We have a newer zoned oil furnace hot water baseboard heat. We never turn on the upstairs or basement only the main floor. I put up plastic sheets going up stair and to cut off the kitchen area. The thermostat stays at 62 for the entire winter day and night. If we go away I turn it down to 58. We use a kero heater in the livingroom and basically spend our winters in this one room. It is so cold in the bedrooms literally you can see our breath. When doing dishes the water hurts my hands because its so cold in that room. We spend about 100 dollars a month on heat between oil and kero. This is too much, we need some other way to save money? We can not afford to get new windows ( they are older but do have storm windows ) we have insulated every thing we can, the house is old (1862 ) plank built there is no way to insulate the walls because of that. What other hints or ideas can we do to survive another winter. Money wise its hurting us.
2007-10-12 22:30:47 · 5 answers · asked by darcymc 6 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
The only reason I dont put plastic around the windows in the living room is it makes them "sweat" and will rot the windows. Kero is 2.89 a gallon home heating oil is 2.39 a gallon. The reason the rest of the house is so cold is the thermostat is in the livingroom where the kero heater is so the furnace doesnt kick on unless the kero is off ..like night time i dont leave the heater on unattended. Seems to me it would be more energy efficient to heat a small kero heater then to heat all that water in the furnace to heat up the main floor. and i dont need the whole floor heated just the one room and our zone heat is only zoned for floors not rooms. The straw is a good idea we did insulate good where the house sits on the foundation but extra out side is a good idea. hope that wouldnt encourage bugs? or mice! I dont want to be cold and it is cold! its hard to take a shower it is so cold but you do what you have to do to survive. By the way I work and my husband works. thank u all!
2007-10-13 08:13:45 · update #1
wanted to add. we do have two carbon monoxide detectors and three smoke alarms. when it is really cold we just sleep in the living room. We live in the laurel mountains of PA, beautiful but pretty cold winters. I put pots of water on top of the kero heater to get some steam heat. Is that just a waste of energy? My inlaws pay around 250 a month for heat and live eight miles away. No insulation in the walls is killing us i know. thanks again
2007-10-13 08:30:32 · update #2
Where in the world do you live? at 62 I would leave you in a moment. This is ridiculous.
I have the same type of heat, I have a zone in the basement, I found that by utilizing this, turning the heat up down there to 72 and using that to heat, it's better then trying to heat the upstairs. Heat rises. I found that the floors get cozy warm and I can then turn the living area heat down. This way it doesn't loose the heat as fast.
If you must, cover the windows that you don't use all the time with plastic. Tape them good all the way around, leave a couple open to see out of. get some straw from a nearby farm, it's usually a Buck a bale and put these all the way around the house, against the foundation then, cover it with plastic again. Hold the plastic down with old boards or stones.
I would go so far as to move the plastic up to the bottom of the windows and staple it on, it worked for me in the nastiest of a Minnesota winter with fifty below zero plus.
The Karo heater is defeating the purpose of the heating system, isn't it. The heating system should keep up so you don't have to buy Karo. This is coming close to carbon monoxide to you, and your family, you read about it all the time. I wouldn't have one in the house.
2007-10-12 23:15:42 · answer #1 · answered by cowboydoc 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Karo is probably costing you 3 to 4 times more than what the heating oil is running. You can save by not using that heater...and I'm talking about saving your life too. Those heaters should never be used inside a house...more than likely the only reason you are still alive is because you have some many insulation or air leaks. Save your money and invest in siding that has an insulation barrier under it.
2007-10-12 23:37:05 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
My apt heat is electric wall heaters. I have an inside entrance door and the hall is heated, everything, stove, nuke, hotwater, lights, tv etc usually on a really cold month is $19 and some months only $12. I keep my bedroom door closed and do not turn the heat on in there. I also usually boil down a large pot of water each morning. It puts moisture in the air and I have a bathroom heater with a blower that I sometimes use to take the chill off and I wear a warm shirt most of the time.
2016-04-08 06:43:27 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cover the windows with clear vinyl, and weather strip the doors. Get a carbon monoxide detector for the living room. Kerosene is very expensive and, might be costing you more than running the furnace.
2007-10-12 23:27:13 · answer #4 · answered by Robert S 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
move! you need a more cost efficient home.
2007-10-12 23:43:40 · answer #5 · answered by Two Peas 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