My goal is to keep central heating turned off as much as possible. I bundle up indoors, which works for the most part but I will struggle when temps drop low enough. And hands in cold air on a keyboard are still a problem regardless.
What about using an infrared heat lamp, which traditionally has these use cases:
- keeping pet reptiles warm
- farms: livestock and incubators
- physical therapy for humans (the claims: pain relief, skin healing/repair, blood circulation, anti-aging skin, …)
- (atypical) specifically to warm hands on keyboards (but the emitted light is white when red would be better so as to not disturb natural night vision)
The last bullet inspires some enthusiasm. But I am interested in a DiY project on-the-cheap, buying locally not online.
This array of IR LEDs will be hard to buy locally. But the question is, are LEDs even the way to go? That article has a complaint about the LEDs (ironically) having a short life. And a complaint that they do not produce heat anyway. Is that a failure of just that brand and model, or generally a gimick?
The temptation is to go cheap on the bulbs, but this ad for a heat lamp for lambs is convincing to the contrary. They sell bulbs for $21 that last ~4320 hours. These bulbs are claimed to last 6000 hours.
What about carbon heating lamps? They look like the basis of space heaters, which are notoriously ineffecient. Though I wonder if the problem is just that people use space heaters to heat a whole room… when perhaps it’s more sensible to have a quite low setting to just keep hands or feet warm.
If a typical red filiment bulb is used, is it fair to say a simple dimmer would be useful, such as that of this fixture?
In certain climates one has to be careful not to let the plumbing freeze. The pipes will crack if they don’t heat their house enough. Another thing to keep in mind is that if your home is well insulated, the heat generated to keep it warm will dissipate very slowly whereas warming your body in a drafty home will require a constant amount of power.
It’s not insulated. The thermostat it has a floor of 5°C/40°F, at which point it heats even in the off state to protect the pipes.
Regarding insulation, how are your windows? There’s a wide array of removable tape, caulk, putty, etc that can seal up the tiny cracks between the window and the frame. I’ve found this this helps a lot.
Seconding this - we made a set of rectangular wooden frames with a layer of clear plastic stretched over the front and back and a strip of foam attached to the outer edge. They pressure-fit into our old windows and do a solid job reducing the draft. Quilted curtains help too.
The downside is that the two layers of plastic make the windows hard to see through, but frankly that’s not a high priority where we are, especially when it’s cold.
I like that idea a lot. It would be perfect for the bedroom windows here. Usually I use the tape and plastic kits, but I like the idea of a permanent but removable solution much better. Next year!
Some of the windows are leaky. The frames and window sills are old and irregular. Some window frames are painted unsmooth wood and the sills are ceramic tile (some textured) which would also be quite difficult to seal off. So I think attempting that would be in vain.
I stay mainly in a windowless room with the doors shut.