Are you finding cold spots in your home during the bleak northern winter, or do you live in a climate with a mild winter and want to heat your home entirely with an alternative method? Perhaps you want to live off the grid or at least be prepared if the utilities fail? All of these are great reasons to consider alternatives for heating your home. Alternatives can provide heat supplementation as well as save you money on your power bills.
Your fireplace can do more than look pretty
On a cold winter's night, who doesn't love to sip a cup of hot cocoa before a roaring fire. On Valentine's Day, a fireplace provides the romantic spark you're looking for. But that fireplace does more than provide ambiance. It's also a heat utility.
Gas fireplaces can be a great heat source, as explained in The New York Times; however, you'll need one that generates better than 70-percent efficiency. Units providing less than this, such as many of the B-vent units, which send exhaust up the a pipe, only provide 30 to 40 percent efficiency. They're great for Valentines Day ambiance but are not the way to cope with a New England winter.
Direct vent systems provide ambiance and heating. These systems have two vents, one which brings combustion air in and one that takes the exhaust air out. This setup keeps the warm air in the house. These require ventilation, which can be placed in the walls, so no chimney is necessary.
Vent-free gas fireplaces, on the other hand, require no ventilation whatsoever. They burn so cleanly that any carbon monoxide and other harmful chemicals emitted from a flame are well below dangerous standards. In fact, no more carbon monoxide is emitted from vent-free gas fireplaces than from four lit stovetop burners. These units cost between $800 and $3,000, including the gas logs and mantel.
Tips to heat your house more effectively
Choosing the right alternative heating system, such as a vent-free fireplace, makes a huge difference, but so does moving that hot air from one space to another, as explained by Napolean Fireplaces. Heat needs to move away from the fireplace area, unless you want to spend the winter huddled by the flame. Even if you use traditional forced air, these tips help you heat more efficiently.
For gas fireplaces, locating them in a centralized living space on the first floor or in an open air concept area allows the heat to disburse with maximal efficiency. For ranch houses, the fireplace should be placed in the middle. The fan in a forced air system provides circulation of the air produced by a fireplace. Ceiling fans are a great advantage in winter as well as summer. During the cold months, reverse the fan direction. This causes the heat to be sucked upwards, where it hits the ceilings and walls before coming back down and repeating the process. This keeps things very toasty.
Other alternatives
As explained in Off The Grid News, outdoor wood burning heaters, geothermal heating, and solar heating can keep you warm without a utility company hookup. These alternatives can be very expensive in comparison to gas fireplace heating, and their utility depends greatly on location.
Wood burning heaters are installed outside the home. They are connected to an existing plumbing and vent system, which means they can heat your water. Geothermal heating offers the promise of an unlimited heat source supplied by mother nature. Geothermal heat systems are easily scaled up to handle whole homes and even multiple homes. They can also be used for cooling and water heating. Solar also provides unlimited natural resources for heating, though this is based on geographical region and requires a southern exposure. Solar may be disadvantageous in certain cities, but those living in the sunny Southwest usually find it advantageous.
When it comes to creating an alternative heating source, gas logs for fireplace heating provide an economic solution useful in any climate. With a vent-free or B-vent fireplace, heating is inexpensive and easy to distribute around the home. Fireplace ambiance is great. When it also provides an alternative heating source, it's even better.
