We also thought about buying more blankets (and turn the heat WAY down at night) and using electric space heaters in the living room during the day. Would it be silly to actually seal off certain rooms of the house by pinning blankets over the entry ways? (We have a lot of open arch entry ways to each section of the house. No doors.) The house isn't that big. Only 1200 square feet.

Well, don't do this if there are pipes in those rooms. Also, if you are going to turn the heat down, leave the cabinets under the sinks open, so that they can get more of the available heat.

You might want to also purchase a humidifier, and leave the door open when you shower...the more humidity you have in the house, the warmer it will feel. You could also just boil off some water each night.

Pinning blankets up will stop any drafts, or at least let less air through.

And, FWIW: Don't go so cheap on a room heater that you both have to huddle around it. A little more money could make a huge difference, and get you a comfortable room, instead of just warm feet.

impolite

gchin2:

You said "We're planning on caulking all the windows, getting new weather stripping for the doors, and adding insulation to the roof. Any other ideas?"

By the roof I assume you mean the attic. Do not insulate the roof because it will cause condensation that will become a major problem.

We also thought about buying more blankets (and turn the heat WAY down at night) and using electric space heaters in the living room during the day.

Are you home during the day? If not you could turn the heat down to 60. As for the additional blankets, be carefull as some people find themselves more tired if they layer on to many blankets. It is additional weight they have on their body.

Would it be silly to actually seal off certain rooms of the house by pinning blankets over the entry ways? (We have a lot of open arch entry ways to each section of the house. No doors.) The house isn't that big. Only 1200 square feet. Imp above was correct. Be carefull that you do not close off rooms that have water pipes. They would have the possibility of freezing.

Other suggestions
- Put plastic over the windows to help insulate.
- Turn the temp down a couple of degrees and wear a sweater.
- Cook more meals in the oven to help warm the house.
- Make more homemade soups. The moisture will help make the house feel warmer and the soup warms you up.
- Put a ceiling fan in the rooms that you are in the most often. That will push the heat in the ceiling down (as most of the heat will be up near the ceiling).
- Entertain (either you or your kids). Bodies produce heat and will help cut the furnace running.
- Have a professional tune your furnace.

Good luck with everything. If it does rise 70% it will mean an extra $1050 for you... nothing to sneeze at so anything you can do to keep it down will help.

Dusty

<<I'm in a total panic about how we're going to afford to heat the house this winter.>>

Long underwear....seriously. When home I put on my long underwear and then a comfy sweatsuit with my ugg slippers and I'm set...I sleep in them too. Just ordered a bunch from LL Bean...MENS of course as once again they were cheaper and better quality than the womens...lol

have you talked with your heating oil company to see if you can pre-buy your oil? If you can afford to buy it now, then you won't have to pay for an increase later. It probably isn't going to drop significantly from today's price.

Minxie

Good suggestions so far.

Check one of these out:

Econo-Heat 425watt High Efficiency Electric Panel Wall Heater
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006393L8/ref=cm_eaf_asin_title/

I bought one for the bedroom last year, and I may buy another. They run on 425 Watts... which is less than most coffee makers, and can keep a medium sized room fairly warm.

We have 4 LARGE windows, high ceilings, and very little insulation in our 15'x 20' bedroom, and it was the only heat we used for that room all winter. It's much safer than regular electric heaters, and uses way less electricity.

You can put one in the bathroom to keep it nice and warm!

mz00m

Alot of places here in the NE are not allowing pre-payment because their suppliers will not give a set price. It is making all the papers around here 'cause everyone prepays.

ARR

Flannel sheets
space heater (the ones that look like radiators)
And for the livingroom, last winder I got a "throw" from The Company Store that's actually a comforter, and it really helped since even with a space heater I'm lucky if my mom's family room (basement of the house) gets to 65 degrees.
Sleep with socks

Do you have radiators or baseboard heat or vents in the ceiling/floor?

I live in an old drafty house circa 1880 with radiators. Due to the size and layout of the place, I couldn't afford enough humidifiers for it (According to my square footage I would had to have bought 2-3 humidifiers). And as someone pointed out, humid air is more warm. So I went to Walmart and in the craft section there are these small aluminum buckets (usually with a plastic insert that lines the basket so that it may be used for small plants).

