Heating Question for Big, High-Ceilinged Loft Spaces

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We live in a poorly-insulated space, about 500 sq. feet with maybe 14-ft ceilings. We have a big gas-blower heater that was already installed in the place, and last winter we ran it all the time and insulated the windows as well, but that didn't seem to do the trick - we were cold and our bill was high anyway.

Is there some kind of space heater that we could buy that will make a significant difference but be safe for a room in which people sleep (granted a very large, drafty, high-ceilinged one)?

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 17 September 2005 00:42 (twenty years ago)

Sorry if this is too obvious but you have ceiling fans right?

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Saturday, 17 September 2005 01:06 (twenty years ago)

Also, are you in an apartment building? What floor are you on? Where is your heater located? How are the walls insulated?

I'm not trying to be snarky. I want you to be warm, Hurting.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 17 September 2005 01:10 (twenty years ago)

Maybe you already do this: Wear wool socks. If your toesies are cold, the rest of you will be too. Merino - smooth as a baby's butt and twice as warm.

― jim wentworth (wench), Saturday, 17 September 2005 01:35 (twenty years ago)

don't forget a hat - 80% of body heat escapes through your head. Not an answer to the real issue, but a remedy for the interim.

― Wiggy (Wiggy), Saturday, 17 September 2005 01:37 (twenty years ago)

We do have a ceiling fan, yes. Walls are brick and concrete with (as far as I can tell) no additional insulation, except for the interior ones. Apartment is on the third (top) floor. The heater is near a corner, dropped down a few feet from the ceiling. I think part of the problem may be that it's too high up and not angled properly, but changing that would be no easy task.

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 17 September 2005 01:46 (twenty years ago)

locating a heater near a ceiling is madness.

― jed_ (jed), Saturday, 17 September 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)

Fucking hell, I had a feeling that was the problem. Goddamned idiot landlord ...

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 17 September 2005 02:27 (twenty years ago)

It looks like it'll be a bitch to lower though - he'd have to extend the exhaust pipe, lentghen the gas line, and make a new "mount" for it.

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 17 September 2005 02:29 (twenty years ago)

Also, how low should it be? I don't want it blowing right on us when we're eating dinner either.

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 17 September 2005 02:31 (twenty years ago)

guess what? heat rises

― Jaxon (jaxon), Saturday, 17 September 2005 02:31 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, well, we weren't the ones who installed the heater near the ceiling ...

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 17 September 2005 02:37 (twenty years ago)

your best bet might be one of those plug-in radiator type heaters. they really work like a charm for a small area, but the warmth drops quickly with distance from the heater. i would advise you to look for one witha fan built in. helps blow the heat around, don't you know.

― viborgu, Saturday, 17 September 2005 03:22 (twenty years ago)

It looks like it'll be a bitch to lower though

It might not be that hard but I guess the landlord might not let you do it. We had a gas heater installed in our place and we found a plumber to run new gas lines and do the vent out the wall and everything. It cost a few hundred dollars but I don't know where you live so it might be more expensive.

Also, how low should it be?

I would say you pretty much want it near the floor.

― walter kranz (walterkranz), Saturday, 17 September 2005 04:57 (twenty years ago)

give up on the heater at night, buy an electric blanket.

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 17 September 2005 12:22 (twenty years ago)

Hurting: "I'm freezing and broke but my ceiling is comfortable."

Landlord: "Charles's Law don't apply to me - I OWN BUILDINGS!"

Hurting: "Brrr..."

― JKex (JKex), Saturday, 17 September 2005 12:48 (twenty years ago)

Sometimes you have to give up on heating the space and focus on heating the people. Teeny's OTM with the electric blanket.

― Jaq (Jaq), Saturday, 17 September 2005 13:24 (twenty years ago)

Another possibly stupid question--Which direction does the fan push the air? My parents switch their fan to pull air up in the summer and push it down in the winter. It does seem to help things.

― camanda (camanda), Saturday, 17 September 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)

We have 12" ceilings and it's a lot harder to heat the house in the winter than cool it in the summer. Turns out it's a lot cheaper to keep the whole house at a reasonable temperature with the central unit than to warm individual rooms with the gas space heaters. (This knowledge came via a $328 gas bill one month last winter.)

― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 17 September 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

wearing hats 24/7 helps too.

― teeny (teeny), Saturday, 17 September 2005 16:26 (twenty years ago)

I had a 1500 sq ft loft with high ceilings and one of those modine heaters near the ceiling. Give up on it. I got a space heater for my room which never got heated and you could see your breath. But I actually got used to the cold and never even used the heater.

― Mendoza Lineman (Carey), Saturday, 17 September 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

I'm pretty sure lowering the heater would help though. We actually have a second room - maybe 500 sq. feet in space and even less well insulated, and that one has a heater a little less than halfway up. Gets warm real quick.

― Hurting (Hurting), Saturday, 17 September 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

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