Pat Brennan wrote:
I did the same sort of back of the envelope thing last night and got about
the same numbers as Ray. When the heater is running you will be using the
juice that would be required to light 100 60W light bulbs. If your house
has the normal 200 amp service, this unit will require over 10% of that
service when ever it is on. Depending on the area, electric heat can be 3
to 4 times more expensive to run then gas, oil or propane. The extra cost
of installing one of these non electric heaters will often be paid for in
less than one heating season. I know lots of people that are very happy
with natural gas, but for many of us that is not an option. I prefer oil to
propane because of the ethylene produced by burning propane (oil is also a
little cheaper per BTU). If you opt for propane, make sure the unit is
power vented.
Pat
Pat,
And if your house was built more than 15 years or so ago, you
probably have 100A service (or 60A, in my old 1940's house). I'd hate
to see what that load would do on 60A - you would minimally expect your
home electronics to burp every time the greenhouse heater kicks in - I
bet it would destroy my TIVO. Figure a couple thousand dollars to
upgrade to 200A (after the power company charges you for the new wires,
and the electrician charges you for the installation, pay permits from
the city, and you decide to go ahead and bury the wires since you are
mucking with it anyway, and.... anyway, I've been there already.
Twice).
Do you have a source for oil fired greenhouse heaters? I've only
seen propane or gas, but I haven't looked hard. Since I already heat
the house with oil, it makes sense to heat the greenhouse the same way.
I'd need another oil tank, but that isn't too expensive. For what it is
worth, my furnace guy says that warm oil burns better than cold, so if
you have the option you should put the tank in a heated space. I don't
think I'll be putting a fuel oil tank in my greenhouse, but I thought
I'd throw that out there.
Does anybody use an oil fired boiler for hot water heat in the
greenhouse? I'm thinking hot water heat is the way to go for me. You
can probably make a serious dent in your fuel bill by putting a solar
hot water collector in line with your oil boiler. It is cheaper to heat
hot water, and even on a cloudy day the solar water would be at least
somewhat warm... Actually if you put a solar hot water collector in
line with one of those 'on demand' electric water heaters, you might be
able to heat a greenhouse with electricity for an almost reasonable
price. You can build a solar water system from spare parts and your
neighbors garbage. Or at least my neighbor's garbage (I see an old hot
water tank out there right now).
Rob
--
Rob's Rules:
http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit