When the cold weather hits WTH? - Page 2

[justamama]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

It looks like we may be moving, and I'll for sure be looking long and hard at the prospective heating bills when we're house hunting. I'm also making warm blankets (with cheap fleece, batting and flannel) for everyone in the house this winter. We're going to be doing the blanket sleeper/warm clothes/slippers/low thermostat plan, no matter where we are. DH is not happy about having to wear sweaters all winter, but he's going to have to suck it up.

It must be a guy thing! DP seems to think it's perfectly reasonable to walk around in the house in January in a pair of shorts and no shirt and expect to be warm and toasty. We live in the midwest, NOT in South America. It ain't happening here, buddy. I think his mindset is silly and ridiculous, really. In the winter I expect to be wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and MAYBE socks (I rarely wear socks, even if my feet are cold because they never make a difference) and be cool but comfortable. I keep quilts throughout the house for extra warmth. One of our quilts (and many of the ones my parents use) are ones made by my great aunts and great grandmother. I need to remember to see if any of them are willing to try and teach me the basics of hand quilting next time we travel to see them.

[justamama]

Question wrt the window solar space heater thingy (gotta love those technical terms!):

I wouldn't imagine you could do this and window quilts, right? Wouldn't the quilt trap the heat between the window and itself, defeating the purpose of the solar space heater? Because most of our windows get a TON of sunlight during various times of the day (they are all east, west, or south facing windows). Would it work best for us to use the solar space heaters during the day and then put the quilts up with velcro at sundown to trap in all the heat that's been brought in during the day?

[meandk0610]

Originally Posted by justamama

Question wrt the window solar space heater thingy (gotta love those technical terms!):

I wouldn't imagine you could do this and window quilts, right? Wouldn't the quilt trap the heat between the window and itself, defeating the purpose of the solar space heater? Because most of our windows get a TON of sunlight during various times of the day (they are all east, west, or south facing windows). Would it work best for us to use the solar space heaters during the day and then put the quilts up with velcro at sundown to trap in all the heat that's been brought in during the day?

that sounds like a great idea! i was thinking put the heater on the top of the window and the blanket under it on a tension rod. OR you could hang the blanket on a regular curtain rod and just tie it to the side during the day..

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by AngelBee

I am freaked out. We live in an almost 100 yr old house. Heat ean about 400.00/month last year for winter.

800.00 would be undoable.

No idea if you do this already (or if it's possible) but, my mom always closed off the upstairs and all rooms except the livingroom/kitchen/dining room area (where we mostly lived). Those are the places she heated and the rest of the house got down into the 50s sometimes. She does keep the small electric heater on in the bathroom, though, but it's still REALLY cold when you have to sit on the toilet: On really cold nights (we live in far upstate ny, sometimes it gets down to like -40 ) we'd all sleep in the living room. My grandfather also rigged up these big sheets of - well, it looks like foil covered bubble wrap, but I think it's meant as insulation for pipes and that sort of thing, I'll have to ask my mom - but anyway, they put velcro on the windows and velcro on those sheets and they stuck the sheets of insulation on all the upstairs windows. That way, when the sun shines in in the afternoon, they take the foil bubble wrap off and it warms up the house, but the rest of the day, they keep it on... and certainly at night. It's nice though, because if you get a warm day you can just open the window, without all that plastic wrap getting in the way, plus, it's a one-time investment. They use it in the summer, too, but they block the sun when it's coming in, and take them off when the sun's not shining in (like, when it's a different position). Keeps their house much cooler. If someone's in the room during the day, we usually take the things off though, just for sanity's sake Otherwise you're just sitting in a dark room all the time

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by justamama

Question wrt the window solar space heater thingy (gotta love those technical terms!):

I wouldn't imagine you could do this and window quilts, right? Wouldn't the quilt trap the heat between the window and itself, defeating the purpose of the solar space heater? Because most of our windows get a TON of sunlight during various times of the day (they are all east, west, or south facing windows). Would it work best for us to use the solar space heaters during the day and then put the quilts up with velcro at sundown to trap in all the heat that's been brought in during the day?

The solar thing will only work in windows where the sun is shining in (i.e. you can see the sun shining on your floor, furnature, whatever)... so, I guess what I'd do is put the solar thing in the one side of the house where the sun is shining in and cover the rest of the windows... the sun needs to be shining directly on it for it to work... then as the sun moves, you can move the solar heater (if that's do-able with the way the sun is in your house) and cover the window it *was* at. Definitely I'd cover all windows at night.

[Juvysen]

ooh, and I found this http://www.discoversolarenergy.com/DIY/heating.htm

and this http://inventorspot.com/sodacan_solar_furnace

[~Nikki~]

I'm very nervous about this. We tend to keep the heat very low in the winter, and just dress warmly. But last year we were shocked at how high the bill was when it finally came in. As it turns out, our condo corporation splits the bill evenly between all the tenants, regardless of useage. And unfortunatly, I live in a building mainly populated by very old people who tend to jack up their heat to tropical temperatures.

It's going to be an expensive winter. =(

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by ~Nikki~

I'm very nervous about this. We tend to keep the heat very low in the winter, and just dress warmly. But last year we were shocked at how high the bill was when it finally came in. As it turns out, our condo corporation splits the bill evenly between all the tenants, regardless of useage. And unfortunatly, I live in a building mainly populated by very old people who tend to jack up their heat to tropical temperatures.

It's going to be an expensive winter. =(

Oooh... I'd go make a huge stink. : Totally not fair that you're living responsibly and paying for people who arent.