Need More Heat

Raising the humidity often help make the room feel warmer even though it isn't. Getting a humidifyer for the room you are in most often would likely help.

Hi Valerie-

In the past we have used an electric heater that we got at Walmart for around $35-$40. It is gray and looks like a radiator heater. I'm sorry, I do not remember the name or even who made it. It did not raise the electric bill too much and it helped keep the the room warmer. It is portable and on wheels. We used on the upstairs landing to help heat the bedrooms at night. You may want to try one.

It depends on how old the house is but we put towels rolled up under the doors which helps. You can also buy this stuff, I can't think of what it is called to go over the windows that helps keep the cold air from drifting in.

It sounds like you need more insulation. We had our attic filled with blown insulation and it cut our heating bills down by more than $100 per month (we have a large old house). Also, be sure to check all windows and doors for air leaking or blowing in. Seal them with plastic or caulk around the edges. You can buy weather stripping to put around the insides of windows and doors, too. Put blankets or something at the bottoms of doors to keep air from escaping or blowing in--or even better, replace old worn out doors. You can also get a space heater, but they usually run on electricity, so you have to watch the cords and the hot coils and such with little ones.

Looks like you've gotten some pretty good responses here, but to put it in some kind of priority:

How leaky are your windows? They are usually the single biggest source of heat loss in a home. You can tighten them up cheaply with a kit involving sheet plastic, get storms (a single panel applied from the interior or exterior, not those awful aluminum panel things), or go the whole distance and get new windows. If you like the look of your old windows, I'd strongly suggest singl panel storms. They actually perfom as well or better than new windows, because you are typically trapping a bigger blanket of air.

How leaky are your doors? Can you weatherstrip them? Do you have storm doors? Both options can make a huge difference in how much air gets in around your door.

If you don't have insulation in your attic, get some inexpensive batts and roll them out yourself. If you use fiberglass, you'll need to be sure to get the kind with foil or paper on ome side, and make sure the foil or paper faces nto the attic. Otherwise, air moving through the insulation makes it work MUCH less effectively.

Tighten up your outlets and switches. This may sound funny, but air does move through your walls, and thus out through these openings which are rarely sealed well. You can get pre-cut foam pieces at most hardware stores that just get slipped right in under the plate. All it takes to install them is a screwdriver to get the plate on and off. Do the ones on interior walls, too, because most houses have air migrating in there, as well.

See if your exterior walls are insulated. If not, there are a variety of options for insulating them, although this is not a small expense. We priced getting foam insulation blown into our walls, and it came up to about $4000.00. This can end up paying for itself quickly in energy saved, but you have to have the money to start with.

As another poster mentioned, take advantage of sunlight when you can. Let the sun in at windows receiving direct sunlight, and cover anything in shade or wind with something opaque and insulating. If you don't have curtains, a blanket will do. If you are looking at window treatments, roman blinds made from an insulated fabric can make it easy to insulated a window when you need it, and open it when you don't. Custom stuff is expensive, but they can be made with simple materials and there are also places locally that sell them second hand.

Before you get started, it's a great idea to take advantage of your local utility's ability to offer an energy audit. As another poster mentioned, this is typically free, and can help identify where your house needs the most help. It can really help you identify where to focus your time and money.

Hope this helps, and you and your family stay warm!

A.

Do you have a humidifier? Dry air does not feel as warm as properly moist air at the same temperature. Best option is to have a humidifier installed on your furnace system but this can be costly. Free standing room units of all sizes are available (check Wal-Mart or Meiers or hardware store)at a reasonable cost. Free standing units have to be filled with water manually, sometimes daily. Check with your heating service people or the web for the proper percent of humidity. I find this makes a huge difference in comfort. It's good for your body and furniture too.
Also, if possible leave your furnace fan on low 24/7. This keeps the air in the house circulated evenly especially in a 2-story house. Check with your service person. I have a fairly new unit and was told on installation to do this. The unit is designed to run on low constantly then rev up when the heat cuts on. Alot of folks I know find this counter to what they think. I find this also make a huge difference in the house with heating or cooling.

You did not say where you live, but most local energy companies (in my case, Cincinnati Gas & Electric) will do a free energy audit. It helps you find out about leaky windows, needing to replace windows, how efficient your heating is, where you need to increase insulation, etc. Although it cost us to replace 10 windows, it has saved us hundreds of dollars each winter since that time. Good luck.

