Re: Ways to Conserve Energy and Fuel

william boyd wrote:
Lone Haranguer wrote:
william boyd wrote:
Lone Haranguer wrote:
JerryD(upstateNY) wrote:
Considering the temperature I keep this house and the cost of natural
gas I am going have to do some of that conservation too. I do not think this place is much over 1800 square feet, what else can be done.<<<

I have a non-vented heater in our living room that heats the whole house.
We have a small house and an open floor plan so the heat circulates well.
A regular furnace is about 85% efficient which means $15.00 of every $100.00 of your heat bill goes out the chimney.
With the non-vented heater, all the heat stays in the house.
We have no problem with moisture unless we turn the heat down for an extended period of time and then run the heater to warm up the house.
So if we are away from the house for a long time, I just turn the furnace on to heat the house up.

We are addicted to fresh air so every night the bedroom patio doors are opened, which of
course cools down the bedroom significantly. Come morning, the patio doors are closed and the furnace turned on. Low temps are usually just below freezing. Even after that heat loss, my gas use has been running around $50/mo. and electricity about the same. That's no more than I was spending in the motor home. The house insulation is rated as R24.
Yesterday we had the heat off and the front door open all afternoon, even though the high was only around 64.
LZ
Some times you can be forced in to such an arrangement. When I was stationed in Osan Korea in suposidely top of the line base quarters, I had a glass of water on the night stand next to my bed freeze and break. I decided to move down town and get me a Yobo to keep me warm.

We sleep with a flannel *** and a Mexican blanket and I'm plenty warm.
LZ
Well I had no more problem after I obtained the YOBO and a Korean quilt, laying on the sleeping pad on the floor, which had hot water pipes mazed through-out.

A lot warmer than our tent was, I'm sure. Although we swiped 2 stoves from the Marines, our fuel was contaminated with a lot of water so they never burned very hot. Also they produced a LOT of soot and the pipes had to be cleaned on a daily basis. I've already mentioned the quick fix I discovered by throwing in a handful of cordite and holding the lid down. PFOOOOOMPH and a big cloud of soot went out the chimney. :) We also tried mixing AVGAS with the kerosene. We didn't have alcohol or we would have given that a try too. Unless it was suitable for human consumption, of course.
LZ
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