Saturday, February 1, 2014

A solution...finally!

Good morning friends. Yes, I was offline for several days. The post on 29th January had been pre-scheduled. We have been facing a bad situation in our house. The house was built in 1947, some years before central air systems were used. The older houses were also not usually built on an open floor plan, which is where the rooms are located around the living room with lots of open space and few walls. Our house has rooms jutting from kinda odd places, with many walls and halls. So, we who live in those older houses must do something for heat and cool air.

The cost of installing or replacing a central system has skyrocketed recently. We had tried those infrared heaters (bought 5 in as many years!) and still froze in the winter/burned up in the summer. What we did not know is that infrared heaters are not built to be the only source of heat. They can supplement central or gas heat, but just cannot be the only source. They can also cause 110 outlet overload since most other household appliances also operate on 110, and thus trip the breaker box quite often. So, what is someone to do?

We finally solved the problem with air conditioner/heater combos, like mine pictured above. The heat is from an internal pump, and blows out quite strongly and warm. Of course, these combos do require a special 220 outlet, but it is still less expensive than a central system. Some people don't like the unit in the window, saying that it is unattractive. Sure, you can also hear them operating. Well, to be warm in the winter/cool in the summer, that isn't really so bad. The heat is also not "dry" like electric infrared heat. It is smooth and gets the job done. After many years of freezing and burning up, these combos have solved the problem. We had 2 installed. There is also a natural gas heater that reaches the front section of the house. Since that gas heat won't reach some areas, the combo does the job. Combos were popular in the 1960's, and we didn't even realize they were still being produced. Well, they are. 'Hoping this info will help some of you. Yes, we are sitting here with 20° outdoors and warm and toasty indoors... finally! Prim blessings, and stay warm!


Danice G.

3 comments:

Raymond Homestead said...

Good to know! Thanks for sharing Danice!

Jessica said...

These things are great. We had one that we got free from hubby's work. They had it in their office, but didn't need it when the office moved. Wish we still had it, but it got left behind when we had to move last July, no room in storage for it. We mostly used it in summer, as all Co rental homes don't have a cooling system (it seems!)

Laura Rhodes said...

Neat idea! I don't like my window units because they get so loud...especially in the bedroom. We heat with the woodstove which has its advantages and disadvantages...At least we're warm. Glad you are too...Blessings, Laura