How does your home heating being done?

1. 79

   Astralroseposted 12 years ago

   How does your home heating being done?
   
   I always wonder if there's a central heating for every house in America or Europe, places which are almost always cold and how is it being done. Here in the upper/higher region of Uttarakhand, India, people, who can afford, buy room heater/blower which is more useful when there is electricity, which usually goes every day or night. Those who can't afford, well, burn firewood and do the night with blankets and jackets. Do you mind sharing how is it in your home?

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2. 59

   ElleBeeposted 12 years ago

   Our home has a central heating system.  Almost all modern houses in the US have central heating, though older houses may have individual radiators in various rooms.  My house has a central heating system, which is powered by oil.  We also do have the small room heater/blowers you mentioned - we use these in one of the bedrooms which does not have central heat, and sometimes we will bring it into the room we are using so that we can keep the central heat turned lower.  Oil heat is very pricey, so we are frugal.  We usually keep our heat set to about 60 degrees in winter time and then use several blankets.

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3. 68

   safiq ali patelposted 12 years ago

   I have central heating but this year I have decided to wrap up warm through the day and night to avoid using the central heating system. In recent years the bill for electricity at my home has risen to $6000 dollars. It can not go.

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4. 59

   duffsmomposted 12 years ago

   We have three methods of heating.  We have electric baseboards heaters which are  very expensive to run and take a lot of electricity.  We have a wall-mounted heat pump for cooling and heating, although it doesn't heat that well unless that fan is on high and it is over 30 degrees out--and the fan is very loud.  And we also have a wood stove in the basement that my husband builds a fire in once a day to take off the chill.
   
   It cost us from about $180 to $190 a month during the winter to heat our home.

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5. 90

   Sherry Hewinsposted 12 years ago

   We used only wood heat until about 5 years ago. Then we installed a propane wall heater. Last year we had a central heat system installed. It burns propane, but uses electricity to blow the air. When it's not too cold we just use the wall heater and close off extra rooms. I would never rely on just central heat that depends on electricity to work, because we have frequent power outages in my area.

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6. 63

   cat on a soapboxposted 12 years ago

   We have central heating provided by a natural gas furnace w/ blowers which we set to 68 and turn down at night when we sleep. We also use our wood burning fireplace for our living room on colder nights when we are gathered there. We believe in wearing sweaters and socks or a fleece lap robe to offset the chill instead of turning up the heat.

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7. 0

   Ghost32posted 12 years ago

   Even here in southern Arizona, most homes do have central heat--but the Border Fort, which I built single-handed in 2010, does not.  Part of the heating is passive solar in that the first six feet of wall height consists of a central 11-inch-thick core of earthbags filled with dirt left over from the septic leachfield excavation.  The earthbags plus a thick outer coat of concrete stucco form a "pendulum effect"; during the day, the earth & stucco abosorb the sun's heat, then release some of it back into the home at night.
   
   This keeps us comfortable (the home is seldom below 70 degrees and usually a bit higher) heat-wise, except for the colder months in winter, which seem to be averaging about 3 months of the year (minimum) to perhaps 4 months (maximum).
   
   For those times, we have a ventless propane wall heater, NO fan (not wanting to depend on electricity), and it does the job well.  The floor plan of the home is designed as an "open square", with no more than a 5 or 6 degree drop between the kitchen (where the heater is located) and my bedroom (at the far diagonal corner of the home).

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8. 80

   Express10posted 12 years ago

   I also have central heat however, here in America, oil, gas, and heat pumps are also used. Some homes have electric baseboard heating, or gas or wood burning fireplaces. There are many other ways to provide heat as well. Portable heaters are another popular option for heat with some of these small heaters being able to warm whole houses. Any combination that the homeowner likes is possible.

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9. 70

   brakel2posted 12 years ago

   We have central heat and air as do most people where we live in Ok City. Some folks in other areas have central heat and room air cond. We do have a couple of space heaters for cool spots in cold weather. This is a good question with many different answers.

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10. 69

    gail641posted 12 years ago

    I have a natural gas furnace in the basement of my house. A lot of the older homes have natural gas furnaces to heat the house. I try to keep the heat down some, because its so expensive. Some people get help with their heating bills in the winter, because they're low income. My house is over 100 years old, and not a modern type of house with central heating. A lot of the older homes don't have central heating.
    When I was a kid, we had a house that had an oil burner that used fuel oil, but oil burners were known to be dangerous, and you had to be careful with them. One of my grandmas had a daughter that had an oil burner, and she had kids. One night she decided to go mail some letters, and the oil burner in their house blew up and she got back and tried to save her kids in the house; her and her kids all died, except for her oldest one, who wasn't there at the time. Oil burners arent' too safe, and they used them in old farm houses in Iowa, where I live.

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