I spray painted them to fit my decor. Then I placed the plastic inserts in each. Then filled the plastic inserts with water. The buckets of water then go on my radiators (I have metal covers over mine). I have to refill them about every other day. It really helps with the humidity.

The project cost me about $10 for the buckets and paint.

If you have vents in the floor or ceiling, check out home improvement catalogs. They make these magnetic covers for vents that may help. Just watch your pipes.

ARR

Make your own Biodiesel. It's not just for cars, you can make it yourself. Just Google "biodiesel" and "waste oil" and you can find several sites on how to make it yourself. If your oil furnace isn't too old, biodiesel will run just fine. It will eat rubber parts, though. There was an article in Mother Earth News on using biodisel in oil furnaces.


Duck

Alot of places here in the NE are not allowing pre-payment because their suppliers will not give a set price. It is making all the papers around here 'cause everyone prepays.


Yes, my propane supplier (GA) suspended pre-pays for a couple of weeks. They told me to keep checking back; they reinstituted the program so I went ahead and bought my propane for the winter. IIRC, the price is a little over 1 1/2 times what I paid last year.

Minxie

Sealing drafts is probably your best first option. Locate every draft you can and stop it. If you have a basement, also seal drafts in the foundation (like, between house and sill plate at the top of the basement wall), if any.

Insulating the attic will also probably pay back quickly.

Do you heat via baseboard radiators? Make sure all pipes carrying hot water in the basement are insulated. Home Depot sells packs of foam pipe insulation. Cheap, super easy to install.

If the house is unoccupied during the day, a programmable "set-back" thermostat can pay for itself if you're not likely to remember to set the temperature down before you leave.

We drop the temperature at night when everyone's bundled up in bed. Warm pajamas are cheap compared to heating the whole house. ;-)

If you're often in one room for a long time (bedroom, livingroom), it may make sense to get an electric space heater and keep the main thermostat set low. May be cheaper to heat that one room with electricity than the whole house with oil.

We need to buy or make window curtains; we have almost none now. We radiate a lot of heat through window glass. ;-(

Some people buy or make "quilts" for their windows; heavy insulated curtains that can be lowered or moved into place at night especially. Google for "window quilt", but here's an example of a DIY'er who did it:

http://www.manytracks.com/Homesteading/winquilt.htm

Eventually I'd like to do something like that for some windows, I think.

One interesting variant on window quilts that I saw someone talking about in another forum was to buy a roll of bubblewrap, and either make a frame to fit inside the windows with bubblewrap inside, or just tape several layers of the stuff up to cover the window glass. It isn't pretty, but it has the advantage of being letting in light. And, it'd be cheap. Maybe even free, if you can score some used. Might be something to think about for some of those less-used rooms. (Maybe a bedroom, where bubblewrap would also increase privacy?)

We're planning to burn more wood this winter, but we have plenty of "free" firewood on the property. "Instant firewood; just add chainsaw, axe, sweat, and a year of drying time." ;-) I've split a little over half a cord of hard maple so far this year. More to go.

--FY

Put a ceiling fan in the rooms that you are in the most often. That will push the heat in the ceiling down (as most of the heat will be up near the ceiling).

Adjust the fan direction so that it blows upwards during the winter. This will indirectly recirculate the warm air that rises to the top of the room. In the summer, the fan can blow downwards because the breeze will cool you...in the winter, it's just another chilly draft.

Adjust the fan direction so that it blows upwards during the winter. This will indirectly recirculate the warm air that rises to the top of the room. In the summer, the fan can blow downwards because the breeze will cool you...in the winter, it's just another chilly draft.

YMMV, but we've tried this reverse direction ceiling fan theory, and it didn't work. Not for us. We have 12' ceilings, which I would think would trap even more heat than a lower ceiling. But we felt cooler with the fan on than with it off. Whether or not it was really pushing the hot air down, there was still a draft, and that just made us feel colder.

Ken

We also thought about buying more blankets...

