[Argento]

So I live in a pretty damn old house, three stories tall, piss poor insulation, and I'm located in Duluth Minnesota. It is a college house that I live in with 5 other guys (and i got the big room thank you very much Brad....) and our last heating bill was 315 dollars....and the temperature has yet to get even close to it's coldest point.

My question is does anybody have any good ideas as to how to save money on heat? We have the themostat down to 55 and if we go lower I'd be afraid the pipes would freeze because there are parts of the house where I know the heat doesn't actually make it to 55.

We have plastic on the windows as of right now. I was thinking about hanging some old sleepingbags over them to help reduce whatever is leaking out, would that do anything?

With the energy costs so high, and me taking probably more trips to Indiana than I can afford, any cost saving stratiegies you can think of, I'm willing to try.

Thanks

[AWR]

Do you have a fireplace or wood-burning stove? Couple of cords of wood might make a difference.

[Ebby]

+
+
= Warm House.

[curiousuburb]

Foil.

Of course, people might think it's a grow op...

[Banana]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb Foil. Of course, people might think it's a grow op...

Why foil? If you said because it reflect heat, that would be erroneous. I read an article saying that the heat reflected back was very small, and radiant heat would pass through whether there was foil or not. If you had another reason, please indulge me.

[709]

If your furnace has a humidifier make sure it's working. If not, you could either get a room humidifier or if you're in one of those old houses with wall radiators lay pans of water over the top of them.

[Enki]

If you have doors between floors, keep them closed as much as possible, and definitely re-seal any openings to the attic. There's not much else you can do for cheap.

[ast3r3x]

Originally Posted by Argento With the energy costs so high, and me taking probably more trips to Indiana than I can afford, any cost saving stratiegies you can think of, I'm willing to try.

One of these seems like it's really easy to cut out of your financial needs.

You could try caulking the windows, and fixing the insulation around light switches and power outlets. Of course doors and windows are the biggest offender.

[Argento]

Originally Posted by ast3r3x One of these seems like it's really easy to cut out of your financial needs. .

You would think that....But you can ask Alci how that works.

[Maciej]

Four friends of mine just got a 350$ heating bill, they had to turn off the gas heater and get space heaters. Of course, their house was built in the mid 1800s.

[Wrao]

Maybe putting towels at the base of doors and windows? A friend of mine was doing this for make-shift insulation purposes, it seemed like a decent idea, I don't know how big of a difference it made though.

[alcimedes]

After being at your house:

You're screwed.

[scrouds]

this is for cheap, but idk the effectiveness. back when i didn't live in hot land, we had these strips of foam on a roll. you put it on the sill of a window, then slam the window shit, lock it, and it solved drafts from the sill.

Depending on the windows, you could get some of it, do the sill thing, then start jamming it into any open crevice you can find around the windows.

You could also use it on any doors not being used. And if any doors have the space, put that around the door, to keep drafts out. basement door would be a prime example.

The other cheap thing is a thing, i can't remember what it's called, but it sits on the floor in front of doors that are used. it has the bean bag stuff in it, and blocks drafts from coming in under the door.


On the complete other side:

what do you use for heat?

if you have gas, how is the gas company billing you. Common practice where i go to schooll is for the gas company to come and take a reading every 2 months. the in-between month was an estimate of usage. Their estimates were notiorsly wrong, causing people to pay 400-500 one month, and 25 the next month. Some may check even less.

[Matsu]

An old house is bound to have a fire place, or two. Get some firewood, it can make a real difference. I don't know what a cord of wood costs out your way, but a lot of times you can find cheaper stuff if you're willing to drive out to some woodlot or construction site to pick it up yourself...

[alcimedes]

Careful though, often times in old houses firing up the fireplace will actually draw more heat out of the house than it provides back in. It will heat the room you're in, but cool off the rest of the house.

"Field trials conducted by the Combustion and Carbonization Research Laboratory (CCRL) of fireplaces in Canadian homes, in conjunction with other combustion equipment, have shown that in all but one case, on cold winter days, use of conventional masonry fireplaces actually resulted in an increase in fossil-fuel consumption for heating. The fireplaces actually had a negative energy efficiency during the tests."

