Stayseeliz Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 We have gas heat which I HATE. It's very expensive and very "drying". It heats up the house fast but it's just overwhelming. We rarely use it. When it's really cold we'll kick it on first thing in the morning and get the house warmed up then close off most rooms and keep everyone in the kitchen/living room for the day and use space heaters. We do have a wood fireplace but I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of that either. It just stinks too much. We've thought about gas logs but I wonder if that would be as expensive as the gas heat. Any thoughts on economical ways to heat the house? I'd be particularly interested in something to keep in the kids room at night that is safe to leave on all night. We don't leave space heaters on at night. We have electric blankets and tons of other blankets. Our house is small-around 1000 sq ft but older. I don't think it's well insulated. We live in the South but close enough to the mountains that we need something to heat the house November-March. Any thoughts?? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Geek Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I know you said no space heaters but have you considered ceramic heaters? Here is an article I was just reading on their safety. http://www.doityourself.com/stry/ceramic-heater-safety-advantages-of-ceramic-heaters#.UI_RTo5brS8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrincessMommy Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 We have gas heat which I HATE. It's very expensive and very "drying". It heats up the house fast but it's just overwhelming. We rarely use it. When it's really cold we'll kick it on first thing in the morning and get the house warmed up then close off most rooms and keep everyone in the kitchen/living room for the day and use space heaters. We do have a wood fireplace but I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan of that either. It just stinks too much. We've thought about gas logs but I wonder if that would be as expensive as the gas heat. Any thoughts on economical ways to heat the house? I'd be particularly interested in something to keep in the kids room at night that is safe to leave on all night. We don't leave space heaters on at night. We have electric blankets and tons of other blankets. Our house is small-around 1000 sq ft but older. I don't think it's well insulated. We live in the South but close enough to the mountains that we need something to heat the house November-March. Any thoughts?? Thanks! ' Have you looked into a pellet stove instead of a wood stove. I don't know how the smell compares. I have family who use one and they love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I've always had gas heat. :) I turn mine *up* at night, and down in the morning. That way the house is warm when we go to bed, and the heater doesn't have to work hard to get the temperature up because of the solar heat gain from the day. In the morning, we have breakfast--the cooking heats the kitchen--and we're dressed and busy about the day, such that we can wear sweaters and whatnot and stay warm. With a programmable thermostat, I don't have to think about messing with the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I know you said no space heaters but have you considered ceramic heaters? Here is an article I was just reading on their safety. http://www.doityourself.com/stry/ceramic-heater-safety-advantages-of-ceramic-heaters#.UI_RTo5brS8 :iagree: I was always against space heaters too, but 2 yrs ago had to buy some when our heat went out during the middle of a severe cold snap (lows in the teens). I found they are much more economical than running the big heater, and they have safety features now; if they tip over, they shut off. I got the little oscillating kind and now have one for each bedroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2squared Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Have you considered radiant heat? We installed radiant heaters in all our bedrooms, and we are slowly putting them in our main rooms as well. They Are 100% efficient and we zone heat with them so every room has its own thermostat. I cannot tell you how much we love our radiant heaters. Our electric company charges a lower rate for these heaters, so not only are they completely efficient, but they are economical to operate. They will be cheaper than our propane heat this winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 We have one similar to this, same brand, probably an older model. We keep this on most of the night We also have one like this, an oil filled radiator, that has several settings and does a nice job of heating a room. It's several years old and it stays on all night. I also make sure to open curtains and let the sunshine in during the day. My dresser is on an outside wall, and often I'll just stow my pjs under my pillow so they're not so chilly. Also, as safety I make sure all of our smoke alarms are working and I don't recommend boiling water on the stove. We have a gas furnace too, which we hate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hwin Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 We have oil heat and a pellet stove. The pellet stove is cheaper to run than oil, but it costs more upfront to buy a pellet stove than a regular wood stove. However, it's pretty easy to install. My husband did it himself and he's not handy (he did have to borrow tools to bore through the side of the house.) I don't notice a smell, and my clothes don't seem to have the burnt, woodsy