My heater broke down.

[Mai72]

Heater broke last night. I'm currently using this plug in oil filled heater. Thank god I had this heater, or else I'd be freezing my ass off.

 

[lxskllr]

Where's your central heat? The oil filled heaters are nice. I have a baseboard style, but I haven't used it in a long time.

 

[Spacehead]

Yeah, those oil filled electric are nice.

Doesn't Mayne install furnaces? Give him a call.

 

[BoomerD]

For a few months, I wish we had central heat instead of the fucking Cadet wall heaters. They're better than baseboard heaters, but just barely.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Dude! Get some mining rigs! Make some $$$ while you heat!

 

[Red Squirrel]

I should probably buy more electric heaters in case my furnace ever breaks down, can't hurt to have. I do have a small 550w oil filled one and a radiant heater though, the ones that look like a fan.

I had considered installing baseboard heat throughout my basement as a backup when I was doing all the walls but never ended up doing it.

I did have my furnace break down in middle of February a few years back, thankfully there was a way to override the problem, and the part was available in town. Basically the pressure switch stayed stuck in the "on" position so the furnace would not start. If I disconnected it, it would start, then plug it back in, and it would pass the rest of the startup sequence. That in essence was bypassing a safety device though... but it got me going for a day until I could buy the part.

 

[Mai72]

Where's your central heat? The oil filled heaters are nice. I have a baseboard style, but I haven't used it in a long time.

I have baseboard heat. It's not bad. I don't have a large apartment. Works great for me.

 

[Mai72]

I should probably buy more electric heaters in case my furnace ever breaks down, can't hurt to have. I do have a small 550w oil filled one and a radiant heater though, the ones that look like a fan.

I had considered installing baseboard heat throughout my basement as a backup when I was doing all the walls but never ended up doing it.

I did have my furnace break down in middle of February a few years back, thankfully there was a way to override the problem, and the part was available in town. Basically the pressure switch stayed stuck in the "on" position so the furnace would not start. If I disconnected it, it would start, then plug it back in, and it would pass the rest of the startup sequence. That in essence was bypassing a safety device though... but it got me going for a day until I could buy the part.

Buy a few electric heaters just in case. You never know. Walmat has a few cheap $50 units.

 

[shortylickens]

DO NOT BUY SPRING COIL HEATERS!

They are horrifically unsafe.I had one break on me. Could have started a fire if I wasnt watching it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah I think ceramic elements are safer, less likely to break. Also don't cheap out as a super cheap unit you find online is probably not going to have any safety features like a thermal cut off switch.

 

[lxskllr]

Yea, I've had springcoils start going into meltdown mode. Not smoking or anything, but the mounts sagging, and the case deforming. I'm pretty comfortable leaving the oil filled going while I leave the house. I wouldn't leave a springcoil unattended, even being just outside.

 

[Captante]

Yea, I've had springcoils start going into meltdown mode. Not smoking or anything, but the mounts sagging, and the case deforming. I'm pretty comfortable leaving the oil filled going while I leave the house. I wouldn't leave a springcoil unattended, even being just outside.

I don't like leaving any space-heater running when I'm not at home but I agree the oil-filled ones are the safest option since they don't usually get hot enough to start a fire by accidental contact.

Models which use a quartz or ceramic heating element are much safer then the wire-coil type as well plus they can get hotter safely.

Another potential problem is that any type of space-heater draws a butt-load of power at 600, 1200 to as much as a potentially socket-blowing 1800 (!!) watts in some cases and they can easily cause a fire by overload.

 

[MtnMan]

My backup is wood stoves. Used them for years as heat source, but got to be too much work. I was able to cut my own wood, and my only expense was chainsaw maintenance and gas for the truck, which was great when heating oil was over $4/gal.

Too much work now, but have good supply on hand. And the wood stoves work when the power goes out, which happens up here on the side of a mountain just about every good storm.

 

[Captante]

My backup is wood stoves. Used them for years as heat source, but got to be too much work. I was able to cut my own wood, and my only expense was chainsaw maintenance and gas for the truck, which was great when heating oil was over $4/gal.

