FROG MAN Posted January 17, 2009 Share #1 Posted January 17, 2009 Do you have a backup heat source? Our furnace run most of the night keeping the house at 70 degrees. It was -5F here this morning. I'm going to buy a vent less NG space heater as a backup source of heat. 99.9% efficiency is not bad. Several of my neighbors run them as a main source of heat and there very popular as a garage heater. I just got to keep the batteries up in my carbon monoxide detector but not sure how much of a problem cm will be. Lowes just dropped the price on them again. $209 is not bad for a 30Kbtu unit. I might get a LP model for the camp to.Our old furnace is 30 years old.Nothing like working on one in the middle of winter. I had the blower go out one winter,lost the gas valve,and the 24 volt transformer that activates it. Also the termal coupler seems to go out when the local hardware store is closed.The wind blows the pilot light out about once a week.I might have to replace that furnace before long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yammer Dan Posted January 17, 2009 Share #2 Posted January 17, 2009 Back up heat?? Warden and extra blankets!! I have a fireplace that has had a fire in it ONE time. She wanted a fireplace but she is a clean freak. One fire and that dust and ashes ain't happening in HER house!! Firplace looks good sitting there!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROG MAN Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share #3 Posted January 17, 2009 dust and ashes ain't happening in HER house You spoiled her! Mine is above her raising to.:rotfl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pegscraper Posted January 17, 2009 Share #4 Posted January 17, 2009 Kerosene heaters. We have two of them, which came in real handy with the two-day power outage we had a couple weeks ago when it was 0* outside. In fact, these two heaters do a better job of keeping the house warm in sub-zero temperatures than our main heating system. They might even be a bit cheaper too. And I can put one in the garage when I want to work out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mini-muffin Posted January 17, 2009 Share #5 Posted January 17, 2009 My mom just got one of these: http://www.heatsurge.com/index.cfm?dropcode=EHYA9 She said it works great. Her living room, dining room are very open and hard to heat she said this does the job. Of course it is electric. It's suppose to be pretty good though on the electric. We have kerosene heaters here too. Work great as back up and when power goes out. Just don't run em while you sleep or unattended. Margaret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvester Posted January 17, 2009 Share #6 Posted January 17, 2009 I have a ventless gas log (LP) in the living room which works well if you move the warm air with fans. If you use it for ambiance, it tends trip the thermostat and the rest of the house gets cold. I always have a kerosene heater available since I use it in the garage, and I have a two burner radiant (LP) heater that I use occassionally in construction. The biggest protection in the winter is a backup generator. I have only used it once so far, but it is important when you have no power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albino Rhino Posted January 17, 2009 Share #7 Posted January 17, 2009 Our home is total electric, and it can get cold in north Georgia -11 degrees yesterday morning. (I used 173 kWhr of electricity between Friday morning and this morning.) The house has a wood-burning fire place, but I installed a LP ventless gas log set because I don't like messing with the ashes and hauling wood into the house. The log set is fueled with 40-pound LP bottles and will heat 2000 sq ft of our main floor. I also have on standby a 25k btu LP venless heater fitted with a LP regulator for use with portable bottles. I don't like to be cold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROG MAN Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share #8 Posted January 17, 2009 173 kWhr of electricity between Friday morning and this morning Now I remember why I don't heat with electric. My electric avg 33 kwhr per day.My generator is a portable gasoline model. The electricity can go out for 1-2 days around here during the winter. If we get an Ice storm maybe a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted January 17, 2009 Share #9 Posted January 17, 2009 We have propane and I would love to find a cheaper alternative. I honestly don't see the savings with the Kerosene heaters though. I have one in the garage that I use to take a bit of the chill off when I HAVE to work out there. It's only 10,000 BTU. It will run about 20 hours on a gallon of fuel. At $4.00 per gallon, that would be $120.00 per month for that ONE heater. It would take at least 3 of them to heat our house and I don't think that even that would be enough. So that is at LEAST $360.00 per month worth of Kerosene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROG MAN Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted January 17, 2009 I use a kerosene heater on occasion. I used it at the camp over thanksgiving for 4 days and it set me back $40 for kerosene.:mo money: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvrT Posted January 17, 2009 Share #11 Posted January 17, 2009 Here's what I use for heat in the garage and out on the deck. Works great and doesn't cost a lot in fuel. The heater itself cost $63 not including the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailor Posted January 17, 2009 Share #12 Posted January 17, 2009 Backup heat??? I just tell SWMBO her ass is getting big. The resulting burn can heat the whole house. JUST JOKING!!!! Our back up heat is electric. We haven't used it in 15 years. Our main heat is wood stove. We use about 3 cords per year. If I bought it it would cost about $600.00-$700.00 per year but I mostly get the wood for free so it is worth the effort. One advantage to the wood stove is that if the power is out we can cook