fairyjasmine

Hiya,

Just found this forum and wow! what a vast of info on here!

We've just moved to Hamilton 1 1/2 months ago. Currently in rentals, would like to prepare ourselves for winter.Been reading a lot about it and dreading it LOL. Our house has a fireplace in the living room.

We have a 14 months old baby, would have to buy a fireguard if we were to use the fireplace. Was reccommended an oline site and it'd cost us $234 delivered, could get it for slightly less on Trademe, but not much less I would say, maybe around $150ish

Anyhow, what I'm wondering is, which option will be more cost effective and provide us with the most heat

buy a few electric heaters, and use those only as our main heat source OR use the fireplace as our main source of heat, then electric heaters for smaller area/quick source of heat like shower etc. I'm assuming our house has zero insulation(which I think IS the case LOL)

Looking on Trademe, trailer load worth of wood is selling for $70-100, mainly pine though. Don't have a clue how long it'll last.

We don't know if it would be worth investing in the fireguard or not as we don't know if we are gonna stay in this house or not next year. Money is tight at the mo as we are also looking to buy a dehumidifier as well. So a lot of money in one go

Any opinion is much much appreciated.

Birdey

Hi

Generally an open fire is going to be cheaper to run than electric heaters, especially the fan ones if you have no insulation.. The heat will just whizz pass you on the way out the window, door etc.

I would be tempted by the open fire, contact your PLUNKETT nurse to ask her if they know of anyone that hires out fire guards or try Warehouse as they seem to have a cheap alternative for pretty much everything.

Weve just bought some 11 fin oil filled radiators (that plug into the elctricity) for about $60 each from Warehouse and they are heating our old rental house pretty well. (we nick named it the caravan so you can imagine) We do have a bit of insulation though..

Its really sad but effective, my grandad used to "double glaze" his windows every year using some polythene stretched on to a cheap wood frame, which then slotted into the window frames.. If your a bit handy with a bit of ply and a glue gun/stapler it could make it much easier to heat your house, especially in windows that you dont tend to look out of, like your bedrooms, etc.
Good luck
Cheers
Birdey

Birdey

PS. Wondering where you have moved from as have some friends that have just moved to Hamilton, with a daughter about the same age as yours.

Apple12

What sort of fire is it? If an open fire it will be pretty inefficient, if a freestanding logburner it will chuck out loads of heat.

Consider oil filled column heaters for low level heating. The best ones have timers and thermostats, excellent for low level heating in bedrooms overnight or kitchen lounge first thing in the morning. Fan heaters are hopeless and gas heaters give off loads of condensation.

Do you have an open plan rental, or can you cut down on the number of rooms you use? It is worth talking to your landlord too if they are approachable, if you need more heating than what is available they may have alternatives for you. In any case the chimney must be swept and that is the landlords responsibility.

Join up with the consumer website for more advice www.consumer.org.nz.

Winters in Hamilton are just foggy, no snow, not many frosts, you won't have the extremes of temperatures, snow and frost the way we do further south. A warm home will do wonders for your level of happiness, if you are at home with bubs you need to have your living areas warm.

Good luck!

SarahB

Our open fire doesnt kick out much heat but it is nice to see.... reminds me of when I was a kid. We had a log burner in our rental and it was fabulous.... I agree they kick out so much heat.

We have had a guy round here to quote for central heating but hes taking ages in getting the quote back to us.

We have just bought some electric blankets today that were a special price....just incase heating not sorted out in time for winter..... brrrrrrr!! The last couple of mornings its definately been warmer outside the house than inside.... we've not had a full winter here in this house yet...so not sure how bad it will be.

fairyjasmine

Thanks for the idea! Didn't think about asking PLunkett if there's any for rent!
I think I've seen one in warehouse, will have to go again to have a look

fairyjasmine

Will PM you

fairyjasmine

What's the difference between open fire and freestanding logburner

Ours is the one on the wall, so I presumed it's not freestanding lol

We have a pretty big open plan living room and kitchen, so it'll be quite tricky to try and keep the living room warm. Will be putting DS in our room, so we don't have to heat 2 rooms at night and thinking of buying an electric blanket. I've never used one before though, so a bit worried to use it all night

We bought a 12 fin oil filled heater already, initially I thought I was gonna use that for the living room, get another one for the bedroom and maybe the kitchen. Then get a fan one for quick heat in the bathroom for morning shower and stuff

But then last night was a bit chilly, DH (wearing his boxer at the time) asked me if he can put the heater on and I was like..whattt??? put your trousers on first!! So it made me think what's gonna happen if I'm not home, asleep etc etc..goshh..dread to think what our bill gonna be like if he keeps doing that! I need to find cheap and efficient solution (if there's such thing )

karonious

Not much help with the heating as not suffered a Hamilton winter yet myself. We used heat bulbs in the bathroom when we first moved into our rental - quite effective for the small area. Steve scoured Hamilton for them but I can't remember where he bought it eventually. Can find out if this is of any use to you.
Karen B

Birdey

An open fire is your open grate type thing, a wood burner is enlosed in a little stove with a door on and a vent to let the heat in to the room. Wood burners are fab I have to agree, if your clever you can get them to stay in over night so its still warm in the morning..

Electric blankets are a must! weve had our on already in HAwkes Bay, its lovely.. We just swicth them off before we go to sleep.. It just means you get into a nice warm bed and stay that way with a good quilt/doona.

You can get them suitable (machine washable or waterproof) for toddler beds as well, again turn it on a n hour or so before bed time and off when there in, then you have no worries.. You can leave them on low overnight if they have temp control as long as the baby can move around which I am assuming at 14 months is not a worry to you.
Those heat bulbs for the bathroom are tops if you can find them and economical..
Our electricity bill seems outragious already and we havent had a cold weather bill yet.

fairyjasmine

Now, what is a heat bulb?

fairyjasmine

Ohh ours is an open fire then

karonious

A heat bulb is a bulb that puts out the usual amount of light that you would expect, but also gives off heat. It is considerably 'fatter' than a regular bulb. I don't know how economical they are to run - if you find a shop that sells them, the salesperson ought to be able to tell you. As far as I am aware, they are value for money re electricity. I first saw them in Scotland quite a few years ago, they are capable of taking the chill off a 'normal' sized bathroom but won't have it roasting hot. Far better than getting in the shower bloody freezing at stupid o'clock before anyone was up to switch on the heater!

SarahB

We had some in the bathroom of the rental house we were in last year... they were as useful as a chocolate teapot!