Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
lowtechmagazine.com
Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
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Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#2This sounds like a good idea until mold starts growing in your house.
Back in the day the houses were not insulated as tightly and people did not shower every day.
Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#3This sounds like a good idea until mold starts growing in your house. Back in the day the houses were not insulated as tightly and people did not shower every day.
Depending on the exact climate/heating system, the energy saved might be enough to run a dehumidifier and still come out ahead. The dehumidifier will also raise the air temperature.
Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#4cmd+f "pipe"
0 results found
Try setting your heat to, say, 50 degrees F and you may discover you've got some cold spots in your house when the pipes there freeze and burst. Let alone if you try going for lower temperatures, or entirely without whole-house heating.
So set it to the low 60s and wear layers? Welcome to what anyone who's ever been even close to poor already knows.
[edit] Maybe this is more useful in places that already barely need heating. Winter lows in the 20s and 30s (F), that sort of thing.
Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#5It better be cheap; it's possible to build an affordable house that is well-insulated enough that the plug loads will be higher than the heating loads.
In a very cold climate, you also need to keep your house fairly warm to avoid problems like frozen pipes.
Ironically, the wasted heat caused by poor building practices can help make buildings more durable by facilitating the drying of the external walls (less of a concern in Europe where houses are often made of masonry instead of wood).
Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#6As others pointed out, this older style is more suitable for masonry homes which might be less susceptible to mold and have enough thermal inertia to prevent pipe freezing.
On the flip side, you can make your house air-tight and use a heat exchanger to refresh the air while retaining the heat: that's the concept of Passive Houses[0]. Not suitable for cooling down hot & humid air (you'd have a condensation problem) but definitely an option for heating a home.
Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#7cmd+f "pipe" 0 results found Try setting your heat to, say, 50 degrees F and you may discover you've got some cold spots in your house when the pipes there freeze and burst. Let alone if you try going for lower temperatures, or entirely without whole-house heating. So set it to the low 60s and wear layers? Welcome to what anyone who's ever been even close to poor already knows. [edit] Maybe this is more useful in pla…
> It makes good sense to return to this concept of heating, but that doesn't mean that we have to go back to using fireplaces and carrying burning embers around the house. While the old concept of heating is more energy-efficient, the same cannot be said of most of the old heating devices.
Two problems meet one stone - hydronic heating (http://www.warmmfloors.com/ | http://www.hydronicheating.net/)
Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#8This sounds like a good idea until mold starts growing in your house. Back in the day the houses were not insulated as tightly and people did not shower every day.
Just a (cheap) shot in the dark, but I suspect that readers of "low tech magazine" might not shower every day either.
Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#9I'm disappointed not to see anything about "Human Heater." Just microwave 'em!
Re: Restoring the Old Way of Warming: Heating People, Not Places
#10They've got nothing on this guy:
Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill