How to Green Your Heating

So You Wanna Do More

Not content with just getting by? Go hardcore.

1. Insulate your home
While many new homes are already well insulated, older ones are probably due for a repackaging. According to the Dept. of Energy, your home’s insulation hot spots are:

• The attic, including the attic door, or hatch cover.
• Under floors, above unheated spaces, around walls in a heated basement or unventilated crawl space, and on the edges of slabs-on-grade.
• Exterior walls, when constructing a new house or remodeling or re-siding your old one.

Before you decide to go about doing it yourself, get a quote from a local contractor to see if that makes sense, or cents. The cost of the insulation material alone might be roughly the same as having someone do the entire job for you.

When retrofitting an older home, tearing up your walls to wrap your home in some standard batt insulation (fiberglass rolls) may not be an option. Expanding foam insulation or cellulose, which can be literally pumped into your walls, may be the best bet. While it costs 5-10% more than regular batt insulation, the expanding stuff can be installed neatly (by a contractor) within a few hours.

As commenter Mike J. recommended to Lloyd, “A contractor simply drills a 1” hole, usually with a hole saw, so the plug can be replaced and re-plastered in, then lowers a tube through the hole down to the bottom of the wall and slowly injects the foam through the tube from a canister the size of a bbq propane tank. You … have a well-insulated house in 2-6 hours. The disadvantage is that with install it costs about 5-10% more than batting, and really does need to be installed by contractor or someone who has a precise understanding of the behavior of the product. It cannot be applied directly to old uncovered interior electrical wiring, (if the wires are stapled or just clamped to a stud in the wall. It needs to be modern wiring in conduit tubing or a heavy PVC jacket) as the added insulation may cause the old wires to overheat and present a fire hazard.” If you’re planning on some serious insulating, make sure to check out Don Vandervort’s HomeTips.

2. Go biodiesel
While biodiesel was previously overlooked as a heating fuel because heating oil was cheaper, rising prices for conventional heating oil have made the stuff more attractive. The National Biodiesel Board's website now lists about two dozen companies that supply biodiesel-blended heating oil, known as BioHeat, to residential customers, as well as a useful FAQ. Like biodiesel, Bioheat (which burns in any ol’ oil furnace) may be eligible for tax incentives in some states (like New York).

3. Install a firewall
If you crave a fireplace for a medium-to-small space (and live in the U.K.), the Esse Firewall not only promises 100% efficiency, but the gas-fired wall-mounted fireplace uses catalyst gas technology to clean the air it uses. And even when it’s off, the minimalist, framed fireplace looks hot. The price is around £700 in the UK, but there’s no word yet on dealers in the US, Europe or Asia. Buy online here.

4. Geo-exchange
Using 30-60% less energy, running quieter, and requiring less maintenance than typical HVAC systems, geo-exchange (sometimes called geothermal) systems use a loop of underground water piping to transfer heat from the earth below where its cooler to your home (in the summer, it’s cooler underground, so that this same process in reverse can serve to cool your home). It’s like an AC in principle, but much more efficient.

While a 3-ton geo system at $7,500 compares with $4,000 for a traditional HVAC system (according to the Dept. of Energy), a geo system could save around $700/yr., paying for itself in less than six years, not even counting the lower maintenance costs as well as the government rebates and incentives available (thanks Mr. Electricity http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/cooling.html). Over 1 million homes in the US (including George W’s Texas ranch) use geo-exchange systems, saving 9 billion pounds of CO2 per year. See our post about it.

5. Hit up the sun
If you have an unshaded, south-facing location on your property, heat water with electricity, and have high electric rates, a solar water heater may be a good option. The D of E notes that more than 1.5 million homes and businesses in the United States use solar water heating systems, and surveys indicate over 94% of these customers consider the systems a good investment. And over a 20-year period, one solar water heater can avoid over 50 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. When shopping for a solar water heater, look for systems certified by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation or the Florida Solar Energy Center. Tax credits or rebates may also be available.

If you live in the U.S., check the Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy Web site to see if you might qualify. See the DoE’s site on solar systems for more information. And check out this article (PDF) from Home Power magazine for a run-down of the different systems available.

6. Upgrade your furnace or water heater
Installing a new furnace can be a headache and will cost anywhere from $1,700 to $3,500, depending on the complexity of installation. But the savings down the road could be tremendous. The latest models are required to turn 78% of their fuel into heat, but many new furnaces far surpass that. Before you get a new furnace though, make sure your old one can’t be improved by a few modifications or repairs. The Dept. of Energy offers a wealth of information on upgrading your furnace or boiler. When it comes to upgrading your water heater, consider going tankless. Tankless gas water heaters heat and deliver water almost instantly, translating to much less water wasted when starting your shower or turning on a faucet—and up to 30% savings on your water usage. Rinnai makes a good one. Visit the Dept. of Energy’s useful site to review water heater options before upgrading.

7. Pellet stoves
Mixing the old-fashioned wood stove with cutting-edge biomass-burning pellet stoves are an extremely efficient heating option, producing very little waste and using inexpensive fuel. The pellets are generally made of a combination of wood chips and organic materials, and, depending on your equipment, you can make like Doc Brown (in Back to the Future, remember Mr. Fusion?) and burn waste materials, like grape waste, olive pits, almond shells, cotton-gin trash and hog waste, cutting down on shipping and distribution costs, and the requisite pollution that comes with it.

With combustion efficiencies of 78%–85% (and heating capacities that range between 8,000 and 90,000 Btu per hour), pellet stoves are also exempt from United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) smoke-emission testing requirements. Though the cost ($1,700 and $3,000) can be steep, they’re often much easier to install than any other type of heater, since can be direct-vented and do not need an expensive chimney or flue. See Bixby Energy, which sells the stoves and pellets, and consult the DoE’s site. And see our posts here and here.

By the Numbers

Want the real deal? Here's where the rubber meets the road.

1. While a gas furnace is 16,500 times dirtier (more pollution) than a wood stove or furnace produces only. A pellet stove is only 2,500 times dirtier. (Doesn’t sound like a reason to consider getting one, but it is!) And yet …

2. … CO2 emissions are reduced by 9 billion pounds (4 billion kilos) for every million homes using geo-exchange instead of traditional oil or natural gas heating systems in the United States. That would be the equivalent of converting about 600,000 cars to zero-emission vehicles, or planting more than one million acres of trees.

Getting Techie

Not content with the high level? Here's the nitty gritty.

The value of R
Remember, the ability of insulation to resist heat flow is measured by a rating known as an R-value. While recommended minimum R-values for homes will vary by climate and may be affected by how a house is built and the type of heating used, here are a few rules of thumb:

• For mild climates, R-11 in the walls and floors and R-19 in ceilings below ventilated attics.
• For moderate climates, R-19 in the walls and floors and R-30 in ceilings below ventilated attics.
• For cold climates, R-19 in walls and under floors and R-38 to R-49 in ceilings below ventilated attics.

For more specific recommendations by region, see the Dept. of Energy’s insulation site.