Saving Money as Prices Increase

[jyoutz]

They are a small electric radiator that is filled with oil. So once they get up to temperature it does not take much energy to keep them there. They are way more efficient than your average radiant electric coil heater, I have been told, but honestly I have no real numbers to support that. They do a surprisingly good job heating smaller spaces. They look like this.

View attachment 719714

I love those. We have one in our garage store room and use it during the winter.

 

[not2old]

About 1/2 of our income is from condo rentals. We will get by, but it would be a lot easier if the government didn't force us to subsidize our tenants. One condo is rented at current market at $1100 per month. Four just got their rent raised by $12.00 to $812, maximum allowed after three years with no increase, due mostly to covid. If this continues, we will sell out and reinvest elsewhere.

 

[Diggin It]

Weird the stuff people argue about.

An electric radiant heater may be '100% efficient' but only when it's on and burning watts. The oil in those heaters retains and distributes heat between power on cycles. On for five minutes, off for ten uses less watts than on for fifteen minutes. Many of them are 1,000 or 1,500 watts instead of higher wattage 'glowing' red hot' radiant units.


On canning and freezing. Considering the months of growing and all the costs of seed, fertilizers, insect and disease control, the labor involved in all of that plus the harvesting, then the labor and energy used in preparing, canning or freezing, not to mention the supplies needed for those, are you really saving anything? Has anyone really counted the beans for all of that? And then, is the resulting food really all that much better? Fresh is, I won't argue that, but this is about the stored stuff six months later. Heating a kitchen for days at a time (between cooking what needs to be cooked and heating the canning jars) isn't free. Standing over a hot stove or sink isn't fun.


It's the same with wood for heat. It ain't 'free'. It may or may not cost less overall than utilities, and it's nice to have heat when there is an outage of some kind, but it's an incredible lot of work. I've only done it for less than 10 years and I'm about done with it. I have no wood stored for this winter, opting for gas this time around. I have a few small sections of log I could cut and split in an emergency. I changed home owner's insurance and this company doesn't cover 'solid fuel' sources which saved me a few hundred dollars. At least they didn't require removal of the stove and vent pipes (yet), so I could use it at my own risk.

It's all about individual choices and what works for one, won't for another. There is no one right way to any of these methods.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Every electric heater is 100% efficient. That is to say that all the electricity they consume is turned into heat. Heating an oil filled radiator does not change the efficiency. The hot oil, acting as a heat sink, may cause the best pump to cycle less, but the heater will still use the same amount of energy, electricity, as any other heater that heats the room to the same temperature for the same length of time. This is basic physics.
Eric

So you are telling me one of these

Heats a slightly drafty 1950's rancher as effectively as an oil filled radiator using the SAME EXACT amount of watts?
I would have to argue that. OK, maybe they are not "way more" efficient, excuse that false claim. But they are also less noisy than those fan ones and safer.

Now maybe put them both is an insulated box without windows or doors opening, maybe.

Regardless, it makes me feel like it's using less energy, and feeling good is good enough for me and Bobby McGee!

 

[HawkinsHollow]

Weird the stuff people argue about.

An electric radiant heater may be '100% efficient' but only when it's on and burning watts. The oil in those heaters retains and distributes heat between power on cycles. On for five minutes, off for ten uses less watts than on for fifteen minutes. Many of them are 1,000 or 1,500 watts instead of higher wattage 'glowing' red hot' radiant units.


On canning and freezing. Considering the months of growing and all the costs of seed, fertilizers, insect and disease control, the labor involved in all of that plus the harvesting, then the labor and energy used in preparing, canning or freezing, not to mention the supplies needed for those, are you really saving anything? Has anyone really counted the beans for all of that? And then, is the resulting food really all that much better? Fresh is, I won't argue that, but this is about the stored stuff six months later. Heating a kitchen for days at a time (between cooking what needs to be cooked and heating the canning jars) isn't free. Standing over a hot stove or sink isn't fun.