I have an old house about the same size as yours. It has a natural gas floor furnace in the 9' doorway between the living room and the dining room. My bedroom is as far away in the house as you could get from the heat. Temps in my room average in the mid 50's in the winter at night. However, I am quite comfortable because I sleep on a featherbed and use down comforters. I have 2 comforters; one is lightweight and I use it all year, the other is medium weight and I add it in the winter. It is plenty warm without all the weight of lots of blankets. I use flannel duvet covers on the comforters and the featherbed in winter, too.

I do run the ceiling fans up in the winter, just not going as fast as I run them in the summer. That does help move heat down from the ceiling without really feeling any breeze.

I have a couple of down throws I keep behind the sofa for watching TV or reading.

I am planning on shutting off the unused bedroom this winter. I'm also getting the chimney swept. If it's OK, I'll get some wood to supplement as I have an insert with a blower.

My problem is the bathroom windows. They are single pane and it gets cold in there as the floor is a suspended concrete pad. A couple years ago, I got acrylic panels cut to fit into the wood frames to make them "double-paned" but the outside windows had frequent condensation and I got some mildew. So, I haven't figured out how to make the condensation not happen. Would taping the edges of the acrylic panes to the woodwork be enough of a seal?

Judi
oh yeah, the 20 pound dog and a couple of cats help keep me warm too! :)

Adjust the fan direction so that it blows upwards during the winter. This will indirectly recirculate the warm air that rises to the top of the room. In the summer, the fan can blow downwards because the breeze will cool you...in the winter, it's just another chilly draft.

YMMV, but we've tried this reverse direction ceiling fan theory, and it didn't work. Not for us. We have 12' ceilings, which I would think would trap even more heat than a lower ceiling. But we felt cooler with the fan on than with it off. Whether or not it was really pushing the hot air down, there was still a draft, and that just made us feel colder.

To push air from the fan upwards, the fan draws air from below. That air from below must be replaced, so that sets up a current that flows upwards near the fan and downwards near the walls. The stratifying of the air is slow process if there's no air movement, so the fan can be set on its lowest speed to counteract that.

If you say that you felt cooler with the fan on, I believe you. Did you have it on the lowest speed? That's all you really need. The high speeds are more for blowing directly down during summer so you can feel cooler. (And you're sure it was set to blow upwards?)

Of course, you're correct to point out that YMMV, due to other currents in the room from other rooms or the air handling system, windows, furniture, etc.

I have not yet read other replies, but have you locked in an oil price for the year yet? If not, and if it is not too late, I'd urge you to ask your company about one. Even if you have to get a LOAN for a year to cover the advance cost, it'll be worth it, I'm sure.

As for insulation, believe me, it can be CHEAP to at least lay more down in the attic, if the insulation is exposed! (Just be very careful not to step BETWEEN joists up there and thus come down through a ceiling!!

Good luck!

Vermonter (where it gets REALLY cold)

ARR:

Alot of places here in the NE are not allowing pre-payment because their suppliers will not give a set price. It is making all the papers around here 'cause everyone prepays.

Really. Gee! We did it by August 1st (the deadline), thank God. Locked in $2.14 for oil until next July 31st.

Vermonter

Birdmom (and others)

I am planning on shutting off the unused bedroom this winter.

WARNING!

To anyone planning to dramatically cut thermostats or not heat any areas:

Be aware of possible dangers of

a) mildew forming, if you have ANY dampness in that area and it gets down cool enough and

(b) make very sure that any areas you cut heat to do not have water pipes passing through there.

Frozen pipes can be difficult, at the very least.

Vermonter (been there)

Consider getting an automatic thermostat control if you don't already have one. You can program the control to change the temperature based on the time of day, and day of the week. Even if you have an older furnace (for example, one that requires a millivolt thermostat), they make programmable thermostats that work with them - just check with the store where you purchase it.

Also, if your oil company has a monthly budget plan, see how many months you can stretch it over. Our oil company used to have only a 5-month plan, and this year they've added a 9-month plan. I'm paying nearly as much per month as last year, so despite the huge increase, I'm not overwhelmed.

That and wear sweaters!

-spusfac

If you say that you felt cooler with the fan on, I believe you. Did you have it on the lowest speed? That's all you really need. The high speeds are more for blowing directly down during summer so you can feel cooler. (And you're sure it was set to blow upwards?)

