Home Energy Question. Would it be more economical to

[leftyladyfrommo]

set the temperature in my house at 60 and then just warm up whatever room I am in with an electric heater?

Oil is going to be so expensive this year. I have natural gas heat. And a very small house. I am thinking that it would be cheaper to just heat the room I am using with a space heater and leave the furnace at 60%.

Anybody know about this stuff?

[unblock]

1. as a general rule, it is more economical to alter the temp of only the room you're in

as against that, with a small house there might not be much difference.

there are, of course, differences in energy sources, but to some extent energy is energy and it's not like electricity is going to be dirt cheap while oil is sky high.

[pwb]

2. I do that, but it does make for a cold shower in the morning.

Or you could move the heater temporarily into the bathroom in the morning. i think electricity is cheaper than oil at this point so it may be cheaper to use the space heater. just my two cents though.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. I know. It's hard to know which way to go. I read that electricity

is cheaper right now. But running a space heater isn't cheap, either.

It doesn't really bother me to have the house at 60 if I wear extra layers of clothes. And my animals like it better when its cooler. And I know I sleep better.

I just don't know how lower middle class and poor people are even going to make it throught the winter this year. A lot of them here try to heat with space heaters - since their gas has been shut off - and they end up burning the house down.

The only good news is that we are supposed to have a mild winter this year in the midwest.

[Warpy]

10. Consider this alternative

http://www.eheat.com/site/products.php You turn it on an hour or two before you need to use whatever room it's in, let it do its thing.

It's not radiant heat, something I haven't found all that good anyway, it just heats a room. If you're looking for heat in a room while you're sitting and watching TV, why not get an electric blanket to roll up in? That's about the cheapest heat out there.

[leftyladyfrommo]

12. Well, that's an idea. I almost burned up in an electirc blanket once

and have been afraid of them every since. But if I only used it while I am awake that should work.

[Breeze54]

4. What do you think of this idea?

I want to do it! :D

Solar energy for one room!!!!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=353x1565

Save Money on Heating Costs

http://financialplan.about.com/od/savingmoney/a/HeatingCosts.htm

Reduce Heating Costs With These Money Saving Tips

If you live in a region that is cold in the winter, heating costs take a big bite out of your monthly budget for 25 - 50% of the year. Due to the rapidly escalating costs of home heating oil, propane, and kerosene, you may be paying twice as much to heat your house as you did just a few years ago. You can cut your heating costs significantly by following these money-saving tips.

* Do an energy audit of your house, identifying areas where heated air is leaking out. Check around doors, windows, fireplaces, and other areas that may feel drafty. Use caulk, weather stripping, door sweeps, plastic, and other appropriate means to close off these leaks. If your house is poorly insulated, adding additional insulation will pay for itself in reduced heating costs.

* Minimize your use of ventilation fans such as bathroom fans and kitchen hood fans in winter. # A bathroom fan can suck all the heated air out of the average house in little more than an hour. Over the course of the winter, ventilation fans can increase your heating costs by a surprising amount.

# Don't heat areas of your house you don't use regularly, such as guest rooms. Close heating vents or turn back thermostats in those areas and close the doors for a painless reduction in heating costs.

# Turn down the heat and use space heaters to heat the room you spend time in.

# Keep your furnace, heat pump, or other heating equipment in top operating condition. Dirty filters reduce the efficiency of your furnace or heat pump. Poorly tuned units are inefficient and use more fuel. An annual maintenance agreement is well worth the money to ensure that your equipment is properly maintained and will last as long as possible.

# Don't turn your thermostat up above the desired temperature. It won't heat up any more quickly and will make your furnace work harder. Also, while it makes sense to turn the heat back when you're sleeping or not at home, turning it down too low can actually cost you more because the contents of the house have to be re-heated in addition to the air. 68 to 70 degrees while you're home and awake, and 60 to 65% while you're asleep or not at home are reasonable temperatures.

# Consider a programmable thermostat to raise and lower the temperature at pre-set times.

# Check the temperature setting on your hot water heater. If you have a dishwasher, your water should be heated to 120%. Otherwise, it can be somewhat lower.

# If your water heater is in an unheated space like an unfinished basement, wrap it in an insulation blanket available at hardware stores to prevent heat loss.

# Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible.

# It's tempting to stand under a hot shower on a cold morning for as long as possible, but cutting your shower time in half can save up to 33% on your hot water heating costs.

# In winter, open the blinds and curtains on the sunny side of the house (the south-facing side) when the sun is shining and close them as soon as the sun goes down to retain the solar heat. Close curtains on the shady side of the house (north-facing side). If you don't have curtains, consider installing some. Curtains made from heavy fabric with lots of folds (fullness) can prevent cold air from seeping in and warm air from seeping out, which reduces your heating costs.

