I have a lot to catch up on as we leave the winter holidays behind and begin the new year. Since Parker just woke up from his nap, let me start with this question.
We recently discovered, this being our first winter in this house, that we once again rely on Alagasco to meet our heating needs. The question arises because, for the first time ever, we have a fireplace in our living room complete with a gas line and what I've assumed are vented gas logs. Vented logs burn hotter than do the ventless alternative installed in a faux fireplace. My question, then, is this: What impact will burning the gas logs have on our energy bill? Is burning the gas logs while turning down the thermostat on the central heat unit a viable option?
My main concerns are obvious. I'd prefer to waste my money on something a bit more frivolous than gas heat if money is to be wasted. Also I'd like to keep my son from freezing in his own room, especially considering the chest cold of which he is currently suffering.
What do you think?
6 comments:
We've always had fireplaces that required real logs and would really only heat the room the fireplace was in. There was a gas log fireplace at Boone and Wes said that it didn't put out any heat. If you are looking for warmth, then I bet just using the gas heat is going to work better. If you are looking for atmosphere then logs are the way to go.
That is exactly what my Dad said when I asked him about this last night. Now, from what I understand, how much heat you get from gas logs depends on what kind of gas logs you have. Someone else once told me they used their gas logs to heat three rooms of their house and that they spent all of their time in those three rooms, but I don't know that our logs would actually do that.
Michael and I have been wondering what would happen if we had the gas line taken out and converted the fireplace back into a wood burning fireplace. I tend to think that burning logs would be cheaper then burning gas, but how much would the conversion cost?
If you have a vented fireplace, the net effect of opening the flue is a loss of heat in the house. If you have unvented gas( faux fireplace) the net heat gain is huge, as there is no chimney to suck out all the heat. Either way, you need some means of circulating the air to heat more than that one room. If this is an economic decision, use the furnace or unvented gas logs. Both will hear economically. If atmosphere, then burning with gas has the advantage of being able to close the flue as soon as you turn off the gas, thus less cost to heat the house. Logs cost no matter what you do to the heating bill, but are quite enjoyable.
What you say, padre, makes total sense, which means I may have my gas log facts a little backwards.
Okay, so, given that gas logs are far more useful for ambiance than they are for heat, and given that my concerns are primarily economic this particular winter, how would running my gas logs compare to, say, buying a venti Starbuck's latte?
Someone said that an hour of gas log use would probably cost me something like $3.00. If so I need to make room for gas log burning in my written budget as though it were any other extra-primary expense.
It seems to be a small area to budget for but if you keep vented gas logs and use them occasionally, then you have ambiance with minimal economic cost( $1-2 per hour of atmosphere). Your wood idea is more ambiance, but costs in money and time long term, even if you go all out with a wood stove insert.
I am about to say something that will sound heretical to Michael, because of his background with fire saftey: try electric space heaters.
If your interest is in saving money, and you only need to heat Parker's room, a good ceramic space heater will do wonders.
Formerly, electric space heaters were a serious fire hazard, and not very economical. The technology has improved quite a bit. Avoid the kind with heated metal coils, and get a ceramic one. With a room as small as Parkers, a good space heater would easily keep his room as warm as you want it to be.
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