aroma ;) However, I do like woodsmoke so maybe I wouldn't notice it so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Do you have natural gas or propane heat? We are in Michigan and have a 2 story house with fininshed basement with gas heat, stove and hot water heater and our gas bill is about $60/month year round. Actually right now our budget amount is $25/month as we overpaid so much last year. We keep our house at about 70 degrees. If your bills seem out of line for your area/type of heat, I would have someone come and see if there is a problem with your system (leaks, poor air flow, etc) or if windows/lack of insulation, etc. might be a problem. We also have a pellet stove that we use occ. but it really doens't heat the whole house. It does the area it is in very well but not the upstairs or basement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 We heat mostly with a pellet stove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenangelcat Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Either a pellet stove or a proper wood stove. We have a wood stove and there's no smell inside. A little smokey smell outside but that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Do you have natural gas or propane heat? We are in Michigan and have a 2 story house with fininshed basement with gas heat, stove and hot water heater and our gas bill is about $60/month year round. Actually right now our budget amount is $25/month as we overpaid so much last year. We keep our house at about 70 degrees. . :001_huh: Wow, our gas company bites. They charge 25.00/month just for the "privilege" of their service. We have a new gas furnace, a small 1100 sf house with new windows, and our bills were 150.00 - 200.00/ month last winter. Our company serves a large region, including a major metropolitan area, and their customer service has the same attitude as the witches from Macbeth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Maybe West Michigan just has lower rates. Our last house was 1200 Sq. feet on the main and 1000 in a daylight basement and our budget amount there was $46-48 a month for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigitte Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 We heat with natural gas and our highest bills in the winter are about $100. We heat a total of 2000 sqft on three floors. It is much cheaper than a heat pump or oil. I would suggest the OP get an energy evaluation for the home. Our electric company helps with those and will help offset the cost of modifications that are made to increase the energy efficiency of the home. Also, I would suggest the oil filled space heaters (the ones that look like radiators). I found them to be good sources of heat; they turn off when the room has reached to temp setting; and they don't have an exposed heat source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Our heater uses natural gas. It's expensive. We've never cranked it up but my IL's pay $500-600 a month for gas during the winter. Of course they like it MUCH warmer than we do but I think it would cost us $200 easily just for gas and we pay for gas and electric on different bills and our electric bill NEVER gets below $120 so that's a steep bill between the two. I hate living in city limits and having the board of public works. It's so expensive!! I'm going to look into the ceramic heaters first and the radiant heaters. We are fairly hot natured but the kids aren't so I need to do som research on this. We live in an older home and it's just expensive to heat and cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlebug42 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Wow, we are spoiled. Our natural gas payment is $35 monthly/budget bill and we often over pay. We do keep our heat in the 65-68 degree range when it is on though or it gets way too hot in here. My sister has an infrared portable heater and loves it. It gets things super warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 We live in a very different climate from you, but our electric heat pump system combined with a good wood stove in a well-insulated house works great. :) But that's probably not much help to you. You mention that the house probably isn't well insulated. I would check your windows, if you haven't already. Our last house was old and cold, and had very old, single-pane windows. We had many of those replaced with modern more efficient windows and it made a big difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I don't know if this is an option but we have something called electricaire. Its cheap to run and works really well. Its basically a big night storage heater and once it's been on about 2 days charging it has a great background heat that helps to stop the house temperature plumetting. It also has a fan on it so you can flick the thermostat up and it will pump out hot air. Ours is really old and needs replacing and we will definitely replace it with the same thing. It does require fittingin a big cupboard as the units are pretty big. Ours is in a big cupboard at the centre of our ground floor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I love our gas heat. It's so warm. It IS drying, though, but we have a humidifier that we can turn on that makes it feel even warmer. Have you tried running vaporizers or just letting a crockpot full of water simmer all day? Have you considered putting a wood stove insert or pellet stove in your fireplace? Both are more efficient than a regular fireplace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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