[masraum]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

You have been given good advice on your existing system , limp it along the best you can until replacement . Last year I had an 18 SEER dual fuel heat pump system installed at our home in the north GA. mountains . It replaced a dual fuel system installed in 1996 . In our case our fuel is propane . Our electric bills since the new install have consistently been $50.00 - $80.00 LESS per month than the old system .

A dual fuel setup gives you the ability to heat/cool with the heat pump ( electric ) and when needed have the LP fired furnace kick in . For us generally the furnace comes on around 35 degrees and colder . I am very happy with the performance of our system .

If you end up going the LP route I highly recommend you BUY a tank vs. RENT a tank . When you buy a tank you can shop around for price/specials as any distributor will fill your tank . If you rent the tank the company you rent from is the only one that will fill it . At least that's how it is around here .

Adding LP also opens up the possibilities of adding a LP water heater or cook top or any other appliance you may want . I bought a used 500 gallon tank off CL for $200.00 and set it in place myself . It replaced a tank that the previous owner returned ( rented ) when we bought the house . Hookup was easy as everything was already there . Our house has the LP furnace and a cooktop , that's all we currently have running LP . Our tank fill lasts over a year so quite economical . Obviously the more appliances you add the more fuel you will go through . Good luck with your system .

Thanks. We will need a new water heater eventually too, and the missus would like a gas cooktop, so going propane for heat, water and range would be good.

Good to know that in your area, renting a tank locks you into that provider. I'm not a fan of being under a monopoly if I don't have to be, and I can see that being a pretty common monopoly, "our tank, our propane."

The house has at some point had some sort of gas. I'm assuming propane. There's one corner of one room that's got a pipe nipple with a valve sticking up out of the floor. I think the room had at one point been a or the master bedroom, so I'm assuming it was for heat.