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Say it is me...bec I don't want to tell anyone what to do.
I have high ceilings and want to save money big time.
I would run wire or rope at about a height of 8 feet....buy material...hang it as
restaurants do when they
want to cut noise or hide their pipes...like sails....ropes/wire maybe 5 ft apart....
That would keep the heat in the room !
I have no problem using electric blankets - I think they are great.
I'm having a problem understanding why you would go without heat if you are "cold all the time." Can you not afford the heat? Are the a lack of heating help funds in your area?
I'm from New England, and we have many people who do this because they don't have a choice - they can't afford heat, and there is a shortage of heating help funds.
I get cutting back on expenses, but to the point of not heating your house? Guess my idea of frugal is different. I choose where to spend my money so I can live a life I want - being able to stay warm in the winter is something I want.
Yesterday was in the mid 80s, this morning mid 30s. The living room fire place is on natural gas with an ignition switch. Cats were in winter mode (on a sheepskin on a big poof in front of the fireplace - cat rotisserie) in almost 30 seconds. I cannot freeze in dignity and polar fleece and neither can my animals. Yes, long pants, long sleeved tops, vests, house shoes versus as little as possible and flip flops but within reason.
For your entertainment - there is nothing like a nice hot water bottle in a fleece cover on a cold night, isn't there? Unless you have a foam mattress and do not screw the bottle top on right:>)
If our governments continue with strategies such as raising the cost of electricity, impede using abundant fossil fuel resources, and paying other countries to supply us with energy, etc. many more folks will be cold for many more years...especially with the aging parts of the nation and those struggling with a poor economy...in many demographics and geographies.
"No heat" works for some people in some parts of the country but for many others, people will struggle to survive, not just feel comfortable.
Some day science may find viable alternatives to heat homes and power cars economically...some day...think about that as you pay bills and try to stay warm this winter in the north country.
BTW, electric blankets are nice and natural gas is getting cheaper and helping contain energy prices in parts of the country.
If we tried that here in Wisconsin, we'd have frozen water pipes.
Im in pennsylvania and i would definitely have frozen pipes,but i have electric pipe wraps for below and above ground pipes. I never need to turn them on until winter is set in and only after temps go below freezing and stay there day and night,so on and off thru the winter they go on, i keep my heat turned low at 65 at night and usually off during the day unless theres a wind chill.We are so well insulated that just the daily routine of cooking keeps indoor temps at 68/69 during the day.I have fuel oil heat,my tank holds 250 gallons,i havent filled it since the fall of 2011, but i now need fuel,its down to 4 inches. I hate that huge bill but i have no right to complain, but i will lol.
Actually we purchased electric blankets for all the beds and are just dressing warmer for the other parts of the house. In Seattle's milder winter climate we think we can make it all winter.
Why are we doing this? Because the electric heat was costing a fortune and the colder season has barely started, we have cathedral ceilings in almost every room and we felt like we were just heating the roof.
I'm actually loving the blanket! But I'm also always cold and won't sleep well in a cold bed.
Just thought I'd pass this along, if you don't yet have one, I highly recommend it.
Just be careful your pipes don't freeze. Houses are built on the assumption they will be warmish inside, even if it's 50 or so inside pipes on outside walls can easily freeze if it's below 20 outside. I've heard of it happening with the house quite normally warm when it's particularly cold outside, but that won't happen in Seattle.
I find that turning the heat up in the early morning to get that super chill out of the house works wonders and allows you to keep it low the rest of the day. Also dressing for the weather helps -- wool is your friend. Go to the thrift store and get a good Pendleton wool shirt -- wear layers underneath and wool socks. Still -- no one should be shaking or miserable with the cold. I am frugal but sensible. Also hooded sweatshirts are great because keeping your neck warm helps preserve heat. Sometimes I wear a neck scarf in the house -- it's cozy feeling.
I have a heated mattress pad and heated blanket -- I never want to leave the bedroom
I'm in Maine. It's snowing today and I haven't turned on the heat this year. I kept it at 55 for a few years, but I have Raynaud's now and need to keep it at 60. I do use heated throws and have a few electric radiators we use to take the chill off. My rooms are small and the ceilings are pretty low. I have a heavy fleece robe that I'll put on over my clothes sometimes.
If oil keeps coming down, I may take a break from freezing to death this year
We don't have a heater in our house, but we live in Hawaii. However, it does get down to below 55 in the deep dark of winter nights. Which means it's also below 55 in our house since we don't have a heater. Generally, I'll decide to bake bread or something on cold nights, but that doesn't actually warm up the house very much, I'm not sure why.
We do have an electric blanket and they are wonderful things. We also have fuzzy slippers for the winter time and socks. Socks are good when it's cold, but I bet you folks already know that. Mine are knit with separate toes so slippers (mainland folks call them flip flops) can still be worn.
I'm thinking of making bed curtains to install just around the bed to keep it warmer on winter nights. Kinda like a canopy bed, but there'd probably not be a true canopy frame, just the curtains. The electric blanket keeps us warm, but the air is still cold and it seems weird to breathe cold air.
Electric heat costing too much? Try a Mitsubishi heat pump. It will be 1/3 the cost of electric heat. maybe even 1/4 if it never gets very cold.
At 47 degrees it's going to be about 1/4 the cost of regular resistive electric heat.
Or do you have access to natural gas? If so, what is the cost.
Why Mitsubishi? There are dozens of manufacturers of heat pumps, no need to point out just one. Unless you sell them and this is a thinly-veiled advertisement, in which case the post should be flagged.
I'm a heat pump fan myself, but there are a couple of caveats. For one, experience has taught me that if you live in an area where you need to use the heat quite a bit, you need to have a house that's been built or remodeled to eliminate as much air filtration as possible. Otherwise the heat pump will never keep the house warm and you will be running the electric resistance backup constantly which is about the most expensive heat you can find.
The other is that the installation cost is much greater than baseboard or ceiling/floor coil heat, and there's a higher repair and maintenance cost as well. So if you live in an area where you only need to use the for a few weeks a year the energy savings may never overcome the initial expense.
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