[leftyladyfrommo]

6. Thank you for those tips.

My house is so small and old that a lot of the tips for newer houses just don't work. I put new windows in and that made a huge difference. But I know I still leak a lot of hot air outside.

But see, they say to use space heaters.

[Breeze54]

7. Make sure you insulate electrical outlets & doors!

Do you have heavy curtains? I do, the insulated kind. They make a big difference.

What about your clothes dryer? Can you reuse that hot air? :shrug:

Put a panty hose leg over the vent hose and reuse that hot air.

Turn down the thermostat on your hot water heater too.

Use the stove less, Use the microwave more.

[NC_Nurse]

5. I just talked to the heating guy yesterday about

the oil heater. He said that the best thing to do is avoid turning it off and on a lot or making large changes in temperature
because the heater has to use more oil to heat up everything in the house. He said to leave turning it down some when you weren't home was good but not off or
WAY down. He didn't seem to think electric space heaters were very hepful because electric heat isn't very efficient or effective.
Just his opinion, I guess.

[Breeze54]

16. Heat Your Home with Biodiesel !!

Heat Your Home with Biodiesel

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Alternative-Energy/2003-12-01/Heat-Your-Home-with-Biodiesel.aspx

by Greg Pahl

Although it has been promoted mostly as a fuel for diesel-powered vehicles, biodiesel is
perfectly suited as an additive or replacement fuel in a standard oil-fired furnace or boiler.

When used as a heating fuel, biodiesel is sometimes referred to as " biofuel" or "bioheat."
Made from new and used vegetable oils or animal fats, this fuel also has the advantage of being
biodegradable, nontoxic and renewable: While fossil fuels took millions of years to produce, fuel
stocks for biodiesel can be created in just a few months, and the plants grown to make biodiesel
naturally balance the carbon dioxide emissions created when the fuel is combusted. What's more,
the resulting fuel is far less polluting than its petroleum-based alternative.

A HOT IDEA

The idea of using vegetable oil as a fuel source isn't a new one:

More........

[IDemo]

8. That's what we do

We have three oil filled electric radiators, in the bedroom, computer room, and living room. It has definitely saved money, but then again our power rates here are significantly lower than average.

If you are considering this, I strongly advise one of these:


and not one of these (wall mounted unit from "Econo-Heat"):

[haele]

9. When I was growing up in an old 1910's barn of a house with a gas heater,

that's what we used to do in the winter after the oil shortages/utilities price jumps during the early - mid 70's. The heater was set at 60 degrees and there were room space heaters set on timers for the bed rooms. They were set for 2 hours at night and 1 hour in the morning to warm up the room for sleeping and waking. The only time we would "kick up" the central heater thermostat to 68 was few times we needed to dry off after going out in the evening (a sports event or shopping during rain or snow) or someone was taking a bath or shower that night and needed the heat on as they were getting out (no space heaters in the bath room!-it was too small and with kids, too much of a chance of an electrical fire). And we would roll up towels and scrap fabric in old knee socks or leggings to cover the drafts in the windows and doors and wore lots of sweaters and made quilts of thrift store rags and old clothes to help keep us warm while we were up. Spending a dollar for enough old fabric at a thrift store to make a pretty warm quilt was much cheaper than spending $5 - $10 at the department store for a "nice" coverlet that was approximately the same weight and warmth.

Of course, this was in Seattle where the temperature never really dropped below the mid 20's even in the cold of winter. But these practices should help some in a heating bill crunch, no matter where you live.

Also remember - the pioneers and natives used to use clean straw as insulation stuffing in fabric and hides to make a really nice thermal block, either as a "quilt", mattress, or draft blockers. Washed and dried grass cuttings might work the same way; just make sure you wash out all the bug stuff and any chemicals, air dry it out very well (at least for a few days spread thinly over a flat surface) and you might just have some access to some more natural insulation for the season, as long as you don't get it wet.

Good luck staying warm!

Haele

[elaineb]

11. I can't say for sure, but I did what you proposed last winter

and my heating bills were definitely lower than the previous winter (although I haven't yet tried to calculate exactly how much natural gas prices had changed year over year). But I didn't use an electric heater; I used an oil-filled radiator, so I don't know the cost-comparison between that and an electric heater. Also, I assume you know this, but it helps to shut the ducts/registers in the rooms you aren't using and close off those rooms, although you say you have a very small house, so that might not be practical or necessary.

