Winter heating costs? (Derry, Londonderry: sales, how much, house)

[pioneer8]

Can someone teach me a little about what it is to heat an approximately 2,000 sq. ft. home in New Hampshire. How many months is it necessary? What type of heat is used? What type is best? I have not yet had the opprotunity to live in the north of this beautiful country of ours and I enter it with much excitement and a bit of trepidation. Thank you! P.S. Is there ever a need for air-condition? Do most homes have air-conditioners? Thanks again.

[thunder]

That's a very subjective.
Depends on many things:
- how warm you want to be
- what part of the state, coastal, mountains, southern NH
- rural or city
- how old is the home
- how well insulated and state of windows
- is wood stove an option

Then there are ways to control prices as much as possible.
Some oil companies give discounts if you pay within 10 days.
Some allow contract prices to be set in the summer for the following winter.
Buying wood in the spring/summer is less expensive than the winter.
The prior owners of the home generally list heating costs on the realtor information.

Only some newer homes have central air conditioning.
Mostly you see room air conditioners for the bedrooms and perhaps main living areas. Again cooling needs are dependent on all of the above and shading of the home with trees on the south and western exposures.

Expect to heat from September through May, with more in the deeper winter months. February being the worst month generally.
Air conditioning will be a week of really hot/muggy spells a handful of times during the summer, and then some general heat. All depending on your tolerance and location.

Sorry to be so vague.
Good Luck.

[pioneer8]

Thanks so much for answering. May I ask a bit more of you? Pretend the home is around Binghamton-The heat is set at about 60-The home is 50 plus years old- And we have a "wood stove" -(about which, I know nothing)-Oh yea, this fictional home is on the outskirts on some gorgeous acreage. I just need a ballpark so that we can decifer how much house we can afford. Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh yeh, we'd have a fireplace too! Can you tell I've never lived in the north??

[pioneer8]

OOPS! Not BINGHAMTON!!!??? LONDONBERRY!!! I need sleep! (smile)

[thunder]

Sighhhhhhhhh... I think I just lost the big long response I wrote by hitting the wrong button...... so here's the short version ...

Londonderry is an hour east of us.
It is within 50 miles of the coast so it will be ...slightly... cooler in summer ....when.... there is a wind from the east (maybe 5 degrees???). Winters may be slightly warmer and the snow heavier/wetter for the same reason.

We have oil heat and hot water, and a large wood stove. We keep our house on the cold side with 2 occupants. Last year we spent $500 on oil and $700 on wood. Total 1200$. The oil was much less expensive than it is now and we burned additional wood from trees on our acreage, so I dont have a true dollar amount for the wood. Also we can buy wood cheaper out here in the "country" than in the Londonderry area. We sleep in chilly bedroom with down comforters, and dress in layers with sweaters, etc.

My electric bill jumps about 25% in the summer from a/c and fan use. You may not have a problem with the summers here because it is no where near as hot/humid as the south. There may be a handful of days in the 90s. and more days in the 80s with humidity that we find disagreeable.

As for your 50 year old house...
You should check the insulation, windows for drafts, age of heating system.

and the acreage... if it is open fields/grass and/or on a hill... wind will be a factor in your heating/cooling equation.

hope this helps... can u imagine if i hadnt lost the "long" version...haha
good luck.

[thunder]

oops forgot the woodstove fireplace stuff...

a fireplace is very picturesque but a major heat/draft issue. They are not really meant for "true" heating of the home.

Wood stoves can be placed inside the fireplace or as separate unit with a vent piping outside. Burning wood kicks up dust in the immediate area. I've been told that wood pellets are cleaner burning but have no experience with them. Our stove has a glass door and we enjoy watching the flames just as much as a fireplace.

[pioneer8]

Oh my Goondness! You are so funny.That happened to me two times last night when I was replying to someone. Believe me, I know the frusteration... and I TRULY appreciate your tenacity. I will be sure to clue my husband in on all of that wonderful information. Just so you know your time wasn't wasted: I'm going to have my son print it out for me right now. (I can't seem to work that thing.) and use it for reference later... I hope we get a chance to experience the snow this winter!!! Thank you for everything.

[oddball]

I live in Derry - which is right next door to Londonderry. We have a house that is somewhat unusual - half built in 1903, the other half in 2001. As such, we have 2 heating systems for the winter of 2004/2005 - one LP and the other oil (one for each half of the house- even though the sides are opened up to each other). The house is fully vented for forced hot air and central AC. There are no fireplaces - and the house itself is 3800 sq feet not counting the 2 basements (one for each foundation).

For the 2004/2005 season we kept the house at approxiamtely 60 degress and spent around $900 a month in fuel costs between oil and LP for Dec 2004 -Mar 2005.

We purchased 2 large cast iron wood pellet stoves in the summer of 2005 - and reduced our monthly heating bill to about $600 a month (it would have been over $1100 at 2005/2006 prices assuming the same usage from the pervious season). Additionally - that was keeping the house at around 68 in the mornings and 65 during the day (57 at night). The wood pellet stoves that we purchased are almost fully atuomated, and hooked up to digital thermostats.

This year we have prebought a bunch of wood pellets (they come in tons - with a ton being roughly 4feet by 4 feet by 4 feet high, broken down into 40lb bags that are stacked) in order to lower the costs even more.

[pioneer8]

Holy Moly! I'm sorry if I've responded slowly... I got confused. I think I've too many messages running! Anyway... your quotes on prices are scary for me. I want to live there in a huge way, and yet I think we would have to sacrifice the housing we could afford for power bills?! To put it in perspective, I have owned about 2,000 to 2,500 square ft. - 1950'sconstruction to newer homes- and I think our largest air condition (5 or 6 months) + all electric for that summer, would have been $200 give or take. Our largest heating (electric) + fireplace, for maybe, 3 months worth, would be the same. These are quoted from FL and TX. I can't imagine such a large bill for heat. How do you all manage? Our income isn't too bad. We seem to always afford the average to high average housing in a community??? I'm confused. Ugh. Am I not understanding something? My husband has the potential to increase his salary by half (or better) with this move. I wonder if the new "wealth" would get eaten up with heating bills? I think we need to crunch some numbers! Thank you very much! Oh Yeh! I got it... LondonDerry!!! (smile)

[thunder]

holy moly INDEED..... I havent seen (68/65/57) winter indoor temps since my grandparents were alive!

You are probably correct about the salary.

I love it here in spite of the costs. People that have never lived with four seasons have no idea how great it can be.

If you decide to come.... invest in sweaters.... lotsa sweaters.... wool sox
hmmm flannel lined jeans??? think LL Beans....

forgot to add....
pay very close attention to the property taxes of the towns you look at here. There is no STATE income tax or SALES tax so the revenue for schools etc... comes from your property taxes.