heating bills

[HFWR]

My $0.02 worth...

Back when, a friend moved his mobile home to a site on his parents' homestead. Since he was poor, he only had a portion of the LP tank filled. As luck would have it, the tank ran dry on the coldest night in recorded history, and basically the place was "heat-free" the rest of the winter. Come spring thaw, the only damage was to one of the washing machine hoses.

 

[Brat]

Re Sunriver: during the winter it snows a lot, it was a vacation home. People enter the home with snow on their shoes and clothing. Occupants cook, which generates humidity. Resparation generates humidity. The condo had high use on the weekends, come Sunday everyone left. Closed doors, shut windows - tight as a bottle.

 

[JPatrick]

We had an oversized 2 car garage added to the back of our house and my spouse spends quite a bit of time there.  He has a wall mounted gas heater which he likes to keep on throughout the winter.  I do not like it to be on when he is not in the garage, because I do not completely trust the thing and I am afraid that it will catch the house on fire somehow.  He keeps his 72 corvette parked in it and says that he has to leave the heat on because it is fiberglass and it would be bad for it to be kept in the cold.  I don't know about these things.  Is he pulling my chain or is he correct? 

Also, I have been afraid to turn the thermostat down too low in the house because of our 5 cats.  I normally turn the thermostat to 66 at night and while we are gone.  How cold is too cold for cats?  If they were to get sick, vet bills are definitely not cheap!

Dreamer

Let me see if I can help you Dreamer.
First, regarding the corvette, as a past and present owner of corvettes I can tell you that your husband is not pulling your chain.  The corvette must remain warm even if it means the family must suffer in the cold.  If the vette gets too cold it can literally explode into a brazilion tiny plastic pieces.  I have found that applying a light coat of corona on the plastic body will offer additional protection during cold snaps.  I recommend you be supportive by leaving a fresh six pak on the garage steps each Friday.

Concerning your question about "how cold is too cold for cats"
I don't consider myself an expert on this issue,  but  when growing up a boyhood friend of mine placed the family cat in the freezer for a little over an hour.  For certain, that was too long.
Hope this helps!

 

[Lancelot]

2.  Moving the thermostat so as to heat only those parts of the house that need heat (removes about 25% of floor space).

John, moving the thermostat is a one time expense but will yield an ongoing savings/convenience.

Personally, I would be comfortable with a "gravity" pip draining and pouring some antifreeze in the traps. Then you are also protected if an extended power outage occurs...

My two satang,

Lance

 

[Andre1969]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that with some heating sources, such as heat pumps, that you're better off just leaving the thermostat alone. I think the rationale is that the energy you save by cutting the heat back at a certain time is offset when the system has to work its butt off to get back up to a more comfortable temperature. Heat pumps often take awhile to react though, which may be part of the problem.

One nice thing about oil heat, and I guess natural gas is like this too, is that once you crank up the thermostat, it only take a short while to get the house nice and comfy again. Even my old house, with its drafty windows and sporadic use of insulation.

 

[brewer12345]

One nice thing about oil heat, and I guess natural gas is like this too, is that once you crank up the thermostat, it only take a short while to get the house nice and comfy again.  Even my old house, with its drafty windows and sporadic use of insulation.

The other nice thing is that if there is a shortage of heating oil, it can be relatively easily shipped in via tanker. Not so, with natural gas.

 

[REWahoo]

Let me see if I can help you Dreamer.
First, regarding the corvette, as a past and present owner of corvettes I can tell you that your husband is not pulling your chain. The corvette must remain warm even if it means the family must suffer in the cold. If the vette gets too cold it can literally explode into a brazilion tiny plastic pieces. I have found that applying a light coat of corona on the plastic body will offer additional protection during cold snaps. I recommend you be supportive by leaving a fresh six pak on the garage steps each Friday.

Concerning your question about "how cold is too cold for cats"
I don't consider myself an expert on this issue, but when growing up a boyhood friend of mine placed the family cat in the freezer for a little over an hour. For certain, that was too long.
Hope this helps!

I nominate this post for induction into the RE Forum Hall of Fame.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

I nominate this post for induction into the RE Forum Hall of Fame.   


[/quote

iT'S A KEEPER!

