About
two weeks ago we had a definite shift in the weather. We went from A/C in the afternoons to “someone
turn on some heat” literally overnight. Near
freezing temperatures at night have prompted me to put the winter blankets on
the beds and break out the flannel jammies.
Our
main source of heat at our house is baseboard electric wall mounted
heaters. We have one thermostat that
operates the entire downstairs and the bedrooms each have their own
thermostat. Because heat rises we are
fortunate in that we never have to turn
on the heaters in the upstairs bedrooms.
I try
to put off turning on the main heat as long as possible. It operates off the 220V electricity just
like the oven and clothes dryer, which is more expensive to run than the
regular 110V.
We have
an electric fireplace in our living room.
I bought it about eight years ago because I wanted the look of a
crackling fire without having to install a wood burning stove and cut all that firewood. It plugs right into a regular outlet. I built a hearth and mantle to further
emphasize the effect. What I quickly
discovered was that this little unit pumps out a lot of heat.
Once
the cooler temperatures begin we start using the electric fireplace in the living
room. It heats the main living room,
dining room and kitchen quite nicely. Last
year I invested in an infrared heater to help heat our home and prolong turning
the baseboard heat on. I park it in the
downstairs hall so it is centrally located and it safely heats the house while
we are away or sleeping. It has a
thermostat and I set it around 68°. Both
of those units manage to keep our little house plenty warm for quite awhile.
Once
the temperature gets down around freezing during the daytime I will turn on the
main heat but until then I use the 110v units for as long as I can. They have helped me save a small fortune on
our heating bill and make it more comfortable for us as well.
Additionally,
I keep a small space heater in our upstairs bathroom so if it is chilly in
there we can add a little heat when we shower.
We wear slippers or fuzzy socks and sweaters during the winter and keep
throws handy to cuddle up with while enjoying TV or a movie. Another thing I like to do is when I am
finished baking I prop the oven door open and allow the heat to escape into the
kitchen.
With the unpredictable weather nowadays, it is an assurance if you have both heating and cooling equipment in hand. Glad the weather shift didn’t catch you off guard at all. And it’s cool that you have efficient equipment at your house since they can absolutely lower your energy consumption.
ReplyDelete