Oil-Forced hot air VS ETS room unit
Looking for some advice…
I am in Waverley NS, Canada; climate zone 6. 800sf home on one level with a crawlspace (somewhat insulated walls, and dirt floor). House is moderately insulated. I currently spend $1000 on oil (probably more once the heating season ends due to price jump). My oil tank is due to be replaced this year at a cost of $1600. I recently explored the option of ditching my oil furnace all together and getting the Steffes ETS room unit. They quoted me $3140 installed and ready to go (including the timer for my hotwater tank, and TOU meter). On peak electricity cost is 11.6 cents/KWh and off peak is 6.5cents/KWh.
Any input on which way I should go? Ultimately the off peak usage would be nice, and not have to service my furnace and have an oil tank. My house is at the top of a hill with 42 stairs up to it, so I am sure the oil guy wouldn’t mind not delivering oil anymore!
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if anymore information is needed.
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Replies
These ETS units used to be popular in the UK back in the 60's and 70's as a low-level background heat but they generally needed a boost from a separate on-demand system in the evenings when they tended to be running out of oomph after the previous night's charge. Could work OK alongside a woodstove but unless the technology has vastly improved I wouldn't expect it to achieve the same comfort standard as your oil system when used as a standalone. Have you considered a minisplit heat pump? Could be a good match for an 800 sf home and would probably run about the same installed cost.
The same question was asked recently, so you may want to have a look:
(the spam filter won't let me link, but just search this site for "off-peak" and it's the first entry)
Future energy prices are unknown, but oil is likely to rise faster than electricity.