Cheap survival idea to stay warm?
keith...@gmail.com
I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
gas is expensive too.
I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
Do you have any ideas? Anything I could order thru the Internet?
Sincerely,
Keith
Rod Speed
Buy a coolroom and install it in the house and heat it instead of cooling it.
> Anything I could order thru the Internet?
Yep, a coolroom.
Leroy
>
> I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
Buy a small tent like those used for camping. Pitch it inside the
room and put your desk, heater, and other stuff inside. Restricting
the volume to be heated and stopping air currents is the trick.
A couple of hundred watts of elec heat will make that tent
toasty.
Of course, you could do the same more cheaply. Pick a corner
of a room and make a smaller room with tarps or plastic sheeting.
For a frame, run overhead rope or wire, and tape the walls, ceiling
to it. Clear plastic will work OK and be less claustrophobic.
nicks...@ece.villanova.edu
>I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
>building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
>inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
>some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
You might put an electric heater with a thermostat under the desk
and make some sort of skirt that covers the hole for your knees...
Nick
the_blogologist
> Hi folks,
>
> I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
> run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
> inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
> up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
> a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
Your house has no build in heat?? What keeps the pipes from freezing?
> I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
> the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
> gas is expensive too.
You might try to redirect the heat with a small fan on slow speed,
blowing and not pulling the heat so the fan doesn't melt.
> I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
>
> I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
> build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
> with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>
> Do you have any ideas? Anything I could order thru the Internet?
An electric blanket :-)
Unless you're really strapped for cash, I would NOT get a Sunbeam like
they sell at walmart. I tried two of them and both lost 80% to 90% of
their heat after one season. I still got the heated Sunbeam mattress
pad and you can barely tell it's on. I suspect the blanket failed
because one day it was it was bunched up too tight when it was on and
the heated pad seemed to fail after I put too much weight on one of the
elements with my knee. Or maybe it was just designed to fail after one
season :-/ I'm glad you started this thread, I'm going to try to take it
back to wally-world today.
If you think you might really have to depend on, get a good one.
At your desk have the blanket over your legs and under your feet, and
put the electric heater behind your back. Then at night transfer the
electric blanket to you bed.
> Sincerely,
> Keith
Btw, this was from Stormin Mormon about a month ago:
"During the one of the worst years of the horror of the Russian
Revolution, 1920, many people froze and starved to death, even in
their apartments in Moscow. It was a prime lesson on what can happen
here.
"In Moscow, oddly enough, the electricity was still on for most of the
winter, so one tactic was to make a small hut/igloo out of matresses
in the middle of your apartment and then run an electrical cord into
it with a light bulb on it the end to heat up your little hut."
I remember similar stories about Russians building a room in a room, but
I bet you don't want to make that much of a mess. Someone might suspect
cultist type activity ;-D
the_blogologist
> Buy a coolroom and install it in the house and heat it instead of cooling it.
>
> > Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>
> Yep, a coolroom.
He said CHEAP survival idea to stay warm.
Gunner Asch
Set up his tent in the room, with his desk inside of it.
Looks wierd, but will keep you warm with a small heater or some
incandescent light bulbs
Gunner
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.
Think of it as having your older brother knock the shit out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner
Stormin Mormon
Tarps from Habor Freight, maybe, to make a smaller section of room?
--
Christopher A. Young
.
.
<keith...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:dea64a0d-8dad-447d...@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
Rod Speed
He also asked for a shed that he could erect inside the house.
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
>
> I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
I also sit at my desk and type, sometimes at any time of the day or
night, in an older house with bad insulation and cold air convection in
the winter and have no money on a single-parent budget to do any
improvements. What I have is a comforter that I bought at a thrift
store and made into a snug sack:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/DIY/1980-01-01/Snug-and-Warm-in-a-Snug-Sack.aspx
Works wonders and is not hard to do. If you are particularly
hypothyroid and/or cold-blooded like I am (guilty on both counts), find
something that when you wrap it around you, you feel the heat radiating
back to you. I actually just have mine mainly held together with safety
pins until I my cracked rib heals and I can lift my sewing machine onto
a table to put in the zipper.
--
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.