Yep, lowest speed. We sometimes use the lowest speed in Summer, too. If it's about 80 degrees, that's all we need to get to sleep. It just creates a slight breeze, but enough to feel a few degrees cooler.

As for blowing upwards, yes, pretty certain. Counter-clockwise for blowing downwards, clockwise for blowing upwards. (Unless, of course, we have it completely backwards, and we've been blowing the air upwards every Summer. :-)

With our high ceilings, and the air ducts high up on the walls, we were really hoping blowing the air down would help. It might for many folks, but it didn't help us. :(

Ken

Long underwear.

Flannel lined jeans.

Frozen pipes can be difficult, at the very least.

Thanks for the warning! I'm in the lower part of the San Joaquin Valley in CA. It hasn't been cold enough to worry about this since 1990 and then it was only about a week in December. My whole sprinkler system was destroyed then. It doesn't even get cold enough here for tulips to bloom a second year. But then, with all the weird weather patterns of the last few years, who knows?

Judi

Thanks for the warning! I'm in the lower part of the San Joaquin Valley in CA. It hasn't been cold enough to worry about this since 1990 and then it was only about a week in December. My whole sprinkler system was destroyed then. It doesn't even get cold enough here for tulips to bloom a second year. But then, with all the weird weather patterns of the last few years, who knows?

In the science-fiction book "Fallen Angels", the glaciers had already taken over virtually all of Canada and it was a constant battle to keep them off US interstate 94; Chicago was mostly depopulated, and the remaining population had a semi-feudual society which was slowly dismantling the city to burn for heat; and the US government was putting ever-tighter constraints on technology (particularly the use of technology by people who expressed less-than-complete belief in everything the government said) in order to combat global warming.

In the science-fiction book "Fallen Angels",

Great. You just made me give Amazon.com more money. :-)

cm

Adjust the fan direction so that it blows upwards during the winter. This will indirectly recirculate the warm air that rises to the top of the room. In the summer, the fan can blow downwards because the breeze will cool you...in the winter, it's just another chilly draft.

Rule of thumb is down in warm weather, up in cold weather, but it depends on how your house is shaped. We have a two-story house with a tall living room and having the airflow going up in summer and down in winter helps the temperature distribution between upstairs and downstairs. I'm trying to remember where I read that so I can share the reference.

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. Our oil compnay does allow us to lock in prices during september but currently, the oil price is very high. When I asked the rep. he said he thought I was better off to not lock in a price and hope that these high prices go away in a month or two. We are on a budget plan already.

But I do plan to get one of those wall heaters, insulate the attic and insulated curtains for the windows. I also plan to get my DH some long underwear. Typically, he thinks the house is too cold if he can't walk around in short sleeves. It drives me crazy. I also plan to get him a down blanket because he sits up till 2am watching tv downstairs where it's cold (so he has to turn the heat way up) and the kids and I are upstairs, in our flannal jammies, sweating, WITHOUT blankets.

best,
Gchin2

Trust me -- frozen pipes are bad.

However, I doubt you'd get what WE sometimes get! The winter when the line from our well froze under the lawn was bad. Frost that year penetrated down 5 feet deep, and several people around here had the same trouble!

Vermonter

We're planning on caulking all the windows, getting new weather stripping for the doors, and adding insulation to the roof. Any other ideas?

While you're caulking the windows don't forget the baseboards and trim around the doors. In my prior abode the baseboards were much more drafty than the windows.

What's the R-value on those windows? Look into insulated window coverings. Here's one company I found on google:
http://www.warmcompany.com/wwpage.html

I bought the fabric at Joann's fabric last year and did my living room and bedrooms. I got lazy and just propped them up in the windows with tension rods. It was definately worth it. I have single pane drafty windows in the current apartment. The fabric was pricey but looking over my heat usage the fabric just about paid for itself the first year.

Hot air rises. If you have ceiling fans, use them. If not, point fans toward the ceiling to circulate the air back down. Blocking off unused or seldom used space is a good idea. I also hang flannel sheets in doorless doorways so that I'm only heating the areas I'm in.

