hot, hot (cheap) heat

The cold is coming-is your house ready?

AH, FALL. Leaves falling, pumpkins ripening, birds flocking southward to their winter homes. And there you are: shivering in your basement, kneeling by the furnace, trying to light the pilot, & softly growing more morose with the realization that you'll be paying triple-digit heating bills for the next six months. Worse, you might even be paying thousands a year for splotchy forced-air heat that leaves some rooms cold, others roasting, and everyone with runny, dust-filled noses, if you live in Cincinnati,OH allergy central!
But don't fret. chilly children, there are as many ways to efficiently & thoroughly heat your home as there are to fry an egg. That is, there are a few-and it all depends on what type of heating system you have, how much work you want to do, & how much you are willing to spend up front to save down the road. As The Jam famously sang, "What you give is what you get." So let's get gittin'.

But first, a word. One of the biggest heat depleters is leakage. I don't want to get all Dad on you, but the cheapest & quickest way to stay warm & save money is to cover your windows with heavy-duty plastic & check for air leaks around outlets, vents & doors.(See more tips at www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/)And now, on to the business at hand.

Activent: Forced-Air Fixins(Easy) Most houses in the U.S. have forced air heating. It's easy to check: Does hot air blow through wall vents or floor registers in your home? Then you have forced-air heating. Unfortunately for you, forced-air heating can be the most inefficient, money-sucking, environmentally damaging heat source outside of burning coal. Apart from that, it often blows dust & allergens through its vents, contributing to sneezy misery throughout the winter months. Forced air also 'blows' because of that little thing called a thermostat. The thermostat monitors the temperature of the room in which it is placed, & it turns the heat on & off to maintain the temp. in that room. The only problem is that a house is generally made up of many rooms, & all of those rooms are different: Some big, some small, some have lots of windows(that easily release heat)some don't. This makes keeping a consistent temp throughout the house impossible-and wastes heat in rooms you aren't even using.

So what to do? Upgrading to another heating source can be prohibitively expensive, & for renters it isn't even an option. One idea is to install a neat little gizmo called Activent(theactivent.com)in the rooms most used in the cold season to save up to five percent in heating costs per room. Here is how it works: Activent is a wireless thermostat & automatic vent combo. You install it within the existing heating duct(which takes about five minutes)then put the wireless thermostat somewhere close to where you usually hang out. The thermostat monitors the temperature in the room, automatically opening & closing the Activent as needed, and is programmable to shut off when you know a room won't be in use, It works for A/C as well.. In a house with four Activents installed, savings are estimated to be about $370 a year, dependng on fuel costs in your area,(each Activent unit costs about $75)In other words, you'll stay warmer for cheaper!

Radical Radiant Heat. Radiant heat can be up to 95% cheaper to install & about 30-50% less expensive to run than forced-air systems. That's huge. But why is it always about money with you people!?! What about warmth, comfort, & enjoying the company of loved ones? For this, we offer radiant's true benefit: This in-floor system is arguably the highest-quality, cleanest, & coziest heat source available. I can attest to this. It is warming my feet & my lazy dog's stomach right now. Basically, radiant heat systems work by heating a circuit of tubes under the floor. These tubes are heated by either hot water or electricity. Electric systems are usually best for small spaces, while hydronic(hot water)are best for larger spaces. The best option is to use both: electric for kitchens & bathrooms & hydronic for large rooms through out the rest of the house.

For new construction, it's a no-brainer: just have hydronic or electrical systems installed as you do your construction. Remember that the quality of floors will determine the efficiency of your radiant system: Thin floors warm quickly but cost more to keep warm; thick floors like concrete stay warmer longer & are way more efficient but take hours to heat. For existing construction, it's more complicated. Installing radiant systems means ripping up your existing floor or scrambling under your basement adhering heating tubes to the underside of your floorboards, which I can tell you is a royal pain. But within a few years, radiant heat pays back big-time. Soon you'' be feeling as warm and cozy as sipping Hennessey next to a crackling fire!

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