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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:02:55 PM EDT
[#1]
Wood stove and heat in Texas? Tell me you aren’t fucking serious.
 Where I live it actually gets cold and I have electric heat that never runs except in extreme, emergencies. During the summer months my electric bill is maybe $150 a month in winter if I use electric heat it’s around $800 - $900 a month. Generally, I heat with a pellet stove and my electric bill during is around $200 a month. Fucking Texas cold. Get the fuck out of here with that shit. 
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:04:56 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Wood stove and heat in Texas? Tell me you aren’t fucking serious. Fucking Texas cold. Get the fuck out of here with that shit. It's 58° dude, I'm fuckin freezin here
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:05:52 PM EDT
[#3]
Not the same case as yours but my house is all electric, 70s brick with baseboard heat. Ohio, can be hot and always humid in summer.
My winter bill is double and sometimes triple the summer. That is with house at 73 in summer and program thermostats in winter that are 61 all but evening and weekend when it's 68. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:07:08 PM EDT
[#4]
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:08:47 PM EDT
[#5]
Our first house in Houston had an electric furnace, and the winter electric bill would be like $4-500. Summer A/C bills got to be around $200 max. So yeah, electric heat is super expensive. We moved and had gas heat ever since, and it is FAR cheaper. Sorry that doesn't seem to be an option for you, OP. You might invest in better insulation. When it's 58° here, our gas heater doesn't even run that much.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:08:49 PM EDT
[#6]
We have electric heat (Heat pump) Everything else is propane. My electric bill doubled this month, $166. Highest bills in the summer run about the same. Texas hill country.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:09:41 PM EDT
[#7]
Electric HVAC, central air. Winters always cost more for me
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:11:26 PM EDT
[#8]
Electric hot wire heaters are very inefficient, never use them unless you have to.
Electric heat pumps should work fine, same efficiency as an AC in the summer. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:12:34 PM EDT
[#9]
The old house had only electric heat.
The bill was always higher in the winter than in the summer. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:24:57 PM EDT
[#10]
That feedback helps a lot.
Sounds like I am par for the course. Thanks gents. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:39:55 PM EDT
[#11]
Our winter bills are higher than our summer ones here in coastal SC. Those heat strips are on a 60A breaker, and I cringe any time they kick in.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:43:36 PM EDT
[#12]
I’m assuming you have a heat pump with electric strip back up?
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:50:21 PM EDT
[#13]
If you have a heat pump pick a comfortable temp and leave the thermostat alone. Cranking it up and energizing the heat strips is expensive, the heat pump will maintain a comfortable temperature without them until it gets below 30F or so.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 3:53:58 PM EDT
[#14]
For rural guys see about getting a propane tank and if in city check for natural gas availability. Then install 99% efficient room heaters.
I just did my daughter's house this past fall, electric bill went from 500$ last year to 125$ gas and electric combined. YMMV note: house has baseboard heat and I found an old disconnected natural gas line while inspecting her crawl space. Called gas co and they installed a new meter, I did the rest of tbe work. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 4:00:09 PM EDT
[#15]
From AR15.com I learned about dual mode heat pump/furnaces. When the temperature is X degrees below the set point or when the outside temp is below Y degrees it uses the furnace. For the rest of the time it uses heat pump mode. I think that is what I am going to go with because I have propane. I also want a wood stove just for the fuck of it. If the apocalypse comes at least I can heat my house with wood. Shouldn't take much.
Even in South Texas I much prefer a furnace over a heat pump. Part of that is because right now I am using mini-splits and I am very aware of when the unit stops to defrost. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 4:00:44 PM EDT
[#16]
SC
Heat Pump My HVAC ran nonstop until I went up in size. I mean all fucking day on cold winter (SC) days. And in the summer months also. It cost me a mint. I went up in unit tonnage and it costs less now. But I do need a dehumidifier at times in the summer because it doesn’t pull as much moisture as the nonstop system did. That is a small price to pay compared to the full electric bills I used to see. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 4:01:21 PM EDT
[#17]
Around $80-85 now, summer $115-125.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 4:07:15 PM EDT
[#18]
Check into your thermostat capabilities. If you go cold at night and then warm in the day, the emergency heat will almost always trigger. There are some thermostats that say never do Emergency Heat if the temp is higher than (ex. 35 deg). I usually disable Emergency Heat unless it gets record cold. The emergency heat has low efficiency, the heat pump can multiply the heat per energy unit, depending on outside temperature. As you get into the low 20s outside, is when the Emergency Heat is more efficient.
I also installed an efficient Propane Fireplace in my main living space room. Best change I've made so far. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 4:18:41 PM EDT
[#19]
If you have a heat pump in Texas, and your winter electric bill is higher than your summer bill, then something is wrong.
Neighbor two doors down was complaining about that last winter. I hooked am ampprobe on at the breaker box and we found the supplemental resistance heat pulling >50 amps and the compressor was also running... it was 55 degrees outside. AC service guy came out and found the reversing valve was stuck or broke or something. The compressor was running in cooling mode, then the resistance heat was warming it back up. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 4:21:12 PM EDT
[#20]
I run a mini split heat pump at my cabin. But I burn wood most of the time I'm there in the winter, so it really only heats the place for a few hours late at night.
