Winter Storms Back East (from me)

On snow my daughter measured 25” of snow yesterday afternoon which was quite fluffy. I believe our town topped NH for snowfall amount

We got an additional 5” overnight!!!!!

Such a pain as my snowblower auger cable was slightly loose so not spinning without pressing arm down. Got tired and zip tied a water jug full to the cable spring and worked great!
 
alarmguy said:
Much of the last 20 years I had Natural gas. and also growing up in my parents house Natural Gas. About 5 years within-between those two I had oil, and it was ok, more troublesome but ok. Also I could deal with the oil companies competing on Long Island for an ok price.

Than for the least 18 years or so until 2023 we had a first floor HVAC with Natural Gas for heat and heat pump on the second floor. Because heats rises, come winter we didnt need the second floor heat pump often.

Now in our new home of 2 years, we have a heat pump for house heat and propane for hot water, stove top, fireplace.
I H-A-T-E them both the propane and heat pump compared to Natural Gas. I do think I would put oil at the bottom of the list though. I wouldnt want it again.

Thing is, with a heat pump on super cold days like now in the Carolina cost is takes FOREVER to warm up the house from our night time setting. The unit just runs endlessly and I am sure that also shortens the life of the unit. It will take hours and hours to go from a night time setback of 64 degrees to 73 daytime like today when it went down to a rare 19 degrees last night. In extreme cold it will run 15 hours maybe more in a day. Record is 21 hours in Dec.

WIth propane I am STUCK with Suburban and between the delivery charge, transportation fuel surcharge and safety fees. I can get gas for my BBQ grill for less money per gal sometimes.
Example, got topped off in October 2025 of last year, total bill was $118 for 26 gallons, roughly $4.50 a gallon
Feb 2025 $187 for 45 gallons roughly 4.20 per gallon actual payment

I dont know but seems pricey to me.

Heat pump run time Dec and most of Jan
View attachment 321862 View attachment 321863
Click to expand...
Glad I do not have those heating system decisions to deal with. I realize it is a lot to think about before picking one type....
Been having natural gas heating (we love) for many years now in this home. The total electric we had in our first house sucked.
 
SammyChevelleTypeS3 said:
Glad I do not have those heating system decisions to deal with. I realize it is a lot to think about before picking one type....
Been having natural gas heating (we love) for many years now in this home. The total electric we had in our first house sucked.
Click to expand...
Yup, natural gas rules sadly its not available in large areas of the country.
 
It's cold, the snow blower got a workout, and did well. 4WD is nice to have! The new heating system is working fine, no complaints, yet.......... ;) OTOH my wife is complaining, a lot.
 
alarmguy said:
Much of the last 20 years I had Natural gas. and also growing up in my parents house Natural Gas. About 5 years within-between those two I had oil, and it was ok, more troublesome but ok. Also I could deal with the oil companies competing on Long Island for an ok price.

Than for the least 18 years or so until 2023 we had a first floor HVAC with Natural Gas for heat and heat pump on the second floor. Because heats rises, come winter we didnt need the second floor heat pump often.

Now in our new home of 2 years, we have a heat pump for house heat and propane for hot water, stove top, fireplace.
I H-A-T-E them both the propane and heat pump compared to Natural Gas. I do think I would put oil at the bottom of the list though. I wouldnt want it again.

Thing is, with a heat pump on super cold days like now in the Carolina cost is takes FOREVER to warm up the house from our night time setting. The unit just runs endlessly and I am sure that also shortens the life of the unit. It will take hours and hours to go from a night time setback of 64 degrees to 73 daytime like today when it went down to a rare 19 degrees last night. In extreme cold it will run 15 hours maybe more in a day. Record is 21 hours in Dec.

WIth propane I am STUCK with Suburban and between the delivery charge, transportation fuel surcharge and safety fees. I can get gas for my BBQ grill for less money per gal sometimes.
Example, got topped off in October 2025 of last year, total bill was $118 for 26 gallons, roughly $4.50 a gallon
Feb 2025 $187 for 45 gallons roughly 4.20 per gallon actual payment

I dont know but seems pricey to me.

Heat pump run time Dec and most of Jan
View attachment 321862 View attachment 321863
Click to expand...

You shouldn't be doing the set back with a heat pump at all really. They work best on a constant temp so find one you are comfortable at and set it there.

However that being said the longer a heat pump runs the more efficient it is, starting and stopping wastes energy like any other appliance.

Propane is definitely a better heat source so I'd supplement with the fireplace more.
 
Thermo1223 said:
You shouldn't be doing the set back with a heat pump at all really. They work best on a constant temp so find one you are comfortable at and set it there.

However that being said the longer a heat pump runs the more efficient it is, starting and stopping wastes energy like any other appliance.

Propane is definitely a better heat source so I'd supplement with the fireplace more.
Click to expand...
I did the propane fireplace this morning, thanks for some conformation! It kicks out quite a bit of heat with its automatic blower. Also sealed behind glass, vented to the outside.

Yeah, I get the setback thing and in the back of my mind I know its better to run long term then stop start. Also Yes, I was starting to understand a constant temperature with a Heat Pump so would only set back to 67 this year but we got tired of that real fast and recently went to 64 again. Daytime is 73 +/- 1 degree.

