How do you heat your flat/house?
By Torunn
@Torunn (8609)
Norway
January 5, 2010 2:20pm CST
I'm trying to keep the cold out of my flat, so I have a fire going in the oven and some electric heaters under the windows. The oven is quite new, so it is supposed to burn the fire wood without creating too much pollution. We (my father) have enough forrest so we don't really have to buy firewood, especially not the years with big storms. Electriciy gets more expensieve in the winter, so it is good to have some options.
How do you keep warm in the winter? Oil, central heating? Or are you a sensible person that lives somewhere with no cold winters? ;-)
I do actually like cold winters, but sometimes it get too cold. When all the water throws in the stable freeze so we have to carry water, that's when it's too cold :-)
4 people like this
14 responses
@malamar (779)
• Canada
5 Jan 10
Hi Torunn!
I heat with gas, but I love the wood burning fireplace as well. I am not a sensible person so I live in Canada where winter is to be endured each year!
One thing to consider to make sure all your windows and doors are airtight. This makes a tremendous difference in the cost of heating. If you cannot afford replacement windows, there are very inexpensive plastic kits that go on the inside of each window that cut your heating bill by a great deal.
Since you don't have to pay for firewood at all (except for some work to cut and haul it), I would say that is the way to go for you.
Good luck and stay warm,
malamar
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
5 Jan 10
Hi malamar!
I know there, is just something about a wood burning fireplace that's so much cosier than an electrical radiator .-)
The house I live in is nearly too airtight, I have to open the door to the veranda when I start heating.
Stay warm you too! In both the green winter and white winter *he he* Torunn
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
6 Jan 10
Hi Torunn, I have oil central heating in the house but the problem is that like most people in this area now it is difficult to afford to run to run it as the oil goes down so fast. The electric alternative is also very pricey. Luckily so far this is the mildest winter for quite a few years but once the wind picks up its going to be cold indoors.
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
6 Jan 10
Many times in winter it is warmer outdoors than in as there may be sunshine outside. Last winter was just awful though, it bucketed down almost ever day for three months, really torrential rain day after day, with icy winds thrown in. Everything was miserable and damp.
@plantit1 (297)
• United States
6 Jan 10
I have a gas furance that heats our house. It is very expensive to run especially since we keep it at 72 degrees or else were cold. So it runs alot. But just recently we moved from a hot climate to a cold climate so we are not use to it yet. Actually I dont think I ever will be use to it.
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
6 Jan 10
It takes a lot to get used to a new climate. I think I could get used to more temperate than Norway, I didn't have too much problems with Austria, but further south I'd have problems in the summer the same way many people have problems during the winter if they move here.
@sacmom (14192)
• United States
6 Jan 10
I normally keep warm with portable heaters in the bedrooms and a wood stove in the living room. Although I do have central heating and air in my home it's too expensive to heat up the house that way, so my husband and I have resorted to doing it this way instead.
Happy mylotting!
@carolscash (9492)
• United States
16 Feb 10
We have a new woodstove that we are using to heat the house during the day as our electric heat was too expensive.
@wdx9105 (4)
• China
6 Jan 10
The cold is really a question.I live in China and I like my house. It's so comfortable that i like it very much.when the winter is coming,the weather went very cold.We will use electriciy to keep warm. No winter,no snow. My daughter likes snow, and she likes winter too. The winter and snow will give her more enjoy. So,I don't heat my house, it is the house of my heart!
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
6 Jan 10
Didn't you get lot of snow in China this year? I think I saw people stuck at railway stations etc on the news?
And yes, we get a lot of news about the weather in Norway, I think it's so we shall feel we're not the only ones that get bad weather.
Hope your daughter get lot of snow to enjoy this winter, happy mylotting!
@sweetlady10 (3611)
• United States
6 Jan 10
In our apartment we use central heating which uses gas. All the time I need to use it, because it is so cold out here. I don't like winter, as it gets so severe here.
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
6 Jan 10
Yes I live in South Texas where it never snows. I have an electric heat pump that sits outside by the mobile home. There is a thermostat inside on the wall. On a cool night I turn the thermostat to heat, and on a hot night its turned to cool. This way no matter what the outside temperature, I am comfortable inside.
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
6 Jan 10
Heat pumps are getting very popular here too, they're quite good when it comes to pollution etc, aren't they? It's great to have something that works both ways, nearly noone here have air condition and the few weeks a year we need it it's quite sweltering. I'd like one, but it's not really practical to have a heat pump on the veranda.
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
5 Jan 10
Well, I have a one bedroom flat and there are no heaters in any of the rooms except the living room! I don't normally use the heat as things are so expensive now in terms of electricity charges but right now we are going through this big freeze and there is snow everywhere and I thought to myself, I've got to have the heating on! I would be crazy to sit there in the cold! So, it's nice and warm in the living room now and when I wake up in the morning I tend to rush in there and get dressed! I hope that this snow spell disappears and the sun can start smiling once more! Andrew
@Biomechanoid (2923)
• Estonia
5 Jan 10
I live in a flat, we have a central heating, so keeping my flat warm isn't really my problem, unless there are problems in the boiler house and I have to take care of temperature in the rooms by myself. Then I usually use electric heaters, but it's way more expensive than central heating. Luckily we don't have problems with heating too often.
And yes, I like cold winters, just like the one we have at the moment.
@happy6162 (3001)
• United States
6 Jan 10
We have a natural gas furnace stove that heats our house. I keep the thermostat set at 67 degrees. Sometimes it feel chill in the house but we just cover up with a blanket or put on a sweater.
@artistry (4152)
• United States
6 Jan 10
...Hi there Torunn, Here in New Jersey, the temperature is precisely 30 degrees. Too cold. I have gas heated radiators, which are nice and warm, but the place I live in has huge rooms and so the place has cold air stirring around from any little opening in the windows. I try to keep the thermostat on the same temperature, because one year I kept changing it and it wound up costing me more than if I had left it alone. Two months to go until April, I do this every year,
hibernate until the spring :o). Stay warm. Take care.
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
6 Jan 10
Hi there artistry!
We have -20 degrees Celsius today, a bit too cold. I don't mind -10 to -15, but below that cars start to protest, the water in the stable freezes and my nose starts running *yuck* :-/
My mother used to cover some of the windows with plastic when I was a child. Not very stylish, but it helped.
Stay away from the windows and stay warm!
@haryosasongko (92)
• Indonesia
6 Jan 10
Given a choice, I prefer cold. Because my country is a tropical country, with only two seasons: rainy and dry season. When the rain did not seem too cold, but once in the dry season, I think I want a half naked when at home. So, I put air conditioner in my room, because I do not like it when sweating. Body itch, sticky, and body odor.
@madteaparty (2748)
• Japan
6 Jan 10
Unfortunately I have no means of keeping my house warm withut having to use electricity, so I keep it warm using a heater. I have a smaller one that I use when the room has gotten warm enough, and during day hours as I have a big windows and it receives sunlight most of the day, it's usually enough to keep it warm.
Also really warm house-wear helps.
