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I have made a successful offer on a house. When I had initially walked through with realtor, I looked at the furnace and thought something was amiss. Then durin

I have made a successful offer on a house. When I had initially walked through with realtor, I looked at the furnace and thought something was amiss. Then during inspection, the inspector told me that it was a heat pump, and it's only about two years old. My first reaction was "on no - electric heat". But later I Googled and found a page that has a cost calculator. https://www.columbiagaspa.com/services/add-or-convert-to-gas/calculate-your-savings https://www.columbiagaspa.com/services/add-or-convert-to-gas... It looks like it will be ~20% less to have a heat pump. Also natural gas prices are forecast to continue up and make the heat pump even more cost effective. I still do wish there was gas service to the house. But I doubt that I want it enough to pay for the installation.

ZeroGravitas 4y ago
If the house has no gas connection at all then, depending on local regulations, they may have been able to insulate to a higher standard, and so you save even more money. Because of combustion you need extra ventilation designed in. That and the connection cost make it an easy choice for newly built homes.
- nkurz 4y ago
  > depending on local regulations, they may have been able to insulate to a higher standard Are you implying that some places have maximum amounts of insulation that are allowed for new construction? This seems backwards.
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    No, but they'll insist on minimum ventilation if you burn stuff, which usually involves letting heated/cooled air out with the toxins.
    - Scoundreller 4y ago
      Drove me bonkers that “over-the-range” microwaves are unavailable in europe. Probably because they assume everyone uses gas and would set them on fire, or that it’s impossible for them to vent fast enough.
  - ceejayoz 4y ago
    Builders and homeowners tend to functionally enforce the minimum as the maximum.
    - throwaway0a5e 4y ago
      Yes, but mostly out of economic necessity. Unless you're building some billionaires summer cottage it's just not economically justifiable to pay for all the labor required to deviate from the standard plus all the material. If you want "better" you just do more extravagant construction but you keep to the same minimums. That said, there are plenty of people exceeding the minimums. You just don't know it because they are doing it themselves (or with a friend or two's help) on their own property and typically not pulling permits. <clutches pearls>
  - xeromal 4y ago
    If they're too airtight, it's a safety issue if you have a gas system.
- intrasight 4y ago
  The house was built in 1975. There's about 3 inches of fiberglass batting in attic. One of the first things I'll do after closing is to blow in 12+" of insulation.
  - pmlnr 4y ago
    Blow what? Don't do foam. It'll massacre the timber. If you want something else, look at hempcrete, wool, foam glass aggregate.
  - keyanp 4y ago
    If you can pay for an alternative I’d strongly consider it. Blown insulation makes a mess of the attic. Makes it really hard to work up there if you need to get access, potentially blocks your soffits and decreases airflow, and makes it more difficult and dangerous to walk without risking falling through the drywall.
- jws 4y ago
  In the US at least, high efficiency home gas furnaces bring in their own combustion air from the outside so they don’t bring drafts into the house. They also don’t have flues throughly the roof. The exhaust gas is cool enough that it goes out wherever is convenient through a PVC pipe parallel to the intake pipes.

ZeroGravitas 4y ago

If the house has no gas connection at all then, depending on local regulations, they may have been able to insulate to a higher standard, and so you save even more money. Because of combustion you need extra ventilation designed in. That and the connection cost make it an easy choice for newly built homes.

nkurz 4y ago
> depending on local regulations, they may have been able to insulate to a higher standard Are you implying that some places have maximum amounts of insulation that are allowed for new construction? This seems backwards.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  No, but they'll insist on minimum ventilation if you burn stuff, which usually involves letting heated/cooled air out with the toxins.
  - Scoundreller 4y ago
    Drove me bonkers that “over-the-range” microwaves are unavailable in europe. Probably because they assume everyone uses gas and would set them on fire, or that it’s impossible for them to vent fast enough.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  Builders and homeowners tend to functionally enforce the minimum as the maximum.
  - throwaway0a5e 4y ago
    Yes, but mostly out of economic necessity. Unless you're building some billionaires summer cottage it's just not economically justifiable to pay for all the labor required to deviate from the standard plus all the material. If you want "better" you just do more extravagant construction but you keep to the same minimums. That said, there are plenty of people exceeding the minimums. You just don't know it because they are doing it themselves (or with a friend or two's help) on their own property and typically not pulling permits. <clutches pearls>
- xeromal 4y ago
  If they're too airtight, it's a safety issue if you have a gas system.
intrasight 4y ago
The house was built in 1975. There's about 3 inches of fiberglass batting in attic. One of the first things I'll do after closing is to blow in 12+" of insulation.
- pmlnr 4y ago
  Blow what? Don't do foam. It'll massacre the timber. If you want something else, look at hempcrete, wool, foam glass aggregate.
- keyanp 4y ago
  If you can pay for an alternative I’d strongly consider it. Blown insulation makes a mess of the attic. Makes it really hard to work up there if you need to get access, potentially blocks your soffits and decreases airflow, and makes it more difficult and dangerous to walk without risking falling through the drywall.
jws 4y ago
In the US at least, high efficiency home gas furnaces bring in their own combustion air from the outside so they don’t bring drafts into the house. They also don’t have flues throughly the roof. The exhaust gas is cool enough that it goes out wherever is convenient through a PVC pipe parallel to the intake pipes.