Hi Valerie, I find, if there's a draft in the house, it doesn't matter what temperature I am heating it to, the back of my neck will always be cold and I will be uncomfortable. Different money saving options are to - check your windows, cover and seal them with clear plastic (you can most likely find this at Lowe's or any hardware store. check doors - these can also carry a draft in from outside especially if you don't have storm doors on the outside. If you are carrying a draft in from the door, there are these little draft sealers that look like a rolled up towel but are heavy like a beanbag that you can put at the bottom. Close doors to rooms you don't use or go into often. Well that's where' I'd start. The rest depends on the house. Good Luck!

in addition to all wonderful advices you already received check out www.eheat.com for alternative economical way of heat. I have one of this panels and they work wonderful

i have a i guess it is call space heater you can get at lowes. it is electric and i turn it on only when i am in the room. and it does not get to hot to hurt the kids( i don't let them go near it but if the do touch it wont burn) i have a two and four year old. i think you can leave it on all day it has a timer. but i am one of them paranoid people. i use it in my bedroom becasue it is always cood.

Valerie,

2 yrs ago we installed an electric base board heater in out living room. They come in all different sizes you can get one at home depot or lowes any home improvement store. You want to talk about a difference Our furnace hardly kicks on and our living room is comfortable again. I highly suggest covering your windows with plastic and I know this sounds weird but they sell outlet insulators they are very cheap you wouldn't believe how much air gets in through them. I don't know how old y our house is but alot of older homes don't have insulation they used news paper my house was built in 1920 and we have paper. Any way the heaters are around $60-$80 and need to be wired in to your fuse box our electric bill only went up $20.00 and our gas bill went down $100. So it paid for itself they first month.

Hope this helps
W.

Valerie,
all the advice you have gotten are good ones. If your house is older, you probably don't have enough insulation. the attic is the place to start with this, since heat rises. even if you can only buy a couple of rolls at a time.

T.

BAKE! The easiest way to heat up your house is to cook everything in the oven: dinner, brownies, cookies, etc. :) For you personally, put on clean socks every 8 hrs. As cold as you are, you are still perspiring, so you actually are in damp socks if you keep them on and don't change them. Don't go to bed in the same clothes you've had on all day (like those socks or sweats). Good luck with the propane heat!

C.

Hi Valerie, I purchased a couple of Lasko space Heaters and I have been thrilled with the performance. They are very safe and really cut down on the heating bill. The heaters are very sturdy and the plastic used for the vents doesn't get hot, so as to protect little fingers. The best part is that they will automatically turn off if they are tipped over or even slightly moved. I have a very curious 9 month old and she is always crawling over to it and trying to use it to steady herself as she stands and she is perfectly fine.

Good luck!!
W.

If you have a basement you can also put a space heater directly under the room you spend the most time in.

We bought a safe heat space heater. It is one that heats up the oil so it isn't always on. It regulates itself too. It does get hot to the touch....but I took my two year old daughter to it and held her hand close so she could feel the heat and told her hot...no touch. She never has, and boy it makes a difference. We have gas heat and it can get quite costly too, so on days where it isn't super cold, we just use the space heater and it does the job. You should never leave them on when you not home though, and keep them a distance from the walls, furniture, curtains....stuff like that. Our is in the hall so the heat travels to all the bedrooms....we haven't had any trouble with it there.
Good luck.
T.

I don't know too much about this, but I guess that there is a humidifier that some how is attatched or hook up to your heat and it helps a ton. My mom had it put on to her heating system and it helps out a lot. When the guy hooked it up he said that it would make a huge difference in her bill. I think it locks the heat into the air and holds it better instead of just blowing into the dry winter air in the house. I think it costs like $600, but its totally worth it. Hope this helps.
K.

Not all homes are insulated properly even though they may be new. My husband is an electrician and he runs into this periodically. Also check for cracks around the doors and check if there is air coming in around the windows. You can put plastic over the windows and weather stripping around the doors. If you are not using some of your rooms, shut them off and turn the heat vents off in them.

The best thing to do if you can is to convert to electric heat.

Our playroom is an addition to the orginal part of our house. And since it seems to have been built by blind monkeys reading directions in Swahili...there's no heat or air in here either. (And it's a fairly big room too, so it gets pretty hot in the summer and cold in the winter) We purchased a small oil filled heater (kind of looks like an old fashioned radiator) for about $60 at Home Depot and use it to keep that room warm. I set it between 65-75 degrees depending on how cold it is outside. The best part about it being oil filled is that even after it shuts off, it continues to radiate heat for an hour or 2 (Making it fairly energy budget friendly.) It gets warm, but not hot to the touch so it won't burn your son if he gets curious either.

You've got alot of sound advice from the other ladies. Another thing I do every year is close all the vents on the upper level of the house and open the ones onthe lowest level. This is just taking advantage of what heat naturally does:rise. I reverse the process in the summer for the air conditioner. Another nice thing for you to do is budgeting so the cost of heating isn't painful all at once. Here's link i got from the Dispatch:Columbia asks customers to call to work out payment options and talk about assistance programs. Several are available, including the Home Energy Assistance Program (1-800-282-0880), which provides financial assistance and weatherization services for low-income residents.