It's the same with wood for heat. It ain't 'free'. It may or may not cost less overall than utilities, and it's nice to have heat when there is an outage of some kind, but it's an incredible lot of work. I've only done it for less than 10 years and I'm about done with it. I have no wood stored for this winter, opting for gas this time around. I have a few small sections of log I could cut and split in an emergency. I changed home owner's insurance and this company doesn't cover 'solid fuel' sources which saved me a few hundred dollars. At least they didn't require removal of the stove and vent pipes (yet), so I could use it at my own risk.

It's all about individual choices and what works for one, won't for another. There is no one right way to any of these methods.

In your first breath you say it is funny about what people on TBN argue about (which I totally agree with, never seen more know it alls in one place, ever) and then in your next breath you refute the usefulness of canning, gardening and heating with wood to save money. Hard to defend your logic here.

I don't think I asked your opinion about the things I am doing to save money. I asked if you are doing anything different as prices increased.

I have gained so much knowledge from TBN, lots of smart people here. But one thing I hate about it is the amount of times threads turn into a pissing match about who is doing things right and who is doing things wrong. IN THEIR OPINION!!! There are times when it is useful, often times it is not. Think about how often that happens here, you know it does. Have a great weekend!

 

[tibadoe]

They are a small electric radiator that is filled with oil. So once they get up to temperature it does not take much energy to keep them there. They are way more efficient than your average radiant electric coil heater, I have been told, but honestly I have no real numbers to support that. They do a surprisingly good job heating smaller spaces. They look like this.

View attachment 719714

We have one of these for many years also. Does a great job at fraction of the cost to operate. When it gets really cold we pull it out of the closet.

Not doing anything really different than the OP. Besides staying around home most of the time: Freezer & nonperishable items good to go. Wood & propane good shape. I did stock up on 2 oil services worth of supplies (oil, oil filters, fuel treatment, cabin& engine filters) for each vehicle, tractor, and small engine - just in case. Should be good to go.

 

[HawkinsHollow]

@tibadoe I like your idea about stocking up on oil services. I need to change the oil anyways. Thanks for that tip!

 

[Doughknob]

I plan to burn wood. Oh wait.....i already do.
I plan to not use AC. Oh wait..... i don't have AC.
I plan to work from home. Oh wait..... i already do.
I plan to eat out less. Oh wait.....i dont eat out now.

 

[Paddy]

HawkinsHollow,

Comments about efficiency is either a truth or not. opinions do not come into play in physics. You made a comment regarding saving money by using such a device. Your friends here just informed you that there are no cost savings.

One point I did not see yet was, the Heat pump is in fact far more efficient, many modern units have a coefficient of nearly 3. This means for every 1 Btu you buy in power, you get 3 Btu's back!

 

[EddieWalker]

We're trying to adjust to inflation by cutting expenses where we can and be more mindful of what we buy. My wife has started working from home most days and when she does go in to her office, she makes a full day of it to deal with everything that needs to be done while there. We have switched to heating the house with wood 100%. I believe the cost of gas to run the chainsaw, log splitter and diesel for the tractor is less then what it was to heat the house with electricity. It also makes a huge difference when the power goes off, like it did for almost a week last year. We are up to 100 chickens and we're selling and trading eggs, but also eating them. We canceled Dish and use an Antenna now for TV. I've been clearing my fence line for years, but now it's become a priority to get the fence built so we can increase our goat numbers and have a few steers for meat. This is going to be a big expense now, but we feel that it's a good long term investment. I'm also increasing what I charge clients by a small amount to deal with the jump in gasoline and all of my other expenses. So far, they haven't complained or said anything, but it makes me nervous to charge more when they are spending more for everything else. A lot of my work is starting to change from remodels to home repairs. People are wanting to make sure that what they have now, will last, and not spend it on making their homes fancier. I think that this is going to be the trend into the future if things remain the same.