Lou
your lap when you sit down, and turn it on. Uses little electricity, much
cheaper to buy than the materials for an inside shed, and no effort involved
beyond plugging it in and pressing a switch.
PaPaPeng
>I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
>building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
>inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
>some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
1. A reversible ceiling fan will circulate warm air collected on the
ceiling back onto you.
2. What about a ceiling mounted or ceiling height privacy surround
curtain around your work station? Electric space heater only. Avoid
liquid fuel combustion heaters as they generate poisonous exhaust
fumes as well as being a fire hazard. I don't believe any
manufacturer's safety claims.
3. Or an infrared sun lamp playing on your back shoulder region. Warm
shoulders are all I need to feel toasty.
4. There is a 12 volt car seat pad warmer. The trickle charge from a
cary battery charger should set you up. You always can do with a car
battery charger anyway.
5. Make your own chair backrest pouch to hold a hot water rubber
bottle. Padded to hold the heat longer and spread it gently over a
larger body area. Or else as a backpack pouch. While searching for a
hot water bottle alternative in gel pack heaters I found this product
that is worn like a collar around the shoulders.
http://wholebodyhealing.com/wbhealing/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=139&zenid=03d8223d0e34508e4e2d4b42eff61712
Theratherm Small (or neck)
$105.00CDN $83.00CDN
Save: 21% off
7" x 15" - (18 cm x 38 cm)
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES:
The Theratherm Digital moist heating pad is easier to use than the
other electric heating pads on the market due to its unique digital
hand control. Most competitive units require continuous contact with a
spring-loaded switch to generate and maintain heat from the pad. The
digital controller allows one to set the temperature and time as well
as features a lockout mode to guard against remiss touching of the
controls during treatment.
Looks like this assistive devices category is where you should look.
J. Davidson
J. Davidson
Gunner Asch <gun...@NOSPAM.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:r4van3l2hnrgu6a4p...@4ax.com...
hot-ham-a...@hotmail.com
wrote:
> Thermal underwear.
> J. DavidsonGunner Asch <gun...@NOSPAM.earthlink.net> wrote in message
>
> news:r4van3l2hnrgu6a4p...@4ax.com...
>
>
>
> > On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:32:49 -0800, nob...@nowheres.com
> > (the_blogologist) wrote:
>
>
> > >> Buy a coolroom and install it in the house and heat it instead of
> cooling it.
>
> > >> > Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>
> > >> Yep, a coolroom.
>
> > >He said CHEAP survival idea to stay warm.
>
> > Set up his tent in the room, with his desk inside of it.
>
> > Looks wierd, but will keep you warm with a small heater or some
> > incandescent light bulbs
>
> > Gunner
A blanket draped across your back and rest your stocking feet on a
heating pad.
hot-ham-a...@hotmail.com
<mmea...@TRASHsonic.net> wrote:
> keithco...@gmail.com wrote:
>
> > I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> > building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> > inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> > some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
>
> I also sit at my desk and type, sometimes at any time of the day or
> night, in an older house with bad insulation and cold air convection in
> the winter and have no money on a single-parent budget to do any
> improvements. What I have is a comforter that I bought at a thrift
> store and made into a snug sack:
>
>
> Works wonders and is not hard to do. If you are particularly
> hypothyroid and/or cold-blooded like I am (guilty on both counts), find
> something that when you wrap it around you, you feel the heat radiating
> back to you. I actually just have mine mainly held together with safety
> pins until I my cracked rib heals and I can lift my sewing machine onto
> a table to put in the zipper.
>
> --
> Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
> work with excellence.
Are those great big (4 inches) safety pins still available? That
might be useful in a kit.
Stormin Mormon
I'm thinking the guy either needs a partition, for smaller section of room,
more heat, or creative heat sources. Some ideas posted thus far are really
excellent.
--
Christopher A. Young
.
.
"the_blogologist" <nob...@nowheres.com> wrote in message
news:1i9u2d1.92xi3aoutce7N%nob...@nowheres.com...
keith...@gmail.com
> On Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:33:03 -0800 (PST), keithco...@gmail.com wrote:
> >Hi folks,
>
> >I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
> >run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
> >inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
> >up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
> >a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
>
> >I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
> >the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
> >gas is expensive too.