Thing is for us, we like sleeping in the winter cold 64 degrees. When we had gas heat we would go down to 58 in our old home over time that was too cold and moved it to 62. But man, when that gas HVAC unit turned on when time to get out of bed, nice hot blowing out of the vents, NOT SO WITH HEAT PUMP on super cold days!

We actually sleep better, maybe because originally from the northeast. Granted my siblings think we are nuts. *LOL*
Im not so sure about wasting energy or better said ties for #1 as a reason but also extending the life of the HVAC I think it is less wear and tear on the unit if it runs longer vs starting and stopping. I guess that would make sense to your statement that it is also more efficient. ? Less surges of power to start and stopped the compressor, fan and blower in the evaporator should help longitivtiy ?

These new homes are calculated to the last BTU taking into account even the R-Factor of the insulation and e glass in the windows. I think its too small having a 2 ton unit for 1800 sq ft... 2.5 would have been better?

I know a family member with same sq feet but the house is just over 20 years old and has a a 3 ton unit.

One thing for sure, if you overdo it on the coast, you would have damp humid air in the home come summer time. It is nice and dry during summer and not clammy ...
 
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We got about 75 centimeters of snow in total. My HS520 curb find took care of it very easily, I did it in two rounds as opposed to attempting one shot at it, since it's a single stage. I have a massive Craftsman dual stage, but didn't bother with it (another curb find BTW). The little Honda even destroyed the windrow with SuperTech conventional 5w-20 in it . :oops:

@alarmguy, I've monitored my natural gas furnace on-time over the years and it averages 45 minutes per hour, and I keep my thermostat at 21c; I haven't checked my cost recently.
 
GSCJR said:
We got about 75 centimeters of snow in total. My HS520 curb find took care of it very easily, I did it in two rounds as opposed to attempting one shot at it, since it's a single stage. I have a massive Craftsman dual stage, but didn't bother with it (another curb find BTW). The little Honda even destroyed the windrow with SuperTech conventional 5w-20 in it . :oops:

@alarmguy, I've monitored my natural gas furnace on-time over the years and it averages 45 minutes per hour, and I keep my thermostat at 21c; I haven't checked my cost recently.
Click to expand...
I miss the rare big storms we would get on Long Island though I think the record was around 21 inches or so on Long Island around 1977/78 but if I remember correctly there was another back to back storm a little while later, also around that time a MAJOR ice storm, some people out of power for a long time and on Long Island communities built in the 50' and 60's all had baseboard hot water heat, so many homes got flood with pipes bursting during outages. It's not like the upstate at the time which has sealed systems and antifreeze in them.

Doesn't sound like a lot to you, but because we dont get those large storms, the equipment to clear the roads are much less capable.
 
In Michigan we are getting on average a few inches every day. Our coldest was -22f but this week we are averaging 5 to -10f each night so that's much better. Our snowblower has been getting more work this winter than previous years. (filled with HPL 0W-30) Dog boots required for all evening walks. ;-)

Sister down near Wake Forest NC got some ice but never lost power so she got lucky.

dogboots.webp
 
alarmguy said:
Much of the last 20 years I had Natural gas. and also growing up in my parents house Natural Gas. About 5 years within-between those two I had oil, and it was ok, more troublesome but ok. Also I could deal with the oil companies competing on Long Island for an ok price.

Than for the least 18 years or so until 2023 we had a first floor HVAC with Natural Gas for heat and heat pump on the second floor. Because heats rises, come winter we didnt need the second floor heat pump often.

Now in our new home of 2 years, we have a heat pump for house heat and propane for hot water, stove top, fireplace.
I H-A-T-E them both the propane and heat pump compared to Natural Gas. I do think I would put oil at the bottom of the list though. I wouldnt want it again.

Thing is, with a heat pump on super cold days like now in the Carolina cost is takes FOREVER to warm up the house from our night time setting. The unit just runs endlessly and I am sure that also shortens the life of the unit. It will take hours and hours to go from a night time setback of 64 degrees to 73 daytime like today when it went down to a rare 19 degrees last night. In extreme cold it will run 15 hours maybe more in a day. Record is 21 hours in Dec.

WIth propane I am STUCK with Suburban and between the delivery charge, transportation fuel surcharge and safety fees. I can get gas for my BBQ grill for less money per gal sometimes.
Example, got topped off in October 2025 of last year, total bill was $118 for 26 gallons, roughly $4.50 a gallon
Feb 2025 $187 for 45 gallons roughly 4.20 per gallon actual payment

I dont know but seems pricey to me.

Heat pump run time Dec and most of Jan
View attachment 321862 View attachment 321863
Click to expand...
See if they will sell you the tank. Then you can shop for propane. You are probably stuck with them because they installed and own the tank. I bought a used propane tank from Amerigas for $500.
 
loneryder said:
See if they will sell you the tank. Then you can shop for propane. You are probably stuck with them because they installed and own the tank. I bought a used propane tank from Amerigas for $500.
Click to expand...
Yes, you are right, I am stuck with them. We were just moving in to a brand new home, in a new state I wasnt in the position to start shopping at the time. So anyway, we have a 2 or 3 year agreement and then I plan on looking into other smaller companies in our area.
 
SwampSurvivor said:
Well, I got my oil tank filled last Tuesday and I've already used a 1/4 tank with the thermostats set only to 63° so that should tell ya something :oops:
Click to expand...
Slightly confused you said you switched to gas last year but also that you filled your oil tank?
 
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