Contact information: 1-800-344-4077;

www.columbiagasohio.com

Other suppliers
If you do business with another natural-gas company or heat your home by other means, call the customer-service line of your supplier. Sometimes, the number appears on the bill

I hope some of this is helpful and you and your babies stay comfortable this season.God be with you.

I use a small electic heater next to my desk (also home office), and I encourage you not to forget a portion of your bills are deductable since you are working from home.

We have a very old home and it's 3 stories plus a basement so we have a lot to heat, some tips
keep any rooms you don't have to use shut up, bathrooms ect as well and close the vents in those rooms, who really cares if the bathroom is warm all day right...lol.
seal all windows and doors, if there are gaps between your window fram and the house use caulk to seal it up, also make sure your have weather stripping along all your doors
the plastic that goes onteh windows is great as well to keep out drafts, and while it doesn't keep the hot air from going outside it will seem much warmer inside without the drafts
a rolled up towel between the storm window and the inside window also helps keep out drafts
also it might really be cheaper to use space heaters, they make very inexpensive ones that are safe, look for something that doesn't get hot to the touch, i have a couple that are also fans that i use with the kids because they don't get hot, and be sure that it has a saftey shut off should it over heat or tip over, most do now days
lowes and home depot here both have thier seasonal heating items on sale for up to half off as well.
be sure to dress accordingly to it is super cold right now so i don't know to many ppl that are warm regardless but an extra layer of clothing really helps.
good luck

We keep it at 65 to 66. I bought electric blankets!

Close the vents in rooms that don't get a lot of us. For example, if you have a half-bathroom close that vent since you are probably only in there a few minutes at a time.

Use fans to circulate the heated air. If you can turn your thermostat to 'fan on' that will help. The heat will still cycle on and off, but the fan will still be blowing the warm air. (Having the heat turn on and off is kind of like starting up your car and turning it off everytime you hit a stoplight)

On sunny days, open up those curtains! If it isn't sunny, keep the curtains closed or blinds shut to provide a little bit of insulation (not much but every little bit helps).

You can buy the plastic sheeting for windows. Cut it to fit the window then use a hairdryer to 'seal'.

You can get small heater to help. Also put on more clothes..LOL that's what we did when i was little and the heat went out. We have gas heat, but our two boys room is right over our garage and their room is so cold, that we went and got this little fan that blows hot and cold air and we just put it on the warm air and it warms the entire upstairs up! Good luck and I hope you guys keep warm!

A. T

If your just trying to heat the downstairs more, place a sheet or blanket up at the top/bottom of the steps in the doorway so that the heat that you are putting into the room isn't rising back upstairs.
-Also remember that while using space heaters can be a really quick way to heat up your house, if you have an older house becareful not to leave ELECTRIC space heaters on too long, or overload the electrical outlet in which it is plugged into. The wiring in your house could be old and may not be able to withstand leaving an electric space heater run for a long time. (check the outlet after running periodically to ensure that the outlet or the cord/plug of the space heater aren't becoming warm or overheated.
-Warm Wishes, hope this helps!

I know how hard it can be. We live in an old house (built in the 1890's). This is how we've helped out heating situation. New Windows with the tax refund from 2001, Caulked all crevices and around all windows and doors. 3 years ago we installed a ventless gas heater on the wall of the living room which is where the kids and I spent most of our time. We have gas for heat. We also have small radiator heaters in the bedrooms for keeping us warm at night. The house stays around 68. We dress in layers. I think with the ventless though it feels warmer. Years ago my husband used a kerosene heater to heat the living room, with the babies I'm really glad we don't use that any more.
Good luck on the heat!!

We usually put plastic up over the windows and even the doors where we feel a draft come through. Also purchasing a programmable thermostat might help. I read somewhere that of you program the thermostat to be around where you have it 67-69 degrees during the day, and cooler at night (around 60-65) then that would save you some. Having it cooler at night when you're sleeping, you won't notice that it's cooler since you're sleeping. We also put up new seals on the doors this winter since it has been exceptionally cold. I can't think of much more than that! Good luck!!!

I know it won't look very nice, but you could cover your windows and any unused doors with a thick blanket, the added insulation REALLY helps! Also you could try a space heater, just in the room you are in with all the doors closed.

I would invest in a couple of very good & safe space heaters for the downstairs and/or for the bedrooms at night. My parents got us one that we absolutely love. It swivels back and forth, it stands tall, it doesn't got hot on the outside (we have a 2 yr. old that has touched it, no problem), and if it's bumped or knocked over, it has automatic shutoff. It has a cool temp for a mild fan, a low and hot temp. You can put it on and just let it run or you can put it on a timer and it comes with a remote. The heaters today aren't like the fire traps our parents had when we were kids. These are safe.