>
> >I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> >building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> >inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> >some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
>
> some solar heating. Setup your day workshop in your sleeping area.
> The body does heat the room somewhat and it's a shame to loose that if
> you switch rooms morning and night. If your bedroom isn't where the
> best room for heating is, move it. If nothing else just drag the
> mattress and put it on the floor.
>
> Instead of plastic on the windows use those cheap metalised plastic
> emergency blankets. I've seen them for a dollar or $1.50 at Harbor
> Freight some time back. One will do a huge window. They stop drafts
> the same as your plain plastic but they also reflect heat back in.
> It's a window that gets sun, then them make it so you can put it up
> and down. They will make the room awfully dark.
>
> If you stay with plain plastic, put up two layers separated by maybe
> half an inch.
>
> Some others have said a tent and I know that works because I've used
> it. A small cabin tent should be cheap out of season. It's OK if
> it's a used one and it leaks since you are indoors.
>
> Or just use the idea of a tent with expedient material. Improvise
> some sort of frame to make a small work room in a room - walls and
> ceiling - out of blankets. Go to a thrift store and buy the ugliest
> drapes they have for cheap or closeout comforters or just cheap tarps.
>
> Use floor lamps as posts if nothing else, not operating of course. Or
> get some threaded pipes and 3 way corner pieces. Or even just
> friction fitted PVC if you keep the runs short. Or string some
> picture hanging wire from sturdy hooks to hang blankets on - and over.
> Or the frame from one of those summer time shade awnings for the yard.
>
> Wear warm socks, several of them, perhaps a heating pad on the floor
> under your feet.
>
> Something like 40% of the heat is lost through the top of the head.
> Wear some sort of hat. I prefer a watch cap in cold weather.
>
> A couple cats or a large dog supply a lot of body heat.
>
> Good luck. Let us know what you wind up doing.
>
> >I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
> >build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
> >with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>
> >Do you have any ideas? Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>
> >Sincerely,
> >Keith
Thank you all for your advice. I really appreciate it. Probably I
should take you all to bed with me, then it would be really toasty.
(Just kidding.)
I think I will tape off a part of a room with plastic and put just my
desk and bed in that area and have a space heater blowing at me.
For the next year, I will build myself a little lumber stall around my
desk, just for the space heater and my body and will take a warm water
bottle to bed or get married.
I will sew that snugbag that Melinda suggested if I should be still
single next fall. Looks mighty cozy.
;)
Best regards,
Keith Corn
Gunner Asch
<cayoung61**spamblock##@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Ceiling fan, to blow some of the heat down?
>
>Tarps from Habor Freight, maybe, to make a smaller section of room?
Fans are indeed the way to go. Ceiling fans or even simple desk fans
placed high and blowing down, pushing the hot air at the ceiling down
to the floor.
Works very well.
Ive made "heat bazookas" out of 12" cardboard tubes, with a fan at
one end pulling the heat down from the ceiling and out vents at the
bottom.
Ganged computer fans will work also, though the noise will drive you
nuts.
Jeff
> keith...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
>> run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
>> inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
>> up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
>> a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
>>
>> I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
>> the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
>> gas is expensive too.
>>
>> I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
>> building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
>> inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
>> some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
Oh man, I used to work with a blanket wrapped over my head in my 1920
house. Then I started insulating and the improvement is beyond dramatic.
If you can afford ~ $160, buy 20 bags of Cocoon cellulose insulation,
the insulation blower comes free with that amount. Drill one inch holes
in the outside walls (details at http://greenfiber.com/ ) and insulate
the outside wall and add the rest to the attic. Buy a few rolls of R13
(you can get 40 sf for ~$10) fiberglass and insulate under the floor,
you can also stuff it in any windows you don't need. Insulate the rooms
you are living in and that will make a huge difference. This is a two
person job and you would need a friend to get the insulation and blower.
Otherwise try this. Put your desk in an inside corner. Close off that
space with blankets hung from the ceiling (on eyescrews and rope). You
can pin blankets together so they reach to the floor.
