please.
marc, you are correct, the oil tank is not pressurized and gravity brings the fuel to the furnace. The only pump is a high pressure pump in the furnace that pushes the fuel through a nozzle that creates a fine mist for efficient burning. The problem is condensation, particularly in outdoor tanks. The condensation will coalesce into water in the fuel. Since water is heavier than fuel it will form a ‘slug’ on the bottom of the tank and sit there all summer, slowly rusting the tank bottom from the inside over decades. The new tank design has the valve on the bottom so that any water slugs will drain through the valve and into the mandatory plastic coated copper tubing which will not corrode. Always keep the top half of the fuel tank full in all your machinery to minimize condensation, this is very important with diesel engines.
The US Navy has nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines. The reactor pile is good for 20+ years, and cannot be refuelled without cutting big holes in the ship, so the Nimitz class carriers are being overhauled and refuelled in a four year long process that will cost 2.4billion each.
If you don’t understand, then it doesn’t concern you.
have a nice day.
“Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
BTW: The reply was made to “replied to comment from Justthinkin” how is that not a personal reference? Please explain.
To be expected – an irrelevant quote.
ir·rel·e·vant
adjective \-vənt\
: not important or relating to what is being discussed right now : not relevant
Respect is earned, not entitled. Got it now?
Refer to message on March 28, 2014 1:31 AM if it’s not clear.
Just tell them you are NOT paying.
An you know where their offices are……
“Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
Sorry to annoy you. Have a nice day!
Thank you, that’s the information I wanted to know.
I’ve worked with natural gas for some years and understand these concepts you speak of, although I’ve never replaced an oil furnace nor done any work on one, or their oil tanks so I’ve never really considered it.
Just nat. gas.
RR, I have a geothermal heat pump. It heats a walk out bungalow with approximately 3400 sq ft. of finished space. It forces hot air to the upper level and heats the basement level using infloor water heat. My geothermal unit handles the heating of both on separate controls with the air side having priority. It is a 5 ton unit. It is “fed” by a 60 amp breaker and draws almost all of it on initial kick in but then cuts back. My system uses two vertical ground well loops which are slightly more efficient than horizontal loops. The wells are 320 ft deep each.
Backup on the air side is via a 20 kilowatt heater. It has never kicked in. In fact the breaker for it, also 60 amps, is turned off.
The system has been in this home since new. There is always someone at home so the temperature is set on a constant 21.5 celcius. I have a wife and two children. We live in Newfoundland 30 km south of St. John’s. I would say our average winter temperature hovers around 0 but some winters in this 7 years have been much colder especially this one.
My average hydro bill is $240 a year. December through March it is around $330 a month. Summer’s it can get down to the $160 a month range.
For comparison purposes my parents live in a smaller home and heat with oil and electricity. Their winter bills less than 1 km away for their smaller space is about the same as mine electricty wise but add on about $350+ a month for the stove oil.
My heat pump was an expensive initial install, all told in the range of $36,000 including everything (wells, pump, installation, ducting, water heating lines). Repairs in its life so far have been limited to an $800 fan motor. Sometimes when it is really cold it seems like it is running too long for me but always on the floor water heating cycle. When those rare times come I turn on the elements in the hot water tank that is tied to that system. An hour or so later I’ll turn it off but this buys the heat pump a break. This is not necessary, I’m just sensitive to the noise of the unit running constantly. This contributes to the higher winter bills.
Whether the system is heating or cooling it is tied in with the domestic hot water system as well. As a result the excess heat from the system running is captured as well.
Draw backs are few. I like to take care of things and do what I can maintenance wise. However for peace of mind I would like someone else to inspect and service the whole system once a year. There is no one out there qualified. The company that installed it no longer services these systems. I have identified a few independent people who are willing to do this but getting one to actually come and do it has been difficult. I have not had success in having such an appointment for 3+ years. The system is also a little noisy. I made a mistake on location in the home and put it on the same end as our bedrooms when I could have put it in the opposite end. The noise is not unbearable, but you know when it is on. The system is of no use in a power outage. I have debated installing a backup power system but I don’t know that there is an affordable option that can provide the amperage needed during kick in.
Overall I’m satisfied but if it every fails and the repairs look to creep over $2500 it will be replaced with an air to air unit which are more efficient now than they were then. This will take the noise outside the home and while the bills might be slightly higher it will be more common and easier to maintain.
Ontario should not be contemplating changing their vote, the only choice now is how to proceed with an indictment against the predatory kleptocrats involved.
I say, let em freeze in the dark. The vote liberal, they protest pipelines, and I am still pissed about NEP. Stupidity has consequences. Sometimes it is fatal, other times just costly; but there is always a consequence. In Caledonia the consequence was the suspension of the rule of law.
Thanks for that really detailed info. I’m surprised at only 320 ft depth. Our water well is at 250 ft. The installation costs are high but it appears to be very cost effective from then on.
Dystopian Optimist… Heat pumps have come a long way in the last 10 years. There are now models that work down to -40C/F. The EER and COP ratings have improved considerably as well. With 900 families paying $1000 a month, maybe some type of community ground source system might make economic sense.
bagadonitz. I’ve built several geo-thermal systems from the ground up and am currently developing specifications for the newest generation of heat pumps. My company will have 30+ EER units for sale in North America by the end of this year. There’s a lot of truth to what you’re saying. A geo-thermally heated 3200 square foot home of average construction we’re using as a test site here in Ontario will pay about $300 a month x 12 months for year round heating and cooling.
Because of the high air flows required for all types of heat pumps there will always be air velocity noise regardless of what type of unit is installed. An air-to-air unit will have the compressor outdoors so that noise will be eliminated but duct noise will continue. To mitigate noise and vibrations the duct plenums should have internal acoustic insulation and flex connectors installed. There are also different methods of isolating compressor vibrations but that type of retrofit requires advanced skills.
infinity squared….heh. see you ran afoul of the commie also. join the club :):)..Notice the smugness of it? Respect earned,yadayadayada.Typical leftard…respect and no mention of its shortcomings for it,but not for thee nor me.Gotta love it.
The math here doesn’t add up to me. $1076 in February = $38/day. Assuming 15 cents per kwh, that’s 256 kwh per day, or 10700 watts burned every hour of every day. I live in Ottawa, family of six, 2200 sq ft house, gas heat and hot water, my hydro bills this winter were $140 every other month. That works out to about 600 watts per hour on average. Would it really take an extra 10000 watts of constant burn to heat a house half the size of mine in Windsor with electric heat? That’s like 6-7 1500-watt space heaters on 24/7. I say the place would be a sauna with that much heat.
The duct noise is not problematic. It is the compressor noise that gets irritating occasionally but that is just me. Doesnt bother anyone else in the home. No lining in my ducts but joints to the unit are flexible and the unit is foam mounted.
Mine is Nordic GHP unit from Maratime Geothermal. Im interesred in reading up on yours if there is a website. My name ar gmail dot com with the details if you will.
bagadonitz, Thank you for your comments; the more information I have the better I can make decisions regarding future designs. I find compressor noise to be irritating as well. The second unit I ever built I mounted the compressor in it’s own heavy gauge steel cabinet and placed it on a 2″ thick vibration pad on our concrete basement floor which helped a bit but the noise was still there.
My company is a startup and as designs are in development there is only a beta website which I can’t give the URL to. When the products are launched and we have a formal website I can send you an email with the link. We are working with the Engineering department at the University of Waterloo and an offshore R&D engineering firm. Sadly until our politicians get their act together to create a program that makes manufacturing a possibility here in North America our heat pumps will be fabricated elsewhere. My long-term goal is to eventually engineer and build all our products in NA.