So I am thinking about electric heaters instead of central heat running all the time

[lxskllr]

I also have a fireplace in the middle of the house put I dont think it makes that much of a difference but maybe I will give it another try

Fireplaces aren't that great for heating. They look awesome, but most of the heat goes up the chimney. By "most heat" I mean not only the fire's heat, but the heat in the rest of your house too :^D If you get an insert for it though, they work awesomely.

 

[DrPizza]

Must suck to live in a 3rd world country with no gas lines to houses.

No, because the reason many of us don't have gas lines is that it's not economical to run them when houses are very far apart. In other words, we have fewer smug douchebags per square mile.

 

[tortillasoup]

Fireplaces aren't that great for heating. They look awesome, but most of the heat goes up the chimney. By "most heat" I mean not only the fire's heat, but the heat in the rest of your house too :^D If you get an insert for it though, they work awesomely.

Good post

 

[Red Squirrel]

Fireplaces aren't that great for heating. They look awesome, but most of the heat goes up the chimney. By "most heat" I mean not only the fire's heat, but the heat in the rest of your house too :^D If you get an insert for it though, they work awesomely.

Yep pretty much. I'd like to look at an insert for mine eventually. I just have an electric insert in it but it's more a decoration than anything. The key is to also have a fresh air intake. you can have the most high efficiency stove but if it's using indoor air for combustion it means you're sucking in cold air through any holes you might have in the house.

 

[Imp]

If you have a really well insulated house, not a bad idea. I'd be worried about pipes.

It's stupid that the place I live in has 4 floors, all heated. Problem is that only 1/2 of 1 floor and 1/4 of another are used regularly.

 

[Blanky]

Amazing that people read part of the thread, but don't read enough to see that their point has been answered. Are your pipes running through the middle of the room? Or, are they in the walls? If the temperature is 0 degrees outside, and 60 in the room. Then at some point in the interior of the wall, the temperature is below freezing. It's not as if there's a magical line on the surface of the outside of the wall - temperatures on this side are 0, temperatures 1 millimeter on the other side are 60.

In the winter time, when it gets really cold outside, a lot of people experience frozen pipes. Do you think that they're dumb enough to let the interior of their house drop below 32?

yes, but if the pipes are on the warm side of the insulation, they will be closer to internal temp than the middle of the wall, I.e. The middle of the insulation where temp is at 30. I don't know if it is common in those outside wall pipes to wrap the pipe in insulation evenly, or to bias the insulation to the outside, which would decrease the chance of freezing.

Even then a small bit of water let to flow through the pipes could help during an extreme snap, though it sure sounds silly letting a faucet trickle for the entire winter.

 

[SAWYER]

Fireplaces aren't that great for heating. They look awesome, but most of the heat goes up the chimney. By "most heat" I mean not only the fire's heat, but the heat in the rest of your house too :^D If you get an insert for it though, they work awesomely.

What do you mean an insert?

 

[Ken g6]

If you want electric heat for rooms with computers in them, check out the distributed computing forum for ways to make computers work as space heaters.

 

[Red Squirrel]

What do you mean an insert?

It's basically a high efficiency wood stove that fits in an old fire place.

Like these:

http://energymizers.com/store/zero-clearance-inserts.php

Traditional fireplaces are extremely inefficient but these inserts are engineered for better efficiency through the way they funnel air inside and are also generally slower burning. There's a whole science to it and I wont pretend to be an expert.

An actual wood stove is probably even more efficient though as less heat is lost through the brick work and instead radiates inside the room as the unit is fully open to the room.

I've been toying with the idea of either getting an insert (which would let me also enjoy the fire) or a wood stove in the basement (probably more efficient but it would be strictly an utility and not really something to sit down next to and enjoy).

I'd probably go with the insert though, they are still very efficient and since my fireplace backs the garage, any lost heat would just go in the garage anyway.

Lot of money though if I factor installation. Something like this I'd want to get professionally installed so I know it's safe and I would imagine code probably requires it be done professionally anyway.

 

[Strk]

Must suck to live in a 3rd world country with no gas lines to houses.