In the meantime, search and destroy any air leaks in your house envelope.
Currently, I'm in a 10' x 10' room that I could never heat before. It
was only warm next to the heater, while it was running. I can now keep
that room toasty with an oil filled radiator cycling on low. The cost
of the insulation to do this room was ~ $50. Of course, insulating the
adjacent rooms helps.
You can not heat an uninsulated house.
Jeff
Gunner Asch
Excellent post!
Gunner
>
>
>>>
>>> I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
>>> build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
>>> with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>>>
>>> Do you have any ideas?
>>
>> Buy a coolroom and install it in the house and heat it instead of cooling it.
>>
>>> Anything I could order thru the Internet?
>>
>> Yep, a coolroom.
>>
>>
"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
>
> An electric blanket or maybe better yet, an electric throw. Put it over
> your lap when you sit down, and turn it on. Uses little electricity, much
> cheaper to buy than the materials for an inside shed, and no effort involved
> beyond plugging it in and pressing a switch.
Be careful with this. I got some bad burns from an electric blanket
that I never felt until it was too late.
NorthWet
>
> Oh man, I used to work with a blanket wrapped over my head in my 1920
> house. Then I started insulating and the improvement is beyond dramatic.
>
>
> Jeff
Yes, yes, & more yes! However allow me to expand on this one
suggestion a bit:
"In the meantime, search and destroy any air leaks in your house
envelope."
I do house remodeling/repair/handyman type stuff for a living. Can't
count the number of times I've been told they already searched high
and low and couldn't find the source of the draft. Grab a couple of
tubes of painter's caulk (and a bit of common sense - I'm running
blind - if you have carpet please don't try all of this at home) and
head for your baseboard. Caulk along the seam with the wall, and if at
all possible caulk the seam with the floor. I've opened walls to find
some rather interesting construction techniques. Never assume you
don't have wind tunnels for walls. It's easy to underestimate this one
but there are houses snakes have wiggled their way in through there
(without it being apparent) - wind will pose no challenge.
Head for the windows. Caulk the seam between the window frame and the
wall. Same for exterior doors.
Check outlets, switches, etc. especially on exterior walls (though
some homes also have issues when the top of the wall is open to the
attic (no fire blocking etc.). Install the insulating insets for them.
Pulled a thermostat with plans to replace it only to discover it
wasn't shutting down properly due to a major windtunnel blasting at
me. Interior wall ... one never knows ....
IF you have any cracking along the ceiling/wall joint - this can be a
problem area (though seldom is). Again, it all depends on how creative
they were when building your home. (Hint: I wouldn't buy anything
built during the depression unless I planned on torching it - too many
shortcuts)
When caulking - keep a damp rag with you. Moisten your finger with the
water (NOT dripping!) then use your finger to smooth the caulk for a
nice smooth, more likely to hide, appearance. (Next time you paint
you'll end up with a much better looking job for the effort ;-) Or you
can cut the fingers off a pair of gloves, dip the glove finger into
the water then use it to smooth.
If after caulking you still have a draft, use a candle to help you
locate it.
If nothing else, learn to wear a hat inside. I don't DO cold - sends
me into hibernation mode. One winter I was doing a major penny pinch
thang. Normally I require it to be 72ish. Wearing a hat I found I
could the thermostat down to 62/64 and not even notice it.
Camille
Stormin Mormon
Well, actually, both have been done for centuries.
--
Christopher A. Young
.
.
"Jeff" <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote in message
news:13nbm8n...@corp.supernews.com...
Janie
> If nothing else, learn to wear a hat inside. I don't DO cold - sends
> me into hibernation mode. One winter I was doing a major penny pinch
> thang. Normally I require it to be 72ish. Wearing a hat I found I
> could the thermostat down to 62/64 and not even notice it.
>
> Camille
Great suggestion!
A hat helps, but I like to wear hoodie sweatshirts instead. The hood keeps
your neck and ears warm too. You can even layer a couple of hoodie
sweatshirts for more warmth. You may want to try wearing a double layer of
sweatpants too.
Bill
staple gun. Then reduce the size of the room where the space heater is.