on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uechi kid Posted January 17, 2009 Share #13 Posted January 17, 2009 We have a pellet stove and I have a generator that will run that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stardbog Posted January 17, 2009 Share #14 Posted January 17, 2009 I Know somebody was talking last year about Corn heater, I Was thinking to update our heating, system with one of those Corn stove. Looks Like economical way to heat house or just use as backup. http://www.bixbyenergy.com/stoves/products/maxfire_stove.html I Gues Chinese version of this stove is call Rice Burner :rotfl: Does enybody use this one and what's your feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dano Posted January 17, 2009 Share #15 Posted January 17, 2009 We have a 95% efficient propane furnace, about 3/4 great insulation (still got 2 exterior walls I gotta redo with siding and 2x6 walls). About 1400 Sq. fet. We use approx. $1800 year in propane, up to 2.59 a gallon this year, I don't think they've re-adjusted the price since crude came back down, I'm gonna check into it. About 2/3rds that last year. Our furnace cycled easily when it was -15 this week. Oh, got an 8500 watt generator which will run furnace, frig, well pump and most of the lights we need. AND the big screen! Dan BTW, very balmy today at 28d f with sun! Didn't even put on the thermals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1rooster Posted January 18, 2009 Share #16 Posted January 18, 2009 Last winter I used $1100 in propane fuel for my furnace.I bought the EdenPure electric heater as a secondary source. So far my electric bill went up $30 each month for the last 2 months.I turn on the gas furnace at 7:30 pm and off at 7:30 am.I use the electric heater between those hours and so far I have only used half a tank of propane.At that rate I will probably save about 500 bucks over the winter and the electric heater really heats good.. http://www.edenpurestore.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midnightventure Posted January 18, 2009 Share #17 Posted January 18, 2009 Here's what I use for heat in the garage and out on the deck. Works great and doesn't cost a lot in fuel. The heater itself cost $63 not including the tank. I also use one of these. Last year when our power was out do to the ice it kept us warm. Our house is all electric but was built in the middle of the first energy crisis so it is pretty easy to heat. I added 12" batts over the original blown in insulation this fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cecdoo Posted January 18, 2009 Share #18 Posted January 18, 2009 We are total elec. with a heat pump, when the heat pump cant keep up we use an air tite insert in our fireplace, works great, cant beat a wood burning fire. If you have alot of trees on your land I would look at a wood burner, wood heats twice, when your cutting it up and when you burn it:rotfl: Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny-canuck Posted January 18, 2009 Share #19 Posted January 18, 2009 -5F. That would be a nice warm day here:hurts: It has been getting down to -31F here in the last few days. Good thing about it being that cold is it doesn't snow much... Just turn up the thermostat and the old furncace blows out that hot air. I'll be glad when riding weather gets here. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROG MAN Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share #20 Posted January 18, 2009 I bought one of the last 30K's they had. It's a duel fuel LP or NG model with thermostat and electric blower. The unit works fine without electricity though. I got a gas well in the back yard so it's set up for NG. I got it mounted up this evening just have to do a short plumbing job and I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick97spirit Posted January 19, 2009 Share #21 Posted January 19, 2009 We have a gas log set up in our fireplace and will never go back. It looks really good and will heat the entire upstairs. The basement gets pretty cold, but we only use it to take the chill off if it gets really cold. Otherwise, the heat pump is our main source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozark Posted January 19, 2009 Share #22 Posted January 19, 2009 I have some friends who have the non-vented natural gas heaters as their only heat source. Theirs worked well and were very efficient. Only problem they noticed is similar to wood heat. It'a a very dry heat and a humidifier helped out a lot. I hope you like yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB-1 Posted January 19, 2009 Share #23 Posted January 19, 2009 We installed a modern wood stove at the start of last winter. We only used 200 gallons of propane in the past year and most of that was probably burnt in the cook stove as I don’t recall the furnace coming on. We’re able to keep the house as warm as we want, which is very nice on our arthritic joints. We usually get up once during the night to feed the stove, but then we usually have to get up to go to the bathroom anyway so we make the most of it. Around here, a cord of wood generally costs about $150. We are fortunate enough to have enough land to be able to cut our own firewood, but we’ve had to spend the money for a chain saw and hydraulic wood splitter. The investment in equipment is still less than the cost of a winter of propane and besides, I like playing lumberjack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeM8560 Posted January 19, 2009 Share #24 Posted January 19, 2009 I had my heater go out one winter in NH and while I replaced the unit with a new updated system I heated my home well with a kero unit like this http://www.woodlandproducts.com/heater715.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freebird Posted January 19, 2009 Share #25 Posted January 19, 2009 I've got one exactly like that sitting in my garage. It works OK. My garage is not insulated but it takes the chill off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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