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Meteorologists are predicting a colder than usual winter this year and homeowners are going to feel the chill in both the living room and their wallets. When the temperature drops outside the thermostats go up inside and the utility bills can skyrocket. The following are some simple techniques to help keep you warm for less.
Supplemental or Zone Heating
Instead of attempting to heat your entire house to a certain temperature, try to heat specific areas instead. Supplemental heating is one of the best ways to stay warm, as heating specific rooms will be quicker and save you money in the long run. One room to consider for supplemental heating could be the living room, as most people are reported to spend a majority of their time in this room when temperatures are significantly colder.
Furthermore, central heating furnaces use airflow to push heat through the house, but this is often inefficient as warm air must travel through long stretches of ductwork before reaching your desired room. A better alternative to this could be a ventless fireplace, which eliminates costly downdrafts and cooling found in traditional fireplaces and central heating furnaces.
Best Heater for Your Space
If your supplemental heater is too small, the unit will run constantly in a vain attempt to warm the room to your desired temperature. To resolve or prevent this issue, it’s important to determine size of the room you wish to heat. According to a guide released by Ventfree.org, this can be done through several calculations and the use of a Heating Region Map.
To begin this process, locate your location on the map provided.
BTU Zones are measured on a scale of 1-6, with one being the warmest and 6 being the coolest. Your next step is to calculate your room’s volume by multiplying the length (in feet) by the width (in feet) by the height (in feet).
With your room’s volume calculated, now multiply this total by the number below that responds to your region:
Region 1 – 1.85
Region 2 – 2.20
Region 3 – 2.60
Region 4 – 3.15
Region 5 – 3.85
Region 6 – 2.20
The total result calculated is the BTU (British Thermal unit) per hour you would need to heat your desired room. We’ve included an example of this calculating process for you down below:
Living Room 16' x 14' x 9'= total room volume 2,016
Then multiply the total room volume by 3.15 (for Region 4)
Total BTU needed would then be 6,350.
Preparing your home for winter can be a daunting task, but the benefits of ensuring your home will be efficiently heated certainly outweigh the effort you’ll expend. Thus taking advantage of supplemental zone heating techniques can help you survive the season in comfort.
Heat Your Home for Less with Ventless Fireplaces Inserts
Our Duluth Forge Full Size Ventless Zero Clearance Fireplace Inserts allows you to build a custom fireplace in almost any desired space. Our gas fireplace inserts are easy to install, cost-efficient, and capable of operating on either natural gas or liquid propane.
This specific unit can radiate up to 32,000 BTU of heat, which is enough to heat 1,500 square feet of your living room without the need for an outside chimney. Several features include stylish screen doors, 6 realistic hand painted ceramic fiber logs, and real flames for a simply stunning home experience.
