Heating house without furnace

as if I need any more reasons NOT to live in PRC ...

What TR8Todd says is probably the cheapest. Electric baseboard heaters in every room. Had them in an apartment in Washington State and they aren't too bad cost wise. Electric radiator-style works too. Daughter used the portable style radiator heaters when her house heater went out for one winter here in north Alabama till she could afford to replace the whole unit. For long term options, there should be at least a crawl space attic in the house. Can install ducting and ceiling mounted vents for a permanantly installed heater. I grew up outside Santa Barbara and my parents house was built like that in the early 60's. Now the water pipes are there too since the pipes in the slab foundations started leaking several years ago. It was either that or dig up the slab and redo.

Are you looking for a short or long-term solution? And how willing are you to invest in this particular house?

dj06482 wrote: Are you looking for a short or long-term solution? And how willing are you to invest in this particular house?

Short term we are moving into our new home in about 11 months once it is built.

There are cheaper, temporary alternatives out there:

wearymicrobe wrote:

dj06482 wrote: Are you looking for a short or long-term solution? And how willing are you to invest in this particular house?

Short term we are moving into our new home in about 11 months once it is built.

In that case get some of the small ~$30 electric heaters. My sister-in-law uses 3 of them, one in the master bedroom upstairs, one in the kitchen/dining room and one downstairs in the family room. Does great for a 4000 sqft house and is cheaper than running the electric panels built into the ceilings.

wearymicrobe wrote: So is there one type that is more efficient then others in terms of generating BTU's 1500 watts is 1500 watts.

Not really. Like you said, 1500 watts is 1500 watts. Radiant heaters may feel more comfortable but they aren't putting out any more heat.

Toyman01 wrote: Another thing you might consider. Cheap, easy and works surprisingly well. You can pick one of these up at Lows for less than $200. They are perfect for knocking the chill off in the evenings and don't look like they belong in a warehouse. Mine doubles as a small table by my reading chair in the bedroom all year.

I got one of these for my cold-natured spouse a couple of months ago.

If we keep the door to the hall closed it'll warm approx 900-1000 sq feet nicely.

When she closes of the den & uses it, things are too hot for me,so then I just go out to the garage.

M2Pilot wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: Another thing you might consider. Cheap, easy and works surprisingly well. You can pick one of these up at Lows for less than $200. They are perfect for knocking the chill off in the evenings and don't look like they belong in a warehouse. Mine doubles as a small table by my reading chair in the bedroom all year.

I got one of these for my cold-natured spouse a couple of months ago. If we keep the door to the hall closed it'll warm approx 900-1000 sq feet nicely. When she closes of the den & uses it, things are too hot for me,so then I just go out to the garage.

Mods- If this is too canoeish please forgive & collapse.

If you're considering one of these heaters, VM Innovations has them for $100.00 with free 3 day shipping. Use code BRADSXLS at checkout. I've never dealt with VM Innovations & just stumbled across this offer.

wearymicrobe wrote:

dj06482 wrote: Are you looking for a short or long-term solution? And how willing are you to invest in this particular house?

Short term we are moving into our new home in about 11 months once it is built.

And only a few months of those will be winter. So yeah, something you can plug into the wall is going to be the answer. Electric blanket and a little space heater are the obvious solutions.

the mini-split units are great... seems the entire rest of the world uses them...

anyway when we stayed up in MI we picked up a heater humidifier combo... had a timer, thermostat and few other features... it was awesome... added some much needed humidity to the cold air and heated it up as it went... really knocked the cold off

i know growing up my uncle used one of these

worked well... but the kerosene stunk

A heat pump will move more heat than it uses.

1500 watts powering a resistance heater gets you 1500 watts of heat. 15 x 100 watt incandescent light bulbs will get you over 1400. Pretty damn terrible - nearly 4000 watts worth of fuel were burned at a powerplant to get you that 1500 watts of heat.

1500 watts powering a heat pump will move 2500-15000 watts worth of heat from some outside source to your space, depending on the outside air temperature (or ground temperature). It's like running an air conditioner backwards. Yes, this means that 4000 watts of fuel burnt at a powerplant can get you more than 4000 watts of energy transferred - it's not a first- or second-law violation because the temperature differences between hot and cold reservoirs are different.