JG

 

[REWahoo]

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that with some heating sources, such as heat pumps, that you're better off just leaving the thermostat alone. I think the rationale is that the energy you save by cutting the heat back at a certain time is offset when the system has to work its butt off to get back up to a more comfortable temperature. Heat pumps often take awhile to react though, which may be part of the problem.

Heat pumps do not have the 'recovery' capacity of oil or natural gas furnaces. For those of you not familiar with them, a heat pump is essentially and air conditioner working in reverse. It extracts warm outside air and as the outside air temperature drops the amount of heat coming out of your vents drops as well. Somewhere around 36 degrees F the amount of heat the pump provides is essentially zero, so auxilliary heating coils (like those in an electric oven) kick in. This is why a setback thermostat doesn't make a lot of sense, considering you would probably be asking the system to warm up your house in the early morning, when the pump is least efficient.

This type system is very cost effective compared to direct electric heating coils, something in the nature of 4 times as efficient. Obviously the system works best in areas where temperatures do not frequently drop below freezing and where snowblowers are unknown to the indigenous poplulation.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

John, moving the thermostat is a one time expense but will yield an ongoing savings/convenience.

Personally, I would be comfortable with a "gravity" pip draining and pouring some antifreeze in the traps. Then you are also protected if an extended power outage occurs...

My two satang,

Lance

Thanks Lance, but the thermostat is in a good spot as long as
we are at home.  I think the previous owners had this all worked out,
as this place started out as a very small cottage and then was
added on. added on, etc.  Anyway, We are able to seal off about
50% of the total floor space (25% we don't heat directly anyway).


JG

 

[Lancelot]

Heat pumps do not have the 'recovery' capacity of oil or natural gas furnaces.  For those of you not familiar with them, a heat pump is essentially and air conditioner working in reverse.  It extracts warm outside air and as the outside air temperature drops the amount of heat coming out of your vents drops as well.  Somewhere around 36 degrees F the amount of heat the pump provides is essentially zero, so auxilliary heating coils (like those in an electric oven) kick in.  This is why a setback thermostat doesn't make a lot of sense, considering you would probably be asking the system to warm up your house in the early morning, when the pump is least efficient.

REW is correct, be wary of triggering the back up resistance coils in a heat pump...

I used to have a heat pump and I did install a setback thermostat, mainly for the aircon in the summer. I experimented with winter temperature setbacks and discovered that I could reduce the temperature by two degrees without triggering the back up coils. Not a large savings, but it did feel a bit warmer when getting out of bed and helped to circulate moisture throughout the house from pre-work showers.

Pre-work showers... YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!

No timer on my fan in BKK 8)

Lance

 

[Lancelot]

John, if your local utility offers it, seriously consider a "blower door" test for infiltration.

Basically it consists of a fan attached to a door that pulls a vacum on your house. Just walk around with a notepad and write down the location of the major infiltration spots.

Then correct them at your leisure .

Lance

 

[Dreamer]

JPatrick,

Thank you so much for the advice. I went out and rubbed some of the Corona on the vette tonight. I can't wait until he comes home and I am able to tell him how much that I helped him! I also bought an extra six pack in anticipation of leaving it on the garage steps Friday night.

I really must go now, because the cats have been in the freezer for 1/2 hour and I must check on them.

Dreamer

You are too funny!!! In other words, I think that he is pulling my chain and that I am being too naive! I love this site!

 

[JPatrick]

JPatrick,

Thank you so much for the advice.  I went out and rubbed some of the Corona on the vette tonight.  I can't wait until he comes home and I am able to tell him how much that I helped him!  I also bought an extra six pack in anticipation of leaving it on the garage steps Friday night.

Yup, he'll need that 6 - pac after he deals with the fly problem you created in the garage  :

 

[Nords]

I really must go now, because the cats have been in the freezer for 1/2 hour and I must check on them.

"Lady, I swear I'll behave, I won't scream & yowl at night anymore, but please tell me-- what did the chicken do to get put in here?!?"

Ba-dump-bump *clang*...

 

[JPatrick]

"Lady, I swear I'll behave, I won't scream & yowl at night anymore, but please tell me-- what did the chicken do to get put in here?!?"

Ba-dump-bump *clang*...

Whatever the chicken did, I doubt he'll do it again