Heating My House - Options Thoughts Suggestions ?

[Blackbird]

I suppose it would indeed depend on how large the house is, but they do make non-electric distribution fans.

 

[freemotion]

Depends on the design of the house. Yes, it is warmer near the stove, but in a Cape Cod style house, if the stove is fairly central, vents can be installed in ceilings leading to upstairs rooms. We like our bedrooms to be cooler, anyways.

BB, we would put a brick on the stove for each of us! For in the car!

 

[Denim Deb]

I'd like to get a newer, larger stove but my DH is against it. Ours is 23 years old now, and I'm thinking a newer one would be more efficient. Ours needs some work done to it, and he never has the time. (Of course, that could be because he doesn't do much of anything when he's home but sit on his butt and watch TV.)

 

[SKR8PN]

I suppose it would indeed depend on how large the house is, but they do make non-electric distribution fans.

Are you referring to the ones that set on the stove and operate from the heat?

Good luck getting any heat down a hallway to a bedroom or two using one of those.

 

[Emerald]

I live near large cherry orchards here in MI and many of the stores sell cherry pits(not always cleaned tho, so I do wash them well) for making heating pads with.
** I just use either heavy muslin or old blue jean legs and sew off one end and fill them with pits and then sew the other end shut to make heating pads with them-for folks who have wood stoves or even fireplaces you just put them on the wood stove and flip them every so often and they hold the heat for quite a while. or if you have fireplaces I put a stack of fire bricks near the fire and then laid the cherry bags behind the stack and then flip them around so that they heat all the way thru.
But at the moment at this house we have no fire place or wood stove so I just put them in the oven when I am making dinner and only for a few minutes and they heat right up. My mom will put hers in the microwave and nuke it and it heats up well too. so much so that we tend to wrap them in the little hand towels or worn kitchen towels so we don't get too hot!

**I do try not to make them too big they are not as easy to use if they get too big and they don't heat thru well.

 

[Wannabefree]

I STRONGLY suggest against one like in the picture!!! It is asically a "campfire in a box" and is super inefficient.

The new stoves are a bit more expensive but, if you plan to heat with wood, you're much better off getting one of the new stoves that has a secondary burner! Basically you get a lot more heat and produce a lot less pollution for the same amount of wood.

www.englanderstoves.com has models available at Lowes, Home Depot, etc.

Thanks Nifty! The one we are getting is not like that one, and we have ceiling fans throughout the house we will run on low all the time. Anything is better than the super dry CH&A we have running right now! We chose a cast iron boxwood stove, rated for 1600 sq. ft. and it should do fine for this season in our 1200 sq. ft. home. We will likely upgrade next year and sell the stove we are getting, but we have to start somewhere SOON, because our heating bill is GINORMOUS in the winter! I'm looking forward to cooking on it too Thanks for the advice, I will explore that link for another stove should this one not be adequate this year. I think it should do fine though. If it doesn't, we'll make it through this winter and it was inexpensive, around $275, so no big loss if we decide we need to upgrade next year.

 

[Nifty]

I'm curious, at what point do y'all kick on some form of heat (fire, gas, propane, oil, etc?)

I.e., what is your thermostat set to?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Right now my house is 65, without the furnace turning on. It is mild outside for this time of year. In winter, my thermostat is set at 58F at night, 65F during the day, although, if we are sitting still either watching TV or reading or whatever, I will switch on the gas fireplace to 68F. We are installing a gas fireplace in the basement in the next week. I already have on in my livingroom.

 

[Wannabefree]

Mine is set at 68, and it's HOT in here :/ I think our thermostat needs to be replaced. I have set it as low as 60, but DH keeps turning it back up.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

First let me start off by saying my wife and I HATE cold! She's especially sensitive to it. It's 67 degrees in the house right now and she's freezing.

I want to add a suggestion that is not on the list.
What is your wifes basal body temapture?
If it averages much lower then the norm, 98.6, then that will explain the sensativity to the "cold".
If it is low, it can also be raised naturally, it just takes some time and patience.