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Incredibly COLD.
Hobbit0815
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hello all.
It's freezing around here this time of year, especially in the morning. I was hoping some of you would give me advice on a good/cheap(haha, the irony!) radiator or other form of house warming.
We have a relatively big place, but it's usually fine in the bedroom. We'd mainly need it for the living room.. Any suggestions?
P.S. We can't use our baseboard heaters because we have furniture up against them.
/Edit no fireplace either. :P
It's freezing around here this time of year, especially in the morning. I was hoping some of you would give me advice on a good/cheap(haha, the irony!) radiator or other form of house warming.
We have a relatively big place, but it's usually fine in the bedroom. We'd mainly need it for the living room.. Any suggestions?
P.S. We can't use our baseboard heaters because we have furniture up against them.
/Edit no fireplace either. :P
Hobbit0815 on
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http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11173501
Your "freezing" is a warm summer's day to us.
Love,
Location: Canada
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
I'm 75 miles from Canada.
:P
I don't consider 30 degree weather to be very nice.
The "oil filled" heaters did well for us, they look kinda like old-style radiators. They work much better for us than the heating-element-paired-with-a-fan solution. Place one or two between the sleeping/sitting area and any large windows.
Though if you have a large room and you want to stay warm in it, I think your most cost-efficient solution would be an electric blanket. As you're going to need a lot of heating power to heat up all that air and to defeat the cooling that windows or openings to other rooms will have.
edit: e-blankets are also going to be more kid-friendly. no chance of getting burned.
Kids are amazingly resilient, especially if you buy them coats and stuff. We had (and maybe the kids still have, it was about 12-15 years ago for me) recess at -25.
Love,
Location: Alaska
..............fuel-based heaters are better at heating, but less safe than electrics. At least, last time I checked. I guess I should mention that I haven't checked for at least six or so years, and even then, it was only a passing glance on my part.
Though I'd imagine something huge like a Central Air, except for heating, would be acceptable if you're talking electric.
And if your living room has a window, you can insulate that shit if you don't mind looking a little ghetto. Insulation's going to do more, be safer and cost less than any little heater.
c'mon... you're too lazy to move around furniture, so you're looking for a cheap replacement for the system that's built into your house and designed to heat it?
That's like figuring out how to flood and freeze the floor in the summer to keep your feet cool b/c central AC is inconvenient
Also, its pretty classy/sexy.
Love,
Location: North Carolina?
thanks, that's actually a pretty good idea. Know any good brands?
And yeah Seeks, kids are indeed resilient. I just get worried when their little toes are cold cause my 2 year old refuses to keep socks on.
Maybe he likes the cold. :P
illig, I'm not too lazy to move the furniture, it's just that our furniture needs to be there because there's no where else to put it. I imagine some rearranging could be done, but I was just looking for options.
Aha, that sounds nice. Especially when you wanna get freaky with your S/O, all the romance crap is already there. :P
But kids+candles=.. well, you know.
If not, I would suggest a space heater or two. You can turn them on and off when you need, move them around, and you'll only be heating the rooms you need. They can get a bit hot though, not 'burn your skin off' hot but still you should instruct kids to be careful if they're old enough.
As long as you're in the room when the candles are lit and you hide the lighter/matches, I can't imagine it being that much of an issue. How young are they? Are they aware yet that fire is hot? That might be a good introduction for them. Fire safety starts with you!
Ohh my 2 year old knows the oven door get hots haha. :P
But I also have 2 cats.. and they jump on things.. I'd just be scared of candles falling/fire all together.
OP: move your furniture, heat your place with the radiators that were built to do that. I'd be leery of having stuff that can be knocked over or left on, but I'm just like that.
That's where I was thinking to go.
I was thinking something like this.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7768654
It would definitely be a cost saver, I think.
Space heaters (box fan w/a heating element) might work, though they tend to be high wattage. We used a couple (one per person cause the ones we got didn't work for shit unless pointed right at you and on hi) low was 900 watts, hi was 1500. They're basically hair dryers, and didn't keep the room warm, just a zone in front of the heater. Our house may just leak a lot of air so perhaps our results were not the norm. Also the type of heaters we used were small box fan affairs (10 inches square), something the size of a AC window unit would likely put out much more heat.
Can't find the brand we got (from bed bath and beyond) but it was like this. Low voltage, king size, dual controls, machine washable. About $150, max 175 watts. Note: house is still chilly, but our bodies are warm.
#1 Dangerous fire hazard even if you are in the room. Also even 10 candles isn't going to keep anything warm when it's around 0 outside.
#2 You live in North Carolina. No advice on keeping warm if you're from below the Mason-Dixon line, ok?
(I may live in DC but I am from the frozen north)
#3 A space heater is going to be WAY less efficient than whatever heating elements you have in the house now.
Hobbit, did you recently move to Idaho? Are you from somewhere where you don't use heat? Because in most places, people use the heating elements that are in their house, they don't go buy more shit to keep their house heated. You pull the furniture 6in away from the wall so the air can circulate and you turn the heat on. I seriously am failing to understand why you want to buy space heaters when you already have heating elements installed in your house.
Aight?
If you are worried about safety, a space heater is not going to be more safe than baseboard heaters, I can guarantee you that.
There is one baseboard in the living room that we can just pull the couch from. I'd do this, I'm tired of being cold.
Yes. The baseboard heaters were designed to heat the room/house, not one specific space.
However, if you've never used them before, get in there and clean them. Make sure they're not caked with dust or something.
My previous domicile had baseboards, and they did a pretty good job. Nothing compared to my present forced-air gas furnace ... mmm, toasty ... but good enough. They tend to dry out the air horribly though, so if you have sensitive airways in the house or find yourself waking up with drymouth, get some humidity into the air.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
piffle, try -40 weather. That's fun stuff, especially when you get it for a week straight every ruddy winter.
Anywho, long johns are a godsend. Seriously, those things are awesome, and even if they look a little dorky no one's going to see them but you and your partner. Long johns and slippers and sweaters.
I mean, really, you're not going to get any more efficient than that.
Freezing? I wish we could have a 30 degree winter over here!
Try -40 with 80% humidity.
My advice is to wear a sweater, long sleeves and big comfy socks. Leave as little skin as possible exposed. Make sure your feet aren't cold. That'll beat out any heater you might have.
That and during winter you really do need to wear heavier pajamas/underclothes.
edit: also baseboard heaters are generally sending air upwards, they don't blow directly onto the carpet.
Though I do have 4 computers and a laptop.
You've obviously never had to deal with one of the North Carolina's trademark 'moderate' winters. It sometimes gets as low as *29 degrees Fahrenheit.*
I saw snow last year. It was panic-inducing.
Considering that Victoria is basically 'Canada's Malibu', that's not very cold.
//Fellow Victorianite
I'm w/ you on this one. Wear a sweater and a pair of slippers if it's chilly.
I have electric in my house but I also have a woodstove. I have yet to even turn on the electric heat.
Love,
Florida.
What's a hurricane? :winky:
Love,
Nova Scotia.
A nice breezy day. The joys of living in Northern Florida.
For seriously. Put more clothes on, save on the electric bill. Makes sense to me.