That really has nothing to do with it for me. I have forced-hot air. My gas and electric before I used electric heaters my electric bill was typically $110-150 and my gas bill was $250-350 a month in the winter. It is now usually $100 for the electric and around $200 for the gas. That just lets me keep the house between 55-60 and just keep the rooms that are used at 70+.

 

[NetWareHead]

No, because the reason many of us don't have gas lines is that it's not economical to run them when houses are very far apart. In other words, we have fewer smug douchebags per square mile.

:biggrin:

 

[Scarpozzi]

Must suck to live in a 3rd world country with no gas lines to houses.

You can always get a 300-500lb LP tank if you have the real estate, but that's getting more pricey these days. My father scored a free gas furnace and made the switch from #2 fuel oil to propane last winter. He's been happy with the cost vs efficiency.

I still say NG reigns supreme for cost vs ease. I'm very fortunate to have had it in my last house (different city). It made the call to the gas company 5 years ago to run a new line a no brainer. I had them install a meter within a year of living in my house and now have a gas furnace, gas range, gas logs fireplace, and a tankless gas water heater. I'm tempted to get a gas clothes dryer, but haven't had to replace my electric yet. It seems wasteful to burn $600-800 when my dryer is running fine.

 

[Scarpozzi]

That really has nothing to do with it for me. I have forced-hot air. My gas and electric before I used electric heaters my electric bill was typically $110-150 and my gas bill was $250-350 a month in the winter. It is now usually $100 for the electric and around $200 for the gas. That just lets me keep the house between 55-60 and just keep the rooms that are used at 70+.

You need to search for air leaks. Find out where the cold air is coming in and stop it. If you have vents under your house, block them....seal your windows. You typically lose 10-15% through walls and more out the ceiling/roof since heat rises, but if you have major air leaks overhead, you can start a cold-air chimney effect that will actually draw more cold air in. If you can seal the house up from below and overhead, you could substantially make a difference. If you've got single paned glass, get some plastic kits and saran-wrap the hell out of it.

 

[z1ggy]

Which pellet heater do you have? Is it thermostatically controlled? Things you do don't like about it? I'm looking to put one in my 2 story workshop.

I got it from Lowe's, don't remember the name. It was to heat approximate 1000-1200 sqft, and cost $1000. I also got to write it off on my taxes that year.

No thermostat control. There's 2 controls: Fan speed and feed rate.

Things I don't like: No thermostat control. A lot of stoves do have this though. I hate lugging 4,000lb of pellet into my house every year, but I just put on some music and pretend I'm getting a good work out in. Usually takes 45-60 mins when I do it alone. Takes a while to heat up the whole house.

Things I do like: Provides a nice cozy warm heat throughout my house. Is MUCH cheaper than using traditional oil, which is what almost every home has around here.

Ouch! $650 seems a bit steep. Last time I looked at all the prices and BTUs, anthracite coal was the cheapest way to heat. Bagged, around here, it's $250 a ton. Wood pellets are around $220 per ton, but don't give off as much heat as coal. However, coal stoves are a little bit more expensive then wood stoves. Personally, I run a coal stove in the house, a pellet stove in the garage, and a wood stove in the basement. I just got the wood stove - its purpose will be to simply heat the basement once every week or so. Since it's unheated, it stays pretty cool most of the year. But, Jan/Feb, it's getting cooler and cooler and approaches freezing. It sucked the last time my water lines froze; so I figure that by injecting some heat once a week, I can keep the basement from dropping quite as much during the course of the winter.

Well, one year I bought the $200 dollar a ton bag, and well, that didn't go well. They made crazy amounts of fines and clogged my stove up. Every. Single. Day. It was a giant pain to fix all the time.

I get Green Team pellets now, which are about $300 each, plus a $50 delivery fee. They last me almost the entire winter, I might have to run on pure oil for like.. 2-3 weeks in the winter season.

I figured it's saving me about $1000 a year.

 

[NoTine42]

You need to search for air leaks. Find out where the cold air is coming in and stop it. If you have vents under your house, block them....seal your windows. You typically lose 10-15% through walls and more out the ceiling/roof since heat rises, but if you have major air leaks overhead, you can start a cold-air chimney effect that will actually draw more cold air in. If you can seal the house up from below and overhead, you could substantially make a difference. If you've got single paned glass, get some plastic kits and saran-wrap the hell out of it.