Just staple a long piece of plastic to the ceiling and run it from wall to
wall cutting the room in half. Might also be able to lower the ceiling by
stapling plastic to the walls.
Then this will keep the heat in a smaller area.
PaPaPeng
<nort...@gmail.com> wrote:
>If after caulking you still have a draft, use a candle to help you
>locate it.
Aaahh. Use an incense stick to locate air leaks. I dread an open
flame near any fabrics and wood.
CanopyCo
> Hi folks,
>
> I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
> run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
> inside.
Put up curtains for doors to separate heat zones.
This will let you better heat areas where you are and not places you
seldom go.
These curtains can be as little as a sheet of plastic stapled to the
door frame to blankets nailed up.
I like shower curtains and rods as they are easy to do and do no
damage.
If you go with blankets, put up plastic too, as it tends to stop
drafts better then cloth will.
>I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
> up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
> a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
>
> I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
> the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
> gas is expensive too.
Take a fan and hang it in the corner of the ceiling pointing down.
I have a box fan set up that way on low, hanging from bungy cords and
O ended screws.
>
> I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
> building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
> inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
> some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
>
> I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
> build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
> with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>
Well, you will need to build it yourself unless you spend big, so you
will need to get hander with tools. ;-)
You can do all sorts of things, depending on how sturdy you want your
room inside a room to be.
I set things up to heat in the summer and cool in the winter so it can
be a little more sturdy.
If you build a wall, look at the Styrofoam sheet insulation.
It can be used as the wall itself, or hid behind paneling or even
plastic sheeting.
Also look at the dropped ceiling stuff for its ceiling.
It can be pretty easy to put up and does not have to be hung from the
ceiling to install.
By building a little room right around your desk work area you could
heat that really cheaply.
Just the 100 watt light bulbs inside it would help it out.
If you could move your office into the kitchen you would not need to
heat as many rooms and the cooking heat would help out.
Of course that depends on your kitchen.
Some of them were designed to loose heat for summer use.
If so, then you may want to move your heating stove out of there and
into the best insulated room.
Maybe your bedroom, for example.
Frank Gilliland
in
<dea64a0d-8dad-447d...@d21g2000prf.googlegroups.com>:
>Hi folks,
<snip>
Here are some heat loss figures I found in an old Popular Mechanics
magazine:
Walls and Roof........44.4%
Glass and Doors.......26.0%
Cracks................20.8%
Floors.................8.8%
Your mileage may vary.
Jeff
> You can not get a bumble bee to fly.
>
> Well, actually, both have been done for centuries.
>
Actually a good analogy.
A bumble bee falls from the sky the moment it stops burning energy
buzzing. Just as there is no glide path for a bumble bee there is little
for an uninsulated house. It has a low thermal time constant and loses
heat rapidly, hence you have to keep the heat going, or at least not
leave it off long. Radiant heat sources, like those oil filled heaters,
work better in such an environment.
Jeff
Gunner Asch
True indeed.
Good analogy
Gunner
Jeff
How's the ceiling to floor ducts working out?
Years ago I had a commercial product that had a rectangular duct
about 2" x 8" that ran from near the ceiling and was exhausted by a
squirrel cage fan at the bottom. In my house I'm seeing a couple
degrees difference from near the floor to near the ceiling, not worth
bothering with I think. I have one room with an uninsulated floor and
the temp gradiant is about the same there; although the room is overall
cooler.
I think hot ceilings may be due to the heater output temp, overall
hotter air tending to rise more than more mildly warmed or radiant
heating that indirectly heats the air. I don't know... I suppose air
infiltration plays a part in cooling leaky floors.
Jeff
>
> Gunner
Gunner Asch
>Gunner Asch wrote:
>> On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 10:27:19 -0500, Jeff <jeff@spam_me_not.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Stormin Mormon wrote:
>>>> You can not get a bumble bee to fly.
>>>>
>>>> Well, actually, both have been done for centuries.
>>>>
>>>
>>> Actually a good analogy.
>>>
>>> A bumble bee falls from the sky the moment it stops burning energy
>>> buzzing. Just as there is no glide path for a bumble bee there is little
>>> for an uninsulated house. It has a low thermal time constant and loses
>>> heat rapidly, hence you have to keep the heat going, or at least not
>>> leave it off long. Radiant heat sources, like those oil filled heaters,
>>> work better in such an environment.
