How's by you the weather? And how are you handling your home heating?

30 January 2019, 05:00 PM

Amanda, one more thing...

There are ventless gas fireplaces; I can't stand the smell of those, either. I remember walking into a local fireplace shop and having to turn around and walk out because they had one on display.

Here's an overview of those units; they share many of the characteristics of the portable indoor propane heaters:

quote:

Ventless fireplace health risks

While no deaths from vent-free fireplace incidents have been reported, NACHI says, some municipalities have restricted or outlawed vent-free fireplaces. The District of Columbia bans the fireplaces only in bedrooms or bathrooms, but Virginia and Maryland don’t restrict them. California banned ventless fireplaces because of the risks, but no other states outlaw their use.

“They put out tons of heat and they’re 100 percent efficient, but they use oxygen in the room and put out carbon monoxide, and they smell terrible,” says Bill Yeager, owner of Yeager Gas Fireplace Service in Fredericksburg, Virginia. “It’s like a car running in the house,” Yeager says. He says he had a ventless fireplace in his own home for five years and installs and services them, but he typically steers customers to other options.

https://www.angieslist.com/art...-fireplaces-safe.htm

edit: It all boils down to chemistry. There isn't any way around it: When you burn fossil fuels you use oxygen and produce carbon monoxide.

30 January 2019, 05:52 PM

rontuner

We spent a bunch on a Jotul ventless natural gas fireplace/stove. Never noticed a smell when we used it in our old house. Put out tons of heat - enough to mess with the thermostat a room away. If we used it too much, the rest of the house would cool down. Adjustable flame size, we usually used the lower settings.

30 January 2019, 06:03 PM

wtg

It looks like Jotul no longer makes ventless units.

Their products are generally very well regarded.

30 January 2019, 06:23 PM

wtg

Even the dog has static cling.

30 January 2019, 07:28 PM

Steve Miller

Poor doggo.

First the indignity of purple booties and now a bad fur day.

02 February 2019, 08:45 AM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by jodi:
Those are maine-worthy temperatures - I am sorry you have to suffer through them! I worry about the homeless people and all the animals people leave outside. Coldest day I had to do barn chores in was -26, and it was no fun.

Barn chores in Wisconsin:

https://www.jsonline.com/story...25-below/2720641002/

03 February 2019, 01:47 PM

Steve Miller

Might want to turn up the heat a bit:

Is this a thing?

03 February 2019, 03:19 PM

Nina

I learned that there is stuff you can spray in your door locks so they don't freeze. I would not survive in cold temperatures, out of sheer ignorance.

03 February 2019, 03:34 PM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by Nina:
I learned that there is stuff you can spray in your door locks so they don't freeze. I would not survive in cold temperatures, out of sheer ignorance.

Interesting tip for dealing with a frozen lock on a car door...squirt some hand sanitizer on your key and insert it into the lock. Let it sit for 30 seconds, then gently try to open the lock.

03 February 2019, 05:14 PM

Matt G.

quote:
Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Is this a thing?

Certainly not in these parts. Ice storms are actually fairly uncommon here.

All that notwithstanding, this kind of thing requires a special set of circumstances, one of those being that the tensile strength of the ice sheet has to exceed the vacuum pressure of the sheet against the surface upon which it formed. That's a pretty highly unlikely combination.

03 February 2019, 05:16 PM

Matt G.

Oh, and it's 45 and drizzling here. Quite the change from just a few days ago!

03 February 2019, 05:45 PM

QuirtEvans

quote:
Originally posted by Matt G.:
quote:
Originally posted by Steve Miller:
Is this a thing?

Certainly not in these parts. Ice storms are actually fairly uncommon here.

All that notwithstanding, this kind of thing requires a special set of circumstances, one of those being that the tensile strength of the ice sheet has to exceed the vacuum pressure of the sheet against the surface upon which it formed. That's a pretty highly unlikely combination.

Tell that to the roof of my car, which regularly had such sheets on it in Massachusetts. And yes, they came off in large whole chunks.

03 February 2019, 05:47 PM

RealPlayer

Went out for a little bike ride today, very short as I am not in good exercise-shape. It sure felt good.

Temps were in the 40s and 50s, which is fine with me. Will get into the 60s tomorrow!

03 February 2019, 08:41 PM

Amanda

Don't remember where I read it, but the idea was that we're in for ever shorter but increasingly fierce Winters.

I don't hate that notion.

Guess we'll finally have to rescind the old saw, "Everybody's always talking about the weather but noone's doing anything about it."

03 February 2019, 09:42 PM

Steve Miller

quote:
Originally posted by well-tempered gardener:
It looks like Jotul no longer makes ventless units.

Their products are generally very well regarded.

Around here propane costs $4/gallon in the type of tank used for gas grills. I know electricity costs less in the Midwest than it does here, or at least it does in Ohio.

Are these portable propane heaters really that much cheaper to run than an electric radiator style heater?