Bills don't change much because of that. But you have to figure in AC mode it only has to lower and maintain a 20* difference or so in summer vs raise and maintain a 30-60* difference in winter. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 4:52:31 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: From AR15.com I learned about dual mode heat pump/furnaces. When the temperature is X degrees below the set point or when the outside temp is below Y degrees it uses the furnace. For the rest of the time it uses heat pump mode. I think that is what I am going to go with because I have propane. I also want a wood stove just for the fuck of it. If the apocalypse comes at least I can heat my house with wood. Shouldn't take much. Even in South Texas I much prefer a furnace over a heat pump. Part of that is because right now I am using mini-splits and I am very aware of when the unit stops to defrost. This except my propane furnace can certainly suck it down. Granted it's an older not high-efficiency unit so my plan when I have to replace it is go with a dual-fuel higher efficiency heat pump. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:06:01 PM EDT
[#22]
Have someone check it out. Heat pump should cost less to operate during the winter than summer, unless something is funky. Dirty coil, jacked up heat srips or reversing valve, etc.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:10:01 PM EDT
[#23]
Heat pump, mountainous region, northeast TN. It's much higher during the winter months.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:12:58 PM EDT
[#24]
You're describing a heat pump with electric back up hearing. But yeah, the bill in the winter is definitely higher. Our newer heat pump can keep things in the low 70's pretty well even down into the 30's or below. I'm not sure when, if ever it's had to kick on the electric back up heat, but we haven't had it that long. Very efficient.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:18:54 PM EDT
[#25]
Winter h/p vs summer a/c will be a little high with electric heat strips and slightly more run time to heat vs cool
Always keep a temp and don't vary it unless leaving for extended time An out door thermostat and wall thermostat with the ability to lock out electric heat above the balance point of the structure helps tremendously. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:19:52 PM EDT
[#26]
Texas gets a lot colder than people think. I remember sleeping outside one night and it was 19° that night... and it wasn't the coldest night I spent homeless. Er, in the field. Same thing.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:24:30 PM EDT
[#27]
The temperature differential between the inside temp setting and outside ambient temp is the reason why winter bills are generally higher than summer bills. When you set your thermostat at 72 and it's 10 outside that's a 62 degree difference. During summer you'll have less than half that if it's 100 outside.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:25:06 PM EDT
[#28]
I always looked at it like this. In the summer, if its 95 outside and your thermostat is set on 72, there is a 23 degree difference.
If its wintertime and your thermostat is set on 68, but its 30 ouside you have a 38degree difference. Might stand to reason that you are going to use more electricity in the winter due to the greater temp differential. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:42:57 PM EDT
[#29]
My all electric system is only about 2 and half years old. Lowest bill has been $79 in the fall, highest was $212 in the winter. It averages around $120 per month in the summer heat.
Like the post above says, I am putting a larger dent in the outside temp during the winter. It does not run as much in the spring or fall. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 5:54:59 PM EDT
[#30]
No, here in Florida my electric bill is 1/3 what it is during the summer and we are all electric too.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 6:03:51 PM EDT
[#31]
All electric here. Winter is double what I pay in the summer.
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Posted: 1/22/2021 6:04:04 PM EDT
[#32]
I'm like OP, even tho our heat is all from wood.
Our place is all electric. In the winter our highest electric bills are usually around $200, in the summer we get money back from the power co.  yearly cost for all of our energy costs is approx $500-$800. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 6:14:51 PM EDT
[#33]
My winter bill is always lower. 2.5t 2100sf. Temp 68*
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Posted: 1/22/2021 6:18:41 PM EDT
[#34]
Nat gas bill for December is $64. Thats about what my summer AC bill runs in July and Aug.
Replaced my hvac in 2018 with a American Standard, Trane, 3 ton 16 seer with a 95% eff. nat gas furnace. 1260sq foot frame house 23 years old. Electric in the winter runs around $28 a month. Gas in the summer around $24 a month. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 6:22:13 PM EDT
[#35]
Winter is always more expensive for me here in SC.
I have a 15 SEER 3.5ton heat pump and 10kw of electric heat strips. I have the aux heat call-out wire (white Aux my case) disconnected from my thermostat so it can't call for aux heat. The aux heat can still be called on by the outdoor unit when the defrost control board triggers a defrost cycle, but that's the only way it runs. I have a toggle switch in the basement on the Aux wire coming from the thermostat to the indoor section, and I can turn that on to enable thermostat activated aux heat in an emergency. I would rather let the heat pump run longer and use less electricity than burn 10kw at 1/3 the efficiency . The heat pump still works down into the teens outside, it's just slower. Heat pumps are naturally more efficient in cooling mode than heating due to the nature of the system. A 15.0 cooling performance coefficient may only perform at 10.0 heating performance coefficient when running in the other direction. The only way to really get away from that is to have a geothermal heat exchanger, which is initially a much bigger investment. On the bright side, I have no gas bill. |
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Posted: 1/22/2021 6:26:56 PM EDT
[#36]
I live in Central Texas. It gets hot here in the summer and relatively cold in the winters. Y'all bitchin' about Texas getting 'cold' need to chill, you Yanks melt when the temperature gets above 80?!
Before I bought a house in 2008 I lived in apartments, and they all had electric heat. Yeah, electric bills in the winter were about as high as my bills in the summertime. The house I had from 2008 to 2015 and the house I'm in now have natural gas furnaces, and a couple times in the winter the combined electric and gas bills get close-ish to the summertime electric bills. I do use an electric oil-filled radiator heater in my office/study when it's cold. |
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