Look at the placement of furniture. Are the bookcases, dressers, and all those types of furniture against outside walls? Would your decor go with decorative quilt hanging or wall tapestry?

Drink warm liquids. Warming yourself with a cup of something takes much less energy then warming the whole room.

Don't forget the humidity. You know how in the summer a humid day feels so much hotter than a dry one? A comfortable level of humidity feels warmer than dry hot air in the winter also.

This year I plan to add an electric blanket to the bed, but not to use all night. Just to take the chill off the sheets before I get in. My goal is to be so comfortable I only have to keep the heat high enough to keep the pipes from freezing. Don't know that I'll make it, but it will be sort of fun for me to try.

Okay, stupid question. Do you just have to keep the temp of the house above 32 degrees to keep the pipes from freezing, or should it be significantly higher? (I'm pretty sure we would never set the indoor temp below 50 unless we were away on vacation. I'm just curious.)

best,
Gchin2

Do you just have to keep the temp of the house above 32 degrees to keep the pipes from freezing, or should it be significantly higher?

Most houses aren't the same temperature everywhere. You need to set the thermostat such that no part of the house with pipes in it (the basement, the crawl space, the outside bathroom wall) gets below freezing. What temperature that takes depends on your house.

- Megan

Do you have one of those pull-down stairs to gain access to the attic? If you do, it is like having a big hole in your ceiling for heat to escape. You can build an inexpensive insulated cover to block the opening when not in use. For simplicity, you could use a sheet of thick styrofoam or a sheet of plywood with insulation stapled to it to block the opening. When you want to enter the attic, you just push the insulated cover away as you climb the stairs to enter the attic.

IF

>Do you have one of those pull-down stairs to gain access to the attic? If you do, it is like having a big hole in your ceiling for heat to escape.

Yes, we do have one of those! And I've always noticed that that hallway is extra cold/hot depending on the season.

>For simplicity, you could use a sheet of thick styrofoam or a sheet of plywood with insulation stapled to it to block the opening.

Will definitely add this to my shopping list at Home Depot!

best,
Gchin2

Okay, stupid question. Do you just have to keep the temp of the house above 32 degrees to keep the pipes from freezing, or should it be significantly higher? (I'm pretty sure we would never set the indoor temp below 50 unless we were away on vacation. I'm just curious.)


You need to keep the temperature of the PIPE above 32 degrees.

The interior surface of the wall has some insulation value, and the pipe is on the outside of that (ignoring the possibility of further insulation), so you'd have to keep the interior of the HOUSE even warmer.

And in practice you should keep it above 50 degrees unless you've removed all fabric.

And in practice you should keep it above 50 degrees unless you've removed all fabric.

Explain, please?

- Megan

We also thought about buying more blankets (and turn the heat WAY down at night)

One of my best investments last year was an electric mattress pad cover.

Rather than an electric blanket that radiates heat both up, into the room, and down, into you, (and of course most heat goes up) the mattress pad cover radiates heat up, into you and your blankets, and less goes down, into the mattress.

The blankets trap the heat in so you don't have to set it very high. I typically turn it on high when I walk in the room, then get ready for bed, and then turn it down to low as I climb in. The sheets and comforter are all nice a toasty, and the low setting keeps me warm all night.

The cat snuggles up next to me and enjoys what heat does escape.

The rest of the house is set just warm enough to keep the pipes from freezing :)

I don't use space heaters, but I do shut the vents off in rooms I don't really use and I have a ventless gas fireplace in the bed room that I kick on in the morning so it isn't so cold while getting dressed. That way I really only have to heat in the evenings and on the weekends.

This year I plan to add an electric blanket to the bed, but not to use all night. Just to take the chill off the sheets before I get in.

I highly recommend an electric mattress pad cover. You lose less heat to the air and more of it stays in the bed with you.

I turn mine on high as I go into the bedroom to get ready for bed, then turn it to low as I slip into a toasty bed for the night.

Mine turns itself off after 10 hours so I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn it off in the morning, but I do find that if I sleep in on the weekends it might shut off before I get up :(

(Generally this happens if I curl up in bed early watching TV before going to sleep, I don't really sleep for more than 10 hours)