Heating in Colorado
New Member
I am new at this an am looking for some help and advise.
I have a Colorado 80526 2 story plus basement home which I built in 1985, all original. It is heavily insulated including triple glazing. It currently has 4 zones controlled with zone valves plus the current gas boiler does DHW. It was built to have good passive solar gain and on the current system and only uses 530 therms /year in including a gas dryer and grill. I have calculated it uses 30 therms/ mo. in summer. It requires heat only 5 month, with the maximum used in past five years 125 therms in January and averaging 74 therms per month for entire heating season. There is only my wife and I living in the house and it has 3 bedrooms with a tub and two showers. Our current gas rates are about .08 / therm plus a $10 monthly fee. We hope to be in here for many more years.
All current radiation is slant fin; I have the separate zone information. One zone is in a shop which is heated only when the area is used, which adds a sudden load of 40 degree water upon initial start up in the return. This shop has been a part of the system for only 15 years.
The system that it has been running on is a Heatmaker. This has developed a drip from the 12 gallon tank and I assume the boiler will need replaced. For the past 25+ years the basement has been kept at 72, all winter (often turned to 74 when 10 or below outside) and the 1st floor heat comes on only when the outside temperature drops enough, to come on at 70, (occasionally to 72 in evening) the 2nd floor is kept at 62 -66 and then comes on only when it is really cold, possibly below 10 and / or very windy.
I am a novice on this compared to many very experienced contractors. I am also concerned with spending a small fortune to “save energy†on a house that has cost so little for DH & DHW. I have looked around some at on demand DHW and see a lot of complaints. However, I also have been reading the forums and see many problems from a lot of Mod Coms. I am trying to be informed on what is the best way to go. Is a mod/com too expensive for the small saving I should expect? I expect I will need a side arm heater, unless there is a better idea. What about size, the Heatmaker is 120KBTU input and has always been plenty big.
My requirements seem simple, but I am looking for any input. Thank you
It must be rim joist vented. Low cost to operate. Limit up front cost, house currently only cost $160 / yr to heat & $130/ yr for DHW, $60 / yr for dryer & grill. I have more detail that can go here too.
I have a Colorado 80526 2 story plus basement home which I built in 1985, all original. It is heavily insulated including triple glazing. It currently has 4 zones controlled with zone valves plus the current gas boiler does DHW. It was built to have good passive solar gain and on the current system and only uses 530 therms /year in including a gas dryer and grill. I have calculated it uses 30 therms/ mo. in summer. It requires heat only 5 month, with the maximum used in past five years 125 therms in January and averaging 74 therms per month for entire heating season. There is only my wife and I living in the house and it has 3 bedrooms with a tub and two showers. Our current gas rates are about .08 / therm plus a $10 monthly fee. We hope to be in here for many more years.
All current radiation is slant fin; I have the separate zone information. One zone is in a shop which is heated only when the area is used, which adds a sudden load of 40 degree water upon initial start up in the return. This shop has been a part of the system for only 15 years.
The system that it has been running on is a Heatmaker. This has developed a drip from the 12 gallon tank and I assume the boiler will need replaced. For the past 25+ years the basement has been kept at 72, all winter (often turned to 74 when 10 or below outside) and the 1st floor heat comes on only when the outside temperature drops enough, to come on at 70, (occasionally to 72 in evening) the 2nd floor is kept at 62 -66 and then comes on only when it is really cold, possibly below 10 and / or very windy.
I am a novice on this compared to many very experienced contractors. I am also concerned with spending a small fortune to “save energy†on a house that has cost so little for DH & DHW. I have looked around some at on demand DHW and see a lot of complaints. However, I also have been reading the forums and see many problems from a lot of Mod Coms. I am trying to be informed on what is the best way to go. Is a mod/com too expensive for the small saving I should expect? I expect I will need a side arm heater, unless there is a better idea. What about size, the Heatmaker is 120KBTU input and has always been plenty big.
My requirements seem simple, but I am looking for any input. Thank you
It must be rim joist vented. Low cost to operate. Limit up front cost, house currently only cost $160 / yr to heat & $130/ yr for DHW, $60 / yr for dryer & grill. I have more detail that can go here too.