Too much work now, but have good supply on hand. And the wood stoves work when the power goes out, which happens up here on the side of a mountain just about every good storm.

Wood stoves are a terrific backup in case of ... you know ... civilization/society breaking down?



Although they don't heat nearly as effectively as a stove I really miss having a fireplace too!

 

[MtnMan]

Wood stoves are a terrific backup in case of ... you know ... civilization/society breaking down?

Yea, there is that...

 

[lxskllr]

I've been heating almost exclusively with wood the past few years. I keep the thermostat set to 47° if I'm not there to feed the stove, but the furnace hasn't come on yet this year.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'd love a wood stove but I don't really have a spot convenient for one. I actually got rid of the fireplace because it was just in the way. Insurance companies don't like woodstoves either so it opens a can of worms if you do install one. I think you need a permit for it too so that's another can of worms... and tax increase. But yeah if I build an off grid house I'm putting in a wood stove for sure, less red tape in unorganized townships. It's practically free heat. I think the only thing more free is renewable electricity, but that is going to be more limited in winter.

 

[brianmanahan]

gotta install a woodstove, cheez-style

 

[Red Squirrel]

 

[PingSpike]

I have a wood stove. Its actually fairly messy and a lot of work if you're always using it but it does throw off good heat. My is poorly located at the side of my house but it will eventually heat the whole house up if you keep it stoked. And my wife doesn't seem to understand the technique I use to avoid reverse draft and smoking up the house, which admittedly requires a lot of babying starting a cold stove.

I bought it in a panic during the $5 gas summer. I noticed later that things like wood and wood pellets track with the price of other energy sucking a lot of the savings out of it. If you have your own woodlot and time to do the processing it can still save a lot of money, but I don't have the equipment, time or desire to do that at this point. At this point I think I'll just keep a face corde of wood around for power outages.

 

[Spacehead]

I've been heating almost exclusively with wood the past few years. I keep the thermostat set to 47° if I'm not there to feed the stove, but the furnace hasn't come on yet this year.

I remember reading threads were someone (probably you) said they keep their thermostat set at like 45-50, not realizing you heated with wood & your furnace was a backup. I'm thinking, why the hell does someone keep their house at 45-50 degrees?!?!

I'd love a wood stove but I don't really have a spot convenient for one. I actually got rid of the fireplace because it was just in the way. Insurance companies don't like woodstoves either so it opens a can of worms if you do install one. I think you need a permit for it too so that's another can of worms... and tax increase. But yeah if I build an off grid house I'm putting in a wood stove for sure, less red tape in unorganized townships. It's practically free heat. I think the only thing more free is renewable electricity, but that is going to be more limited in winter.

Are those outdoor woodburners a thing up in your area?

 

[lxskllr]

I remember reading threads were someone (probably you) said they keep their thermostat set at like 45-50, not realizing you heated with wood & your furnace was a backup. I'm thinking, why the hell does someone keep their house at 45-50 degrees?!?!

It can get pretty brisk in the house. The stove room's too warm, but I'm in a long ass rancher, so it's about 50° in the bedroom end of the house. I like it. The contrast is nice going from hot to cool, and I love sleeping in a cold room. Really warm under the blanket, with cold air on my face, Feels so good, I've been oversleeping lately. Either don't hear the alarm, or I hit snooze, and never hear it again :^D

 

[Red Squirrel]

Are those outdoor woodburners a thing up in your area?

I've thought of those but they actually go through quite a lot of wood from what I hear, and think you need to keep them running all the time, so it's not like you can just choose to go put a couple logs in it to heat up the floor system.

Though I wonder if you can get away with running it intermittently if you use glycol, maybe it's only if you use water but you would not want to do that outside anyway.

 

[lxskllr]

An outdoor burner is better for country living I think, where you have a good supply of wood you aren't paying for. A particularly large suburban lot could work too. Get friendly with a tree service, so they dump wood at your house. You need room to store it though. A tree service will bring you *A LOT* of wood.

 

[shortylickens]

I've heard rich people have heated floors.