We just moved from NY to LA, and we are freezing our a**es off! We live in the canyon, and it got to 28 degrees last night. Our dilapidated but beautiful sublet has no furnace, thanks to leaking carbon monoxide. We bought oil-filled radiators after reading through the many posts on the NY section but they don't seem to be enough. The rooms are quite large: our main room is 500 sq ft, with no way to close it off from the house. It's very drafty, with tall windows that are basically as decoration, no seal at all.
I remember having a great baseboard heater growing up, but no one seems to have recommended those... does anyone like those? I do like that the oil filled keeps the air moist... but we are still so cold!
thank you for any advice,
m
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Dear M.
We feel your pain in a big-fat-way as the cold snap last week took us by surprise as well. After having nightmares of living in 30 degree weather the rest of the winter [no heater upstairs in the bedroom and it's full of leaky windows] we started doing some research. A East-Coast friend had told us about some plastic sheeting to adhear to windows. It looks a little unsighly from the diagrams but it's one way to go, or we also just found this indoor safe propane heater by a company called Mr. Heater that claims to be able to heat a 400sq ft room on low.
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Comments (9)
We live in Montreal, so I know cold! Can't second strongly enough the need to put some weatherstripping around your windows to keep the cold air out.
We use a cellophane-like product that is described in the Interior Treatment section from the link provided.
It ends up being fairly transparent if you apply it carefully (attach the plastic to the tape smoothly -- with no gathering) and helps enormously with keeping our huge living/dining area warm.
Welcome to California, where landlords can get away with inadequate heating and insulation! Seriously, during the recent cold snap I have been asking all my San Francisco friends if their places are warm enough, and not one said yes. We tried the cellophane stuff last year and it helped some until the cats discovered and destroyed it. This year we added two new oil radiators to our collection. We also added canvas shades from Ikea behind our linen curtains--we're keeping both closed most of the time, and that seems to help.
I love the Vornado heaters. They are efficient and not too expensive ($60) The run on electric and put out a nice heat. Have adjustments for low/high and and auto setting that detects temp and keeps it maintained at whatever setting you like. Even though I have a gas in the LVR it doesn't get to the MBR so I have one in there.
boo hoo!
Baseboard heaters are the norm around here ( and they work fine, but probably aren't the thing for your sublet because they tend to be permanent installations (requiring an electrician).
If you have high ceilings, you're also working against physics, with the heat rising to the unoccupied top of the room. Although I've never actually done this myself, firing up a ceiling fan (if you have one), could keep the warm air moving around the room.
Radiebt heat dishes work great and are instant yet quiet. You cannot leave them unattended but they have an alarm built in if tipped over. They usually run aroung 60.oo.
Sorry, it should say radient heat dishes.
Soozle and Michelle are right... when I install the plastic seal, the room noticeably warms instantly, without extra heat... maybe that's because I apply the film to the wall around the window, leaving 1 ft between the plastic and the window. that insulating air barrier is the best. Thank god for deep windowsills!
Oh forgot to ask, has anyone tried the reusable magnetic paint approach to sealing windows? AT blogged it last year
http://everydaycraftygoodness.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/resealable-cat-proof-magnetic-window-insulation-tutorial/
I'm considering it this year, since I end up spending my heating saving on film every year.