creating the heat infographic

Looks great Andres

Andres has a grid style version he is working on that i like better.

A new iteration of the infographic!

Please let me know what you think and of any booboos :)

//Image has been update, pls see the new version below!

typo: pellet stove / annual maint

wood stove / annual:  s/b "clean" instead of "inspect"

typo pellet / ease

Typos fixed! Thanks!!

//Image has been update, pls see the new version below!

Typo: Coolng in summer needs an I, Cooling

wow that's a lot of data!

One comment, When I scroll enough in to read the insurance row, I have to scroll back up to see the column description.  Then I have to scroll side to side to see the row description.  This is on a 24"  vertical monitor, with the graphic using the whole thing.  

Don't hate the messenger, but perhaps this is not the best format for all this data. I don't have a constructive suggestion of how to make it better, but this is a drawback of trying to put so much information into one graphic and not in a format where you can scroll the data with the row and column headers frozen.

I guess I have one suggestion -  since it is already so big, just keep the font size the same for all rows.  That way, at least you don't have to scroll IN to read it, only up and down, and perhaps left to right depending on the resolution of the monitor. Also, a trick I use sometimes when having a chart this big is to make the rows two different alternating colors, light / dark / light, then when you scroll across it is easier to keep your place.  

Sandy

baseboard / insurance

risk of fire is baseboard only

Thanks for the feedback!, Here is the corrected version:

//Image has been update, pls see the new version below!

"long term power outage ..."  for the first five heaters ...

paul wheaton wrote:"long term power outage ..."  for the first five heaters ...

Like this?

//Image has been update, pls see the new version below!

At the very bottom, "woddlot" should be "woodlot"

This is a great infographic.  Thank you Paul and Andres.
There is a smudge/ over the square in Off Grid, second yellow grid column.

"Annual maintenance requirement" X "mini-split/heat pump/nat. gas/propane". That cell reads "~$175"  the "~" symbol is easy to misread as "-$175" with my eyesight and screen resolution... without zooming in on the chart.
Since the cell is 4 columns wide, there is plenty of space for this to read "approximately $175" or "about $175" ("about" is used several other times) and avoid it being misread as some sort of windfall. It also appears to be the only instance of using "~" so that's good.
For accessibility to those without a mathematical/scientific education, plain words are more inclusive than mathematical symbols (beyond +,-,x,/,=).

Second paragraph, 4th sentence:  doesn't it

Second row from bottom, pellet stove:  fills the house with smoke causing damage

Fifth from top, pellet stove:  usually

Thanks everyone! It is getting polishedddd!!

Here is the infographic with all these great inputs applied :)

This looks better and better.

My one change: I’d say fuel cost for rmh of “$15-$700”.

Here’s why:

We bought 3 cords of wood (a dry one and 2 green) when we moved here (in March, not an easy time to get our bearings and find dry wood to stack and stuff; we got Mud in to build it in the first week of landing the house purchase, so that also meant no time to gather wood and run it through the time machine.

For this winter we bought more wood because there was some a neighbor had to get rid of and it seemed like a win-win. (Didn’t turn out to be true but that’s another story—let’s estimate another 500 for 2 more cords, not counting what he still owes us ^*#+($). With all the other projects it seemed reasonable to buy wood. Maybe next year I’ll actually gather everything we use.

Our rmh is a Liberator generation 2, not a great instance but serviceable. It allows (with the code) a 12’ length of pipe in the bench/mass. This is a rmh with two hands tied behind its back, but it’s still the closest most people will get to one for a little while.  Acknowledge your Montana privilege a little there my friends.

By putting a range that includes a high-end figure it makes it more believable to the determined skeptic, without dancing around the truth (15$ in gas for the chainsaw I assume).

I remember in one podcast someone said they got less skeptical reactions when they simply lied, de-flating the figures for efficiency.  That got people to listen annd take in the info more. It is a long journey to believing in these things with lots of prior experience of regular wood stoves. And in the present case It’s not really a lie, it’s just the truth for a code-beleaguered situation and lazy operator.

