EstorilM wrote:
Second Chance wrote:
If you want to go all-electric with your main furnace and keep the basement thawed, this is the way to go:
Cheap Heat
The installation is pricey, but lots of full-timers swear by them. We have weathered stretches of single-digit lows and sub-freezing highs for a week or two at a time (often with 40 MPH winds) on propane heat. We supplement with the electric fireplace and put a ceramic heater on a thermostat in the basement to help, but always make sure the main furnace is cycling. At the worst, we've gone through 30 lbs. of propane in about 3 days.
We use a heated water hose but fill up the fresh tank, disconnect the water and use the pump on the coldest of nights. I wait until sunny afternoons to drain the waste tanks so the stinky slinky doesn't freeze up, too. Reflectix cut to fit in the windows helps if you don't have dual pane windows.
Rob
Wow thanks, for that price I might as well go that route - I have a decent background in electrical work so it doesn't sound too scary, though tearing everything apart and pulling the wires is always the worst part.
It was unclear if you used that system or just the propane w/ ceramic underneath?
Sounds like either way, the key is to have the ducting in the basement carrying heat in some capacity.
edit: Ouch I was looking at the wrong one, not the add-on unit I need haha.
We do not have the cheap heat system - used the main furnace on propane all the time and the fireplace and ceramic heater in the basement to supplement. Always made sure the electric heaters DID NOT prevent the main furnace from cycling regularly. Thus the propane consumption cited.
Rob