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>
>>
>> True indeed.
>>
>> Good analogy
>
> How's the ceiling to floor ducts working out?
>
> Years ago I had a commercial product that had a rectangular duct
>about 2" x 8" that ran from near the ceiling and was exhausted by a
>squirrel cage fan at the bottom. In my house I'm seeing a couple
>degrees difference from near the floor to near the ceiling, not worth
>bothering with I think. I have one room with an uninsulated floor and
>the temp gradiant is about the same there; although the room is overall
>cooler.
Its worked very well for me, for years. It does require a fair sized
fan with some suck to it for it to pull a fair amount of air off the
ceiling.
Thinking back on it..I made some 6" ones for some guard shacks we
had, that had an electric heater. Guards were complaining they were
sweating while their feet froze. Put one in each shack, they stopped
bitching and thanked me.
>
> I think hot ceilings may be due to the heater output temp, overall
>hotter air tending to rise more than more mildly warmed or radiant
>heating that indirectly heats the air. I don't know... I suppose air
>infiltration plays a part in cooling leaky floors.
Hot air rises. It stays as high up as possible, with a big thermal
gradiant from floor to ceiling. Get it circulating, mixing the
air..works good.
Gunner
>
> Jeff
>
>>
>> Gunner
Stormin Mormon
finagle a piece of cardboard to put on the floor, help keep my feet off the
cold metal floor boards.
--
Christopher A. Young
.
.
"Gunner Asch" <gun...@Nospam.lightspeed.net> wrote in message
news:ot9gn39u5c1ggnmsa...@4ax.com...
Jeff
Thanks. I bought an IR thermometer some time back and it is great fun
finding cold air leaks and temperature gradients. I'll do some more
experimenting because I'm just not seeing temperature gradients with
mostly radiant heat (I have no central forced air, a few small ceramic
heaters in the bathrooms though). The good results with the guard shack
lead me to believe this mix em up works well when you have high air
infiltration. I'll see where else it works...
At any rate, warm feet cool head is the most desirable heat. People
with radiant floors love them!
Here's something on temperature gradients of radiant versus forced air:
<URL:
http://www.buildingdesign.co.uk/mech-technical/frenger-t1/frenger-radiant-heating.pdf/>
Altogether too much here:
All this leads me to think your idea (or a ceiling fan reversed)
works well with forced air and is unneeded for radiant.
Jeff
>
> Gunner
>
>> Jeff
>>
>>> Gunner
Retief
>I am living in an old house that was once build for many kids. They
>run around and stay warm. That's why my house has no doors on the
>inside. I isolated the windows with plastic and tape and put curtains
>up to keep the heat of my space heater to keep one room warm. It helps
>a bit but it still feels like in a not very well isolated log cabin.
Did you hang blankets over the open doorways? They'll make reasonable
doors to keep the heat in the room.
>I have a gas heater in the kitchen but the heat goes straight up to
>the ceiling and below, where I am sitting, it stays rather cold and
>gas is expensive too.
Use the gas heater to keep the room above freezing, and use local
heating to keep you warm (i.e. bundle up, use a blanket or electric
blanket, or a radiant heater).
What kind of gas heater? Would a kerosene heater be cheaper to run?
>I am mainly sitting around my desk and typing. I was thinking of
>building something around my desk to just keep me warm when sitting
>inside and doing my desk work and have an electrical heater blowing
>some heat at me. But the heat goes lost in the rather big rooms.
How about a gas radiant heater instead. Point it at yourself.
Take some blankets and make a small "tent" over your desk (keep the
heater away from the fabric, however - don't set yourself on fire).
BTW, get also get battery powered smoke alarm/CO detector -- keep it
near you.
>I have currently no car to transport lumber in my house and start to
>build myself a shed within one of my rooms. I am also not too handly
>with hammer and tools. I know, it is a shame, but this is how it is.
>
>Do you have any ideas? Anything I could order thru the Internet?
Most anything can be ordered through the Internet.
Retief