Maybe put in “labor” there as another fuel cost.

And add “labor” to the other wood stove /masonry heater options. And “the heads of my enemies” (but only if they’re under 15% moisture).  (I don’t think they add to the cost or contribute significantly to the warmth level.)

That’s my two cents.

Shoot another idea—bottom line it for the 10-year cost, including install, maintenance, fuel, replacement of whatever, all bundled up and divided over the ten years.

Yeah that means adding another row. Sorry.

But the math should be easy after all that’s already done.

Or maybe make a separate chart that’s just the 10-year bottom line.

Optional—return on your investment after 10 years for each option

Maybe I’ll do that calculation.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1T8EX9qgD1IH_GW8rTOUFSVZ4hSlLZQQ8Db-HWiSZAOs/edit?usp=sharing

I think I got the calcuations.  I make lots of mistakes.  Spreadsheets are NOT my strongsuit.  But I think this one is 60% likely to be accurate.  At least it lays out my thinking process of how you get to 10-year numbers.


TOTAL 10-year cost with preparing for replacement, professional-install, lower limit of lifespan $26,210.00 $32,052.86 $49,393.33 $24,734.12 $32,819.12 $19,531.76 $15,037.50 $15,300.00 $52,850.00 $9,525.00

TOTAL 10-year cost with preparing for replacement, self-install, upper limit of lifespan $22,572.50 $22,127.35 $24,548.89 $14,418.48 $27,584.95 $17,976.57 $12,635.00 $12,916.67 $39,442.00 $2,258.75

The link takes you to the whole spreadsheet.  Let me know if it doesn't work.

The totals are costliest scenario (shortest lifespan of 40 years for the device, professional install) and cheapest (100-year lifespan, arbitrarily chosen, and self-install).  I added a 250 yearly surcharge for all chimney sweeps.  I averaged that over the % of people who would pay for that.

Ease of operation, first column,for clarity only:  "set the thermostat"

With more fixes:

2000p wide version:

I love this, only thing I can spot:
In the "ease of operation" box, on the left, I think the word "Set" might be partially obscured by a brown background element.
Cheers!

With a new element arrangement:

ideas for the top:


exploring the best way to heat your home in a cold climate

to get hard data in a cold climate, we keyed this information for Montana where the average home size is 2000 square feet

Image update!

A new thread for the infographic now that its done-ish!

https://permies.com/p/1991626

Andrés Bernal wrote:A new thread for the infographic now that its done-ish!

https://permies.com/p/1991626

I made it so that permies.com/heat goes to this new page.

I am sending a monthlyish now to tell people about the infographic.

Sorry - late to the party!

The line: "Can you build this yourself" has the box filled in as "probably" for Pellet Stove, Wood stove and Modern Wood stove. Yes, I have read about people building these things themselves, but not commonly. Certainly where I live, they'd all be commercial stoves and the most people would do is "install" them independently. Is that more what you were thinking of for those stoves?

I think  a word's missing from "[set] the thermostat and forget it"

And with things like Operating Cost, I'm craving a little green dot next to $15 and a red dot next to $2,121.
If I'm skimming, that just smacks me with the contrast and encourages me to dive in and see what the rest of the "story" is...

Great work, very thorough!

Thanks Aaron!

Image updated with missing word in:

Hi Andre,
This thing looks great! I am going to use it with my skeptical brother-in-law who thinks an efficient wood stove with a good heat sink would do just as well as a RMH.

Two things. The empty box for the masonry heater under the insurance line looks out of place. Should it be part of the larger box below? Or maybe part of the smaller box next to it for RMH? (See pic)

Secondly, I'm having trouble understanding what you mean by the insurance pricing? Where it says "cheapest +30%" or "cheapest -20%".

Thanks Matt! Spot on, that separation lines was a bit too long, here it is corrected:

Just curious - why a leaky shack at the top?  Wouldn't a more recognizable winter residence be more relatable, and convey the message that the RMH is suitable for the masses?

I printed the infographic on 11x17 inch paper and posted it on a bulletin board in my school's engineering building.