Propane or electric?

We're planning for the new house build. I'm trying to decide between a heat pump or a propane furnace.

Tell me what you'd go with and why.

I built 2 years ago and went with propane. I believe it is cheaper. Also I could get a 50 amp gen and run my entire house in the winter. Propane stove, water heater and furnace.

Last year I used less than 300 gallons of propane in a full year and I had a tiered electric plan. Under 1k I paid 47 a month, 1 to 2k 160 a month. I had 4 months of 160 8 months of the 47.

I have had both, and not really sure what I would prefer, I liked both. My new house has a 20 Seer heat pump, and I am heating 2400 sqft. So far since I turned it on when it cooled off, my electric bill is running about $55.00 per month. The stove and water heater are propane, and I use about 12 gallons per month. The main difference I see is the heat pump does not put out as hot of air as far as I can tell, but I have never enabled the heat strips since it has always kept up with no problems.

Hate my electric heat.

Propane.

The secret about heat pumps is once it gets below 35 to 40 degrees electric heat kicks in

There are good and legitimate reasons behind the saying "Now you're cooking with gas".

Not having gas is one thing I dislike about my house.

I’m waiting for Fireman to answer

He thought of everything.

First, make sure your building is well insulated and with good windows and doors.

Todays heat pumps are very efficient and operation cost is about same as natural gas. Generally speaking, at about 35 degrees, the you will need auxiliary heat. The normal option is electric strips.

If you desire propane over electric auxiliary heat, you can use a dual fuel setup. When the heat pump is unable to provide enough heat to maintain set point in home, the system switches from heat pump to propane furnace.

As stated, a portable gen will power propane furnace. However, an 1800 watt inverter genny will power a portable electric heater.

If you go propane, use a 95% efficient condensing furnace. But you cant dump furnance condensate into septic.

Will you have propane for cooking or water heater?

Chances are, I would go 16 SEER heat pump with electric auxiliary heat.

Yes, our range and water heater will be propane.

The newer units lose efficiency but still work below that temp

We built 2 years ago. Spray foam insulation and best windows money could buy. We went propane for heat and hot water. Our water bill this month was $37, it can hit $600 in the summer while trying to water an acre. Our Propane bill this season has been CHEAP, filled half in October for $256, that’s 100 gallons. We still have over 30 gallons. Our 5 month old runs HOT, so we let the house stay around 66-68, which means little to no propane used. Our attic is warmer than the main level of our house thanks to spray foam, it stays around 75 year round. I am terrible with turning off exterior lights, but we run all LED, our electric bill today was $58. I can’t stress enough the importance of SPRAY FOAM

There are variables with your question. It has to do with the efficiency rating of the furnace.

I prefer a heat pump with a gas log fireplace. Heat pumps are very efficient now. If there is an electricity outage we have hot water and heat.

Though we used to use the gas logs quite a bit, not this non-winter---yet.

Since you are investing in the propane storage and piping, a 95% condensing furnace with 16 seer straight cool AC would be an good option. Just taking a wild guess, up front and operating costs should about close as heat pump with electric strip back up.

As far as powering with a genny, the electronics on 95% will require an inverter genny.

You can dump condensate in the the septic....the volume is low compared to the amount of standard household gray water going in. Every condensate on homes being built in the country is piped in to the septic....including the condensing tankless heater units. If you are worried about it, you can add a condensate neutralizer, but imo it isn't necessary.

I am pretty religious about adding septic saver bacteria and enzyme treatment....our septic system has never been an issue.

I could see myself going to a heat pump with my next replacement.

It costs almost twice as much to generate a BTU of heat with electricity as it does with gas. That's why those who tout electric heat sources are so heavy on having plenty of insulation so the overall costs can compete with a more poorly insulated home heated with gas. Insulate your home well and use gas and there's no way the cost of using electricity can compare.

In the dead of winter, we can heat our somewhat poorly insulated home, cook, bathe, and dry clothes on roughly $50 a month, which is about what it costs in electricity just to keep the lights and TV going.

