Need indoor furnace suggestions....

[watchamakalit]

i am moving back into my house ( don't ask. crazy ex-wife) in the next few weeks and will only be there till it sells. I need an indoor furnace to heat with due to the fact that I know i probably won't be able to afford the gas bill. I am looking for suggestions. I need it to be inexpensive obviously. But I also need something capable of heating approx 1500sq ft. Any input would be appreciated. I am also open to the idea of a used furnace. I don't have a chimney in the house and the design of the house won't allow for a wood stove to do the job otherwise I would rely on my fisher. If you have a furnace you would like to part with I am open to trading. Let me know.

 

[woodfarmer]

if you don't have a chimney, you won't have a wood furnace either

 

[MNfarmer]

:agree2:

 

[November Wolf]

Get one of those Eden Pure Heaters Paul Harvey talks about.

 

[Garfield]

furnace...

Open the oven door and set it to 350 is your cheapest bet. next cheapest is a space heater from Walmart.....or 5. With electric heaters cheapest is just as good as most expensive as far as the heat you get out of it. Start talking aesthetics, longevity different story. Simply look at the watts....typically 1500 and the price. Don't put more than 1 on 1 circuit.

If there's Natural gas to the house the vent free heaters they sell at Sutherlands, Harbor Freight etc. are VERY good. Buy a 30,000 with a thermostat and you'll heat the whole house no problem. Under $300 if you install it yourself. GloWarm is one brand but it doesn't matter. Good luck

 

[November Wolf]

DO NOT heat your house with the oven door open if you have a gas range. It is not safe at all.

 

[bore_pig]

Really?!

 

[November Wolf]

Carbon monoxide posioning is very common from a gas range when used as a heating source. I work for a gas utility company and you would be suprised at how many cases our company investigates.

 

[Garfield]

Electric

Guess I should have said electric. Novemberwolf, do you like the vent free heater idea?

 

[November Wolf]

Guess I should have said electric. Novemberwolf, do you like the vent free heater idea?

I would say if you decide to use a vent free space heater I would not let it run at night while you sleep. I used to have a vent free gas log in my fireplace and it caused my family carbon monoxide poisoning. We were all sick for 2 days but we are all ok thank GOD. I have since taken that thing out. I bought one of those Eden Pure electric heaters about a month ago and it heats pretty darn good. Our furnace hardly comes on. I bought this to tide me over till I get my central boiler installed. The electric company said the Eden Pure heaters would increase the electric bill by $40- $50 a month if it was on for 12 hours a day. I haven't got my bill yet. Hope this helps.

 

[haoleboy99]

Vent Free

I use one of the vent free, blue flame heaters in my shop and it works pretty good. I wouldn't put one in the house although they're approved to use. The shop is well insulated but I only keep it at around 50 and then turn it up when I'm back there working. They're pretty nice and simple. Go electric, although I'm not sure how easy it is to sell a house with no heat. Might be worth the initial investment to have some type of permanent heating solution even if used.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

It's his crazy ex-wifes house. He might even know what to expect for winter bills in her place. Let them sort out how it burned down.

I'm guessing he is looking to put it in the basement hence furnace , not stove.

I seen a recent thread where a member put a wood heater ( Shenendoah, I think) in the basement. Maybe he will post his results here.

My daughters winter heating bills ran less than $35 a month in an apartment. The people below her kept thier place a cozy 85* and heated hers for her. She was in for a suprise when they moved into a house and had to start paying for heat.

 

[watchamakalit]

I guess I should have been more clear. I have a flue but it is located in the back corner of the house and is not condusive to heating with a wood stove. I would like to put in a wood furnace and plum it into my duct work which is already existing in the house. I don't want to do electric heaters as I still have to pay an electric bill. I have approximately 6 cords cut, split and dried. I would really like to heat with it if possible as it won't cost me anything.

 

[Garfield]

Get Lucky

Unless you just get lucky and find used stuff as far as just this winter you will have less money in a vent free natural gas or electric heat than a wood stove. Also any money you spend on any of these solutions is not adding to the value of the house.

 

[Coldfront]

Make a barrel stove out of a 55 gal. drum and take out a window and make a heat safe casing for a stove pipe that will fit in the window frame. Don't tell the insurance co.

 

[MJR]

I wouldn’t do anything that looks half a… trying to sell the place. I use a vent free fire place at my hunting camp (don’t hate me; I don’t like the smoke on my hunting clothes). It works well. Get a couple extra detectors and you can say it is used for power outages to potential buyers. Moving in with the ex – nothing is going to get that house warm. Good luck.

Sell the wood to buy the vent free...

 

[Coldfront]

My point with the barrel stove was make it so you can take it back out easy and put the window back in, the basement would be best. It took me over a year to sell my last house. Take it back out after winter. If you want a cheap setup to cut the heat bill, it's up to you, installing a chimney and forced air wood furnace is not a easy or cheap way to go.