120 Watt Space Heater

[roosterk0031]

60-62 in my house all winter, it's not cold till the kid's fight over how gets the dog.

[Christ]

Heating a chair - Use waterbed heating pads inside the cushions. You can set them to a specific temperature and they aren't terribly inefficient.

I still say it's most effective to simply wear loose-fitting, insulative clothing, drink warm drinks and eat warm foods.

Winter is rice and oatmeal time for me. I love rice for breakfast with a bit of cinnamon and sugar, and I love oatmeal, farina, cream of wheat, etc.

Obviously you probably won't bake every day, but baking significantly increases the temperature of the area around the oven, and a circulating fan will help push that heat through the rest of the living area. Baking for longer at a lower temperature is also helpful, for recipes that can be adjusted in such way. Works great as a supplemental heat source, especially on the really cold days when the heater doesn't seem to be keeping up.

Rather than lighting an entire room, focused low-wattage lighting [such as candle bulbs] at or near the areas you intend to sit/stand etc tend to make the best use of both light and heat from the incandescent bulbs.

And while it seems like a lot of work to do it, plain old black water jugs placed in the sun during the day, then brought inside the house at night and placed in/under seating areas will also warm them significantly.

[Christ]

Another thing worth considering is simple black PVC tubing with a 90* elbow penetrating a wall near the floor, then another penetrating near the ceiling. Takes quite a few of them to make reasonable heat flow, but in direct sunlight they can do a heck of a job.

[Ford Man]

I'm trying something new this winter. Last winter I noticed just how much cold was coming off the windows in our house. This year I have covered all the windows with foil radiant barrier. It makes the house dark needing a light burning, but during the daytime I'm the only one at home and spend 99% of my time in the living room. I use a 1W LED for light in the living room and have (3) 1/4W LED night lights 1 in each bathroom and 1 in the kitchen so I can see how to get around. We already only used the 1W LED at night in the living room while watching television. Usually if I need light in another room it's only for a few minutes at a time and I'll turn on an overhead light with a 9W or 13W CFL bulb. There's a chance there will be sunny days where I'll lose a little bit of heat from the sun, but at night and on cold or cloudy days it will probably more than make up the difference in heat loss through the glass. The radiant barrier will reflect the outdoor cold away from the living space and the indoor heat back toward the living space. I'm also going to get some Velcro with adhesive on them and fix it so I can open and close the foil with little effort on warm/sunny days. During much of the winter by the time my wife gets home from work it's already dark enough she needs light in the kitchen while preparing dinner, so really very little extra cost associated with lighting. We use a vented/thermostatically controlled Monitor kerosene heater for heat. Saturday night the low was 24* here, I filled the heater about 10PM and set the thermostat on 64* for the night during the time we were in bed, between 10PM and 8:30AM we used about a quart of kerosene. Since Saturday night, with lows in the 20's, 30's and 40's, highs in the 60's we've used approximately 3/4 gallon of kerosene to heat approximately 1K SF (extra bedrooms closed off, no heat). I keep the heater set at 64* at night and 68* during the daytime. If this works good during the winter with heat savings I'm also going to try it during the summer with a/c cooling costs. I already have radiant barrier underneath the metal roof on the house. Last winter I heated about 1200 SF on about 150 gallons of kerosene for the winter. Since we moved here in Oct. 2010 and I had the radiant barrier and new metal roof put on the house in spring 2011 our highest electric bill has been just over $100 for the month, with it normally running $70-$90 per month during the summer cooling about 1200 SF and $45-$55 per month during the winter

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Ford Man

I'm trying something new this winter. Last winter I noticed just how much cold was coming off the windows in our house. This year I have covered all the windows with foil radiant barrier.

A radiant barrier probably isn't going to help much. Your biggest window losses are air leaks and conduction through the glass (especially if you have single-pane windows). A better cheap/free solution is bubble wrap. Tape it to reduce air infiltration, and it still lets a good bit of light through. Also some good insulating drapes for nighttime.

[Gasoline Fumes]

It's amazing how much frost you'll get on the inside of your windows if you cover them on a cold night!

[Fat Charlie]

Clear bubble wrap lets the light (such as it is) in. Winterizing plastic sheeting keeps the air out.

My wife has been telling me it's time for me to get going on those for the winter. I remember when it annoyed her!

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Gasoline Fumes

It's amazing how much frost you'll get on the inside of your windows if you cover them on a cold night!

But that's not primarily from radiation loss. It's conduction + convection: the window glass conducts heat to the outside, inside air right next to the glass becomes cold, cold air is more dense so it flows towards the floor, drawing warmer air from the room up to the glass to be cooled in turn...

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

But that's not primarily from radiation loss. It's conduction + convection: the window glass conducts heat to the outside, inside air right next to the glass becomes cold, cold air is more dense so it flows towards the floor, drawing warmer air from the room up to the glass to be cooled in turn...

Also frost insulates better than ice which insulates better than glass

So if your window is frosted it is increasing its R value a bit.

Also condensing liquid releases heat.

[redpoint5]

I just mounted a 250w heat lamp beneath my monitor and aimed at my keyboard and torso. It's plenty to keep my warm in the office, so I've got the thermostat set to 50 degrees between 8am-5pm when it's just me at home. If I run it 40hrs per week, I'll spend $4 month in electricity.

I might try a 150w bulb next since 225 (measured) is more than adequate.