You know that nursery rhyme, rain, rain go away, come again some other day? Shouldn’t we have one of those for snow by now? As you sat in your house watching the snow fly last night, I’m sure the horrifying thought went through your head: this winter is never going to end. With that in mind, it may be time to submit to the never-ending season, curl up, and embrace the warmth of your home.
One question you should be asking yourself, though, is what is actually making your home warmer and what just isn’t cutting it?
Storybooks and movies reinforce the idea that the fireplace is the central source of heat in any home. The truth is that, while aesthetically pleasing, most households are not burning their fires effectively to experience any actual increase in temperature in the home. Heat from a fire comes primarily from radiation. If you want to reap benefits beyond the visual, close your damper as soon as the fire burns out. A significant amount of heat will then radiate back into the room instead of going up the chimney—instant warmth!
Another commonly utilized form of back-up heat is the beloved space heater. If your central heating system just isn’t doing the trick, space heaters can certainly help, but will not be as efficient as a central heating system. The real trick is to know exactly what you’re looking to get from your space heater and how to get those results. If you want to heat just one part of a room (desk space, sleeping area, etc), choose a radiant heater. These heaters warm whatever is closest to the unit. Convection heaters, on the other hand, warm up all of the air in a room relatively quickly. This approach is better for heating an entire room, rather than an isolated portion.
As we continue to get teased with springtime, don’t let the sporadic snowfall get you down. Blue Ox Heating & Air will make sure you’re comfortable to every degree.
Blue Ox Heating & Air is a full-service residential heating and air conditioning company that also specializes in air quality products and services. Blue Ox is fully licensed, bonded, and insured to provide our Minneapolis customers with services relating to furnaces, heating, and air conditioning. Our cumulative years of experience approach over 200 years of work in the HVAC industry. For more information on Blue Ox Heating & Air, visit our website at http://