Actually, you are correct in this temperature zone, if you have your system all pvc products. I agree, the acidic condensate should not negativly impact septic enzymes.

But officially, the acid should be neutralized before dumped into sanitary. The concerns are degradation of copper and cast iron plumbing. Which I have witnessed. I know of an instance, a Lennox Pulse was drained with a copper line, terminated at a concrete floor drain. Took 15 years, but pipe, concrete and cast iron drain required repair.

Some areas, building code require a neutralizing pit or well filled with calcium product to allow proper contact time prior to entering sanitary. And, in those temperature zones, condensing furnace are required.


Personally, if I was on a septic, unless restricted by code, I would terminate acid condensate into a good french drain.

Propane

Our house has the spray foam and a heat pump. The water heater is propane. What BigPig says is dead on. What Texas Dan says about electric heat (from the heat pump heat strip) is partially correct. It may actually cost more to make heat with the electric strip, but it’s only when the outside temp gets near freezing that the electric strip comes into use. That isn’t often. And any suggestion that standard insulation is as good is ridiculous.

I went with the electric strip to NOT have propane in the attic of a sealed house. Just made me nervous.

You really do want spray foam if you are building a new house. Heating and cooling costs are much lower. We had 3 houses built with standard insulation, but went with foam for this one. It’s an amazing upgrade. Only pass on it if you can’t afford it.

I see having gas as a pain in the azz. I have lived in all electric houses all my life and been plenty happy. I would go all electric.

Personally if im going to cook over fire im gonna go out and light the grill or smoker, I don't care for cooking on gas stoves, always seems to be uneven heat, hotter than hell in the middle and nothing on the edge. Never been unhappy with an appropriate size electric tank water heater. While electric heat is the downfall of the electric end of things I do not like keeping a toasty house and heat pumps have come a looooong way. If I lived in a much colder climate my opinion on that would probably change, but im south of san Antonio, im more prone to heat stroke in December than frost bite.

Some have claimed we're making homes so tight these days that they're becoming more unhealthy than the drafty homes of year's past.

My father in law is on that train of thought as well, homes need to expand on contract with the changes in weather. With that not happening moisture builds up and then you have mold. However, a few seasons ago on This Old House they did a zero energy house. The amount of insulation, thickness of walls and putting the studs closer together was amazing to maximize the r-rating of the house. They discussed the potential of mold growth and they put in a fan to help circulate the air within the home to help prevent that. The goal of the homeowner who was also an architect was to get his meter to spin backwards within on year. The walls were so thick it looked like he was living in an old stone house you see in the northeast. It was pretty interesting to watch.

The quality of the air in such a sealed environment over time would appear to be an issue as well.

You have to wonder given how busy people stay these days if they ever open their windows at any time during the year.

With foam, which we're doing, a properly sized and designed HVAC system is crucial. My brother is a builder in Alabama and is a fanatic about building his homes as air tight as possible. To go a long with that, a lot of effort and planning is put into the HVAC to be sure it is right. Typically, the tonnage of the AC unit is decreased and/or a variable speed unit is used to allow the ac to run longer better reduce the humidity in the house. Too big of a system that only runs for a few minutes does not have time to really condition the air in the home and then you can get major moisture problems.

Re foam encapsulated buildings.

All fossil fuel appliances, with the exception of cooking appliances, must be condensing. Condensing fossil fuel appliances draw 100% of combustion air from outside the encapsulated space. Combustion air and flue gas plumbing should be PVC for cost and prevention of degradation.

Fresh air shall be introduced in front of the filter via a duct connected to outdoors.

There are controllers which are field calabrated to control a motorized damper. When tge furnace blower is operating, the controller opens tge outdoor duct damper, drawing in fresh air. Variables such as occupancy, square footage, duct CFM and blower run time are processed by controller logics to insure proper air exchange in building.

We have an air exchanger (Honeywell)that moves in fresh air and swaps heat or cool with the air leaving. That system provides fresh air for the interior of the ‘sealed’ home. And it isn’t as sealed as you might think, so no worries. We’ve had this system for 10 years.