Heating our home!?

Question

We are looking at making our home eco friendly and would like to ask if anyone knows where we can start!

What would be the best way to heat our home, and the best energy supplier or way of supplying energy?

Solar heating, solar power, wood burner, gas, electricity supplier.

Any ideas, mail me!

Answer 1

There are lots of things

For heat:

Solar- Extreemly ineffective. they cost a ton and don't work half the time. They are also easily damaged so they aren't that great.

Gas- is currently the cheepest way to go and the most efficiant. We have a 94% efficant furnace and my bill was like $40/month this winter and we were 70 inside. but that could change with the cost of it going up

Electric- Generally is not as efficant as gas forced air but good for smaller spaces

Wood- is actually ecofriendly becuase it is renuable but it is a lot of work. My neighbor heats his home by wood and it is pretty toasty but the further from the stove the colder you get

Heat pump- very expensive but effective.

Answer 2

Start in this order:

1) Electricity supplier (low cost, can be completed in a day)

2) Efficient lighting (low cost, can be completed quickly)

3) Insulation and draft exclusion (high impact)

4) Double glazing

5) Heating sources (changing old boilers etc).  I recommend adding a wood burning stove :)

6) Solar hot water

7) Solar electricity (high cost, low return on investment)

These pages will give you answers to some questions:

http://www.cat.org.uk/information/info_c...

http://www.cat.org.uk/information/info_c...

and they have some great information sheets here:

http://www.cat.org.uk/information/info_c...

Answer 3

Check out energystar.gov   They have lots of good info. on there.

Answer 4

Natural gas, possibly supplemented with solar heating panels.

Answer 5

solar heating is the way to go

Answer 6

http://www.nevelsstoves.com/

pellet stoves.

Answer 7

one thing that is overlooked... is that in  winter the air is dry.

with out moisture in the air heat doesn't  transfer well.

you have to keep your thermostat higher to get the heat where you need it.

ever noticed how muggy your house gets when you run the clothes dryer?

Keeping a proper humidity level can save more energy than people might think

Answer 8

If you are building it from scratch then you're in luck. See website below.  If you already have a home, install skylights thru out your home.

Another idea to improve your indoor air is have more live  plants indoors.  http://www.gardenersnet.com/hplants/

http://www.zone10.com/tech/NASA/Fyh.htm

A thermosiphon solar hot water system is the best because it has no moving parts and requires no electricity.

Answer 9

The New Natural House Book is a good place to start see link below. Eco is more to do with fitting harmoniously with your environment and making best use of local resources - so what is good in one location is less practical in another.  So depends largely on what you have to start with.