Also, it might help to try to figure out which is the warmest room in your house and do most of your activities there if possible. I don't know why, but my 1st floor living room is always the warmest room in the house, even though I would have thought somewhere on the second floor would be warmest (because heat rises?). But that also means I'm now sleeping on the futon downstairs in the winter, instead of my much comfier bed, because it seems that I have to keep the thermostat a couple of degrees higher to get the upstairs bedroom to a tolerable temperature, versus if I sleep downstairs in the living room (making sure to close the door, to keep the colder air in the rest of the house from invading my warm living room).

[leftyladyfrommo]

13. I really only used a couple of the rooms in the house.

Mostly the bedroom and the kitchen.

[elaineb]

17. My kitchen is the coldest room in the house

unless the oven is going. Luckily for me (but not my future spouse), I don't do much cooking anyway! ;-)

You should look around for an oil-filled radiator, if you can find one in your area. I'm fairly sure I heard that they're one of the most energy-efficient portable heating devices. They plug into an electrical outlet, just like an electric space heater. I think the main disadvantage over an electric heater is that they take a bit longer to warm up a room. Also they're a bit heavy to lug from room to room, but I only move mine between rooms once in the morning and again at night (which I guess I wouldn't have to do, if I bought a second one!). I got one last year for $40 at the-store-which-shall-not-be-named (because not popular with some DU'ers). It's been a godsend! (Not to mention, electric space heaters make me nervous because of all the horror stories--and I *am* one of the most absent-minded people around, so I would constantly be leaving it unattended if I had one).

Good luck with your heating bills this winter!

[Delphinus]

18. Why oil-filled radiator?

Since it has to be plugged in to work, why not just go with an electric space heater? Aren't you using two types of energy with the radiator?

[IDemo]

19. The oil retains heat when the unit is not powered on

[Rosemary2205]

14. It depends on your home and your furnace.

My house is 2BR 1Ba 850 sq ft. all on one floor - no basement, no heated upstairs. We have one of the highest efficiency natural gas furnaces on the market, extra insulation. We keep the heat at around 65 waking hours / 60 sleeping hours all winter and are comfortable enough with a sweater. We tried 60 day and 55 night with an electric heater in the room we occupied and our overall cost went up.

My sister pays the same for gas and electric but has a 2 story 1900 sp ft with a basement and the same brand of furnace I have. They came out MUCH better setting the thermostat down and using a space heater or two.

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. That sounds like my house - except I have a crawl space.

And I know I lose heat in the crawl space. But that heat down there also keeps all the pipes from freezing.

[Rosemary2205]

20. I have a crawl space too.

We added 4 inches of gravel to the dirt under the house, added as much insulation under the floors as possible and had every duct and pipe wrapped under there. We pay my brother in law to crawl under there and make sure everything is still ship shape twice a year - his business is foundations.

Just don't seal up too tight, you need the moisture to be able to escape from your home and from the ground beneath, which means it does have to "breathe" a little and you are going to get some heat loss from that no matter what.

[Strelnikov_]

21. How I halved my heating season energy (methane) consumption

Location is central Iowa.

Changes in place for the winter of ’05.

1) Programmable thermostat. Can not recommend this enough, particularly if the homeowners are away at work during weekdays. Very affordable (~$40) and somewhat easily installed.

I had one of the standard bimetallic thermostats. Kept it at 68, always had the intent to turn down at night/workdays, but would usually forget. Programmable is currently set at 56 night/workdays, 64 evenings/weekend days. During really cold snaps, I will drop the nighttime/workday temperature down to 52 on the thermostat.

2) Closed off upstairs heating vents. Since there is a (small) bathroom upstairs that I must use during the winter, I place an electric oil filled radiator (see electric heater notes below) in the bathroom and keep the door closed.

The ambient upstairs temperature hovers just below 50 nights/cloudy days, the bathroom stays ~60, enough to keep any pipe from freezing.

3) Closed off heating vent in bedrooms. Bedrooms are slightly colder than set ambient temperature. I use an electric oil filled radiator in (small) bedroom if warmer nighttime temperatures are desired.

Electric space heater notes: As noted above, I use electric oil filled radiators for space heating. In small rooms (small bathroom/small bedroom) they are very effective in warming to a comfort range without (apparent) excessive energy consumption. However, my experience in the living room was not as positive.

The first winter, I tried 58-60 evening for a couple of weeks, and would switch on the space heater in the living room when in use. Due to the size of room, the heater had minimal effect on comfort. I tried an infrared but was not happy with the results (particularly considering the greater fire hazard).

I now understand why pre WW-II houses have many smaller rooms. You heat the ones you are in, and close off the rest. And with smaller rooms, electric oil filled radiators really make a difference.


The bottom line, turning down the thermostat can make a big difference.


In the summer of ’05 it was apparent that the wolf of energy depletion was nearing the door. Based on the data I am seeing today, he has arrived.