Cheap heat ideas

I use a 99.9% efficient radiant gas space heater (wall mount). They can be used with propane also, manual or thermostat control. They also have built-in CO shutdown.

Have one in the basement that handles most of the house, one other for backup on really cold periods.

Gas bill went down, and of course electric is way down since I no longer use the gfa central furnace.

Stay away from Kozy World brand, they don't last a year and the company doesn't honor their warranty. Brands I have are ProCom and Glo-Warm. .. and the new Kozy World in it's box, for parts I guess.

My house has never been warmer, or the bills lower. Yeah, I did wood too, but no more. Gas is cheaper for me, all things considered.

I'll share my little success with helping the upper level stay cozy in the last house i lived in. In the unfinished cinder block basement, i installed a simple plastic petition system to funnel the woodstove heat up the stairs. I used 2x2s as top bottom plates, and wedged 2x2 studs to hold in place. An occasional screw here and there. Put zippers on any needed doorway. (The zippers stick on the plastic sheeting, then you just cut the plastic. ) staple the plastic on. It worked very well, didn't need to be perfect, just create a barrier to direct the heat. This keeps the basement walls from soaking up the heat. I was surprised how well it worked.

You need to install a vent direct to the outside that feeds the fire burn chamber with air.
That way it doesn't pull cold air through your air leaks at windows and doors in your house.
It will draw air directly from outside to fuel the burning process, keeping the warm air in your house and not causing a negative pressure that pulls cold air in.

I like this company and their product

Wall Mounted Panel Heaters - MADE IN USA

[link to www.eheat.com (secure)]

I had a couple of them years ago and I liked them much better than the baseboard heat. Since then the company has improved the design many times over.

In the future when I move I would consider these heaters for a main source of heat or supplementary heat.

Edit: I found out about that company here on GLP ages ago.

Also if you sign up for their promotional emails they run deep discounts sometimes especially in the off season.

Last Edited by Vision Thing on 10/04/2019 10:35 AM

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Eat lots of gassy foods and wear sauna suit.

You are welcome.

Getcha a bunch of space heaters, they're cheap to run and you can plug them in all over your house.



Just kidding do not do that, unless you want a big power bill.

I installed three mini split heat pump units in our house so far that we have been remodeling for a few years built in 1950, we have a electric furnace that is ducted through part of the house that we don't use.

I'm a firm believer in the mini split units, you have zone control and they are inverter driven.....they ramp up and down when needed. Very cost efficient and good down to single digits, after that turn on your other furnace or grab another blanket.

Sleep naked under a pile of blankets with 3 or 4 women.


Failing that......


Sleep clothed under a pile of blankets with 3 or 4 dogs.

Move south.

Big buddy propane heater

Supposedly candles under terra cotta planters offers heat in smaller spaces. Dogs and cats sleeping next to you or person.

I will turn on an oven and open it for about a half hour to heat a small place. Living in Florida, its harder to find ways to cool down but occasionally it gets cold and no space heaters to be found.

Infrared is the term I should've used, not radiant. Personally, I wouldn't use the "blue flame" type, I think you get more heat from the infrared.

See if this link works, an example of the type, but I know nothing about this particular brand: [link to www.google.com (secure)]

They come in single burner, 3, or 5 burner. Wall mount or legs to stand on the floor. Some can have a blower attached. Manual or thermostat controlled. Propane or nat gas.

I think mine are something like 66,000 btu each, five burners. The one in the basement will heat the whole house until temps drop into single digits. My floors are always nice and warm, the bathroom is toasty, and the water heater doesn't have to work as hard.

Insulate your walls and roof
Any old how

Use oven for each night

*nights dinner

electric blanket under comforter

87 here yesterday...

i need cheap cooling ideas

Small house, good insulation, home cooking 3x / day.

Bake bread

beating off underneath the covers?

Good stuff looking into it

aren't chicks more expensive than cranking the heat?

Heat the one room that you spend 90+% of your time in with a gas unvented wall heater or electric heater attached to an off-grid solar system(or both.) Either use a central system to maintain everything above freezing only, or turn it off completely. Have insulated exterior doors between every room so that you keep the heat where you want it.

Unless you have a family, heating the entire house is just stupid. Wood heat works when it gets really cold and you have free wood on the property.

These are best things in the world, bar none. Not necessarily cheap up front to install, but by far the most efficient way to burn fuel for heat.

[link to www.tulikivi.com (secure)]

1. Soapstone absorbs the heat and SLOWLY radiates it back out.
2. Provides and even, gentle heat. Doesn’t go from sweltering to ice cold.
3. Safe for the little ones. A baby can put their hand right on the soapstone, and there will be no burns or blisters.
4. COMPLETE combustion, every time. Even if you are using a shitty pine log, the only thing you will find afterwards are clean, white ashes.
5. Water filled units do all of the above on steroids...8 hours of fire will and they will continue to heat for 48 hours.

I’ve got a friend In Michigan’s UP...he put one of these in his basement and now gets 2 YEARS out of his propane tank instead of 4 months. He keeps the thermostat set to a balmy 72 and even in the most bitter winter conditions that the Northwoods has to offer of 20 below air temps his forced air furnace will only kick on from about 3:30am to 5am tops working more as a backup than anything else.

That being said...the home is of a newer construction in the last 10 years or so, and about an 1800sqft ranch... but he does have an exposed basement too which results in more heat loss than one completely below grade.

He also took a jigsaw and cut out 4 additional “dummy” heat vents in the floor of his main level. Meaning that there is no ductwork/fans/etc...but just 4 additional good sized holes around the walls and his kitchen island for the heat to naturally rise through.

It should go without saying...but individual results would vary based on the home. He probably wouldn’t have quite such incredible results in a 100 year old home, nor in one that was 4,500sqft.

It’s the way to go, if you can swing it.

If I keep my feet warm I can keep the temp lower in the house. My house slippers are soft fuzzy leather boots like muks, my feet stay hot. Elc blankets and heating pads for seating areas, bed and sore achy arthritic body parts.
A hot drink or hot bath keeps you warm for hours.

Use a blow dryer to warm your bed and feet if you get a chill. Use it to warm your clothes, feet, bed, shoes, coat. Gets things hot in seconds.

Use it to warm the car, with an extension cord you can plug in without even having to go outside.

I keep a hot water bottle on my feet a lot and I sleep with the hot water bottle, I am sure it has saved me money.

Those plastic window sheets you blowdry to the stickys on sides of the window really made a difference last year. Takes some of the bitter draft out. Cheaper than new windows.

Cut construction foam to friction fit into window frames. Make sure it's at least 2" thick. Put it in all the window openings unless a window works to gain solar heat - then just do it at night. Windows are the biggest heat loss per square foot. I've removed all the unnecessary windows in my house.