All the electric heaters running gives us 61 degrees. Since we normally keep the thermostat at 65, this is tolerable. The lack of hot water for showering is the biggest nuisance at the moment. Hope to get this resolved tomorrow.
Two electric heaters on the same circuit pops the breaker, of course.
No fireplaces?
ReplyDeleteNot very efficient, unless you have trees to harvest, and we don't.
ReplyDeleteAnd where the builder put the fireplace in the template we were using would have blocked our spectacular view.
ReplyDeleteIf you've got an electric clothes dryer, and you've got a clean dryer-exaust-flex duct, and you have the laundry-room reasonably close to living-areas of the house, you can disconnect the duct from the outside vent, (capping the hole to outside) and run the dryer without clothes in it to net an additional 5kW of electric heat directed to wherever you can reach the flex-duct. Doesn't help with the electric bill, and you're wasting some energy using a motor to tumble the drum, but sometimes that extra heat can be very welcome.
ReplyDeleteYou might find a pellet stove helpful. They're very efficient and far easier to place since you can usually just run the piping horizontally out the wall.
ReplyDeleteI have one as both cheaper than natural gas and as a backup in case something like this happens. I load it once a day, clean it once a week (10 minute job), and do a full clean once a month (20 minutes because I brush the flue). Relatively inexpensive, will run off an inverter/generator if the power fails, and fairly maintenance free. And mine will burn everything from wood pellets to corn (remarkably high in energy, cheap, but I don't use it much because it produces more ash) to cherry pits. I can burn more than a ton a year, but the sum total of ash my hardwood pellets produce won't fill a kitchen garbage bag. The only downside I have to my unit is that unless the temperature stays below freezing all day it gets pretty toasty in the house on the lowest setting.
I find keeping a real heating backup useful because I live in a climate that makes yours look temperate.
When we've lost hot water because our hot water heater went on the fritz, I'd use the big pot we cook corned beef and cabbage with to heat water on the stove, and take a big cup, into the bathtub/shower. It works surprisingly well as an improvised measure, and it's certainly better than taking a cold shower, even if it's not as satisfying as just letting the water run over you.
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