[EmC]

You should also have the fireplace inspected before using it. If it is an hold house it is possible that they have been closed up to bring the house up to code. There might be things nesting in it as well. You don't want to have to pay for smoke or fire damage when your original goal is to lower costs.

[atomicbartbeans]

My family's house was built circa 1910, and my room is cold as hell (58°F) right now. Our heating bill still runs in the upper $200's during the winter, and there isn't much we can do about it, short of ripping apart the walls and re-insulating.

I just put on an extra sweater (wearing 2 now) and make some hot coffee.

I don't know if this will help with your heating bills, but buying a large piece of polyisocyanurate (rigid, sturdy polymer stuff) insulation for under $5, cutting out window-sized pieces, and taping in place sure helps keep a room warm when your windows are as old as the house.

[Maciej]

No fireplace here, probably good because we live in the city, so firewood really isn't something thats handy. Obtainable, yes by all means, just no really efficient way to haul it home, or store it.

The windows are all caulked up, we were considering the doors tonight, but sort of came to the conclusion that it just really isn't going to work. The walls are simply too thin and there really isn't any insulation in the structure itself.

Where's Bob Vila when you need him?

[Trumpetman]

Cardboard is actually a pretty good insulator. It is easy to manipulate and isn't too hard to stick up or remove. (Just use some longer staples or nails)

If you aren't worried about daylight, I would try several pieces nailed up over a window.

Nick

[Argento]

Well I appreciate all the suggestions. I've got towels crammed under the doorways to try to stop the drafts. Caulking the windows seems like another good step, and I think after a call from Alci that I'll put a piece of plywood infront of the fireplace when it's not in use to stop any draft coming in from the plume. It just sucks that when I need to go downstairs to watch TV, make food, or just kinda chill out with everybody I need to wrap my ass in twenty sweatshirts and a blanket. I don't mind the cold normally but when I can't escape it even in my own house, it gets annoying. The biggest problem is that it hasn't hit the -10 degrees on the daily basis that will soon come....and when that wind chill hits -30 - -40 it's going to be LAME.....for lack of a better term.

[Argento]

Originally Posted by Trumpetman Cardboard is actually a pretty good insulator. It is easy to manipulate and isn't too hard to stick up or remove. (Just use some longer staples or nails) If you aren't worried about daylight, I would try several pieces nailed up over a window. Nick

I'll have to try that, we have a ton of extra cardboard and it seems pretty easy enough to cut up and put over the windows etc. The biggest problem as you said though is you can not see the sun for a week at a time in Duluth because of all the clouds, snow, fog, coming off the lake and such, so blocking out the sporadic sun when it does come only increases the mounting depression that's already taking root, but being warm does have its perks.....

[AWR]

Originally Posted by alcimedes Careful though, often times in old houses firing up the fireplace will actually draw more heat out of the house than it provides back in. It will heat the room you're in, but cool off the rest of the house. "Field trials conducted by the Combustion and Carbonization Research Laboratory (CCRL) of fireplaces in Canadian homes, in conjunction with other combustion equipment, have shown that in all but one case, on cold winter days, use of conventional masonry fireplaces actually resulted in an increase in fossil-fuel consumption for heating. The fireplaces actually had a negative energy efficiency during the tests."

That's in Canada, dude, what do you expect.

This is an interesting quote. I was always a wee bit suspicious, but assumed that there MUST be some net gain. Maybe not it seems.

I suppose the enclosed nature of a wood burning stove, and the fact that it is typically free-standing and radiating 360 degrees in 3D, makes it a more efficient machine.

I used to insulate myself from the cold in college with a suitcase of Busch. Back when things were simple.

[Trumpetman]

A second thought that wondered through my head is using used wool blankets from army surplus stores. Though they might be hard to find at this time of year.

Nick

[Banana]

If you have snow, and are willing to work a bit, you could pile a lot of snow on the roof and maybe a bit around the house.

Voila, free insulation!

[Maciej]

Problem is the heat escaping from my house melts the snow which leaks through my foundation into the basement.

[Wrao]

This was on cockeyed today.

Insulation Science Project

Ever wanted to know if rice krispy treats insulated better than used diapers?