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Old 10-08-2012, 09:47 PM
 
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I moved into a new house, but I am rarely there. It is now starting to get cold on the East Coast.

Here is the situation. I am only really ever in two rooms, the living and bedroom. There's a crapload of rooms in this house. I could almost deal without heat in the living room.

So I plan to heat only one room, the bedroom. I figure I'll just run really quick from the freezing bathrom after my shower back to the room in the morning.

Wouldn't it be much cheaper to buy a space heater for just the bedroom and use it for the sleep and other few hours that I'm around the house than cranking on the furnace to heat the whole house?
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Old 10-08-2012, 10:05 PM
 
Location: The Triad
34,091 posts, read 82,482,448 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jobaba View Post
I am only really ever in two rooms, the living and bedroom
(and kitchen and bathroom and of course the hallways between them).

I figure I'll just run really quick from the freezing bathroom after my shower back to the room in the morning. (pls upload the youtube and drop in a link here... OK?)

Wouldn't it be much cheaper to buy a space heater for just the bedroom and use it for the sleep and other few hours that I'm around the house than cranking on the furnace to heat the whole house?
Not really (let alone when the cold freezes a pipe).
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Old 10-08-2012, 10:12 PM
 
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East coast... Miami???
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Old 10-08-2012, 10:53 PM
 
12,099 posts, read 16,986,115 times
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Originally Posted by MrRational View Post
Not really (let alone when the cold freezes a pipe).
Really?

Not significantly cheaper to run a space heater in ONE room than the central heat all winter? How can that be?

And by significant, I mean at least a savings of over $300, because I still have to buy the space heater.

Is that really true?
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Old 10-09-2012, 02:08 AM
 
Location: Ohio
2,310 posts, read 6,791,281 times
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I wonder the same myself - I have gas forced hot air central heat. I wouldn't want to completely shut off the system especially if the house dips below 50F, but what about keeping the entire house at say 60F and super warm only the room I use to about 68F?

I use the house all day, but only 1 room at a time. I already have a nice space heater (ceramic fan type) which I got for 10 bucks off a CL sale. I know comapred to other types of Fuel (oil, electric, propane), gas is already the cheapest. Just wonder what makes more sense to keep it comfy economically.
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Old 10-09-2012, 02:23 AM
 
Location: Cushing OK
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I have one of the ventless gas heaters, and use a large ceiling fan to help distribute it. My house is very small, but it does a reasonable job in the living room. The adjoining room is usually closed, a cold air sinc problem, but if open so long as there is direct flow it does a reasonable job of keeping the temperature managable.

It runs very cheap considering how much its on when the weather is cold. It was sorely missed the last two nights as it went down to 32 in a cold snap, but its not good for turning on and off.

My trick with the ceramic types is a good osolating fan. I used this the last few nights. Place the ceramic fan in front of the other. Run both, the ceramic one at a low temp and fan, but the ossalting fan will distribute it evenly.

And the warning about pipes should be taken seriously. If where you live has lots of freezes or temps below freezing, you might find yourself with frozen pipes and possible flooding and a huge mess, even if its in a part your not in, and you'll have to spend much more than sufficent heat to fix it.
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Old 10-09-2012, 02:53 AM
 
41,815 posts, read 50,792,097 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jobaba View Post
Wouldn't it be much cheaper to buy a space heater for just the bedroom and use it for the sleep and other few hours that I'm around the house than cranking on the furnace to heat the whole house?
Depends on what kind of heat you have now. The cost per BTU for natural gas right now is much lower than electric which is what I'm assuming you mean by a space heater. You can heat 3 or 4 rooms with NG for the same cost of heating one room with electric.

If you're going to be in this house for a while Instead of going the space heater route I'd be looking at creating zones. For example you can move your thermostat into the room you use the most and "zone" a hot air furnace by replacing your duct vents with ones that can be closed. I'm no expert here but my understanding is you need to be careful doing this because you don't want to restrict the airflow too much. You could of course consult HVAC tech to have it done right.
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Old 10-09-2012, 07:23 AM
 
Location: Ohio
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I've manually closed off the vents blowing into the hallways and rooms I don't use, and also I keep the door closed to those rooms (keep the bathroom door open though).
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Old 10-09-2012, 11:47 AM
 
Location: Myrtle Beach
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I like to use space heaters instead of the central heat system. When it gets cold... okay, okay... I live in Florida... when it gets colder... I set my thermostat to 55 and will use Space Heaters in rooms that we are occupying and sleeping in. I like to use the Oil Filled Electric Radiators, since I have kids and pets.

They keep the rooms which they are in warm. I see significant saving, but this is because my Central Heat System is Electric Resistance. So, in my case, it is obviously less expensive to heat 2 rooms in my house instead of the entire 2200SF since I am using the same fuel (electric).

In the morning I will kick on the central heat for 15 minutes or so to get the chill out of the air.
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Old 10-09-2012, 11:55 AM
 
4,761 posts, read 14,217,429 times
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Yes just heating the room you are using will save a LOT on the heating bill.

Don't turn off your central heating, rather turn it way down. This will keep pipes from freezing.

You can also install heavy drapes or even place foam or other insulation in windows. That reduces heat loss through the windows. New energy star double pane windows will pay for themselves in energy savings, but quite expensive.
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