Whoever decided it was a good idea to install the AC ductwork in my attic should be dragged out into the street and shot :twisted:
(I have hot water baseboard heat)

I try to minimize the gaping holes in the ceiling that draft down cold air in the winter by installing the window film on the ceiling vents. I think I really should have the underside of my roof spray-foamed to have the A/C within the insulation envelop of the house.

 

[Strk]

You need to search for air leaks. Find out where the cold air is coming in and stop it. If you have vents under your house, block them....seal your windows. You typically lose 10-15% through walls and more out the ceiling/roof since heat rises, but if you have major air leaks overhead, you can start a cold-air chimney effect that will actually draw more cold air in. If you can seal the house up from below and overhead, you could substantially make a difference. If you've got single paned glass, get some plastic kits and saran-wrap the hell out of it.

I've already done most of that. The attic originally has just some crappy blown insulation that barely reached 3 inches. I went over it once with R-19 within the frame and then went over it perpendicularly with another layer of R-19. The windows are all vinyl replacements, but no leaks around the frames. One of my biggest problems is my patio door. It leaks, but I seal it during the winter.

 

[tortillasoup]

It's funny to hear people say, "crappy blown insulation" when really, that stuff works much better than fiberglass batts. True you didn't have enough insulation in there but I would have had much more blown in instead of replacing with crappy fiberglass.

 

[Thump553]

To me the main drawback of pellet stoves is they don't work if the electricity is off, so you have to factor in the cost of a whole house generator as well. Otherwise I would have switched off of our wood stove a long time ago.

 

[z1ggy]

To me the main drawback of pellet stoves is they don't work if the electricity is off, so you have to factor in the cost of a whole house generator as well. Otherwise I would have switched off of our wood stove a long time ago.

But... nothing in your house works with out electricity other than gas, if you have a gas stove. So0o...

Having a back up generator is always a good idea if you live any place that sees significant weather, especially if you live in a more rural setting. I've had power outages around me over 10 days long.

 

[Strk]

It's funny to hear people say, "crappy blown insulation" when really, that stuff works much better than fiberglass batts. True you didn't have enough insulation in there but I would have had much more blown in instead of replacing with crappy fiberglass.

Sometimes crap is crap, which 50+ year old loose insulation (not really sure you can even call it blown) is crap.

 

[TwiceOver]

But... nothing in your house works with out electricity other than gas, if you have a gas stove. So0o...

Having a back up generator is always a good idea if you live any place that sees significant weather, especially if you live in a more rural setting. I've had power outages around me over 10 days long.

I have a gas fireplace. Yes it does work with the electricity off, but is pretty pointless when the blower won't kick on to move the hot air.

 

[tortillasoup]

Sometimes crap is crap, which 50+ year old loose insulation (not really sure you can even call it blown) is crap.

Cellulose insulation doesn't lose its effectiveness once it has settled. 3 inches of insulation isn't all that much which is why you'd just blow in more stuff instead of putting fiberglass crap.

 

[z1ggy]

I have a gas fireplace. Yes it does work with the electricity off, but is pretty pointless when the blower won't kick on to move the hot air.

Right, but my point was, no heating methods that I am aware of will really work well without electricity. Some methods can still at least provide heat to a small area, but forget heating the whole house that way.

Additionally, my wood pellet stove runs off two motors and two fans. Not sure what the exhaust fan runs at, but I can't imagine it's pulling too many more watts than a standard light bulb. I know the two motors that run the augers are 40watt. Long story short, relating that back to the guy asking about using electric heat.... my pellet stove heats my entire house while running at a continuous ~200-300watts, basically a small computer. My space heater which is only good enough for one small room, runs at 1500watts.

 

[DrPizza]

Cellulose insulation doesn't lose its effectiveness once it has settled. 3 inches of insulation isn't all that much which is why you'd just blow in more stuff instead of putting fiberglass crap.

You need to say fiberglass batts, since you can now get blown in fiberglass which works just as well, if not better than blown in cellulose.

 

[nickbits]

Must suck to live in a 3rd world country with no gas lines to houses.

Most of my family lives on a private island and they have to truck in propane. Our family cottage needs propane delivery because it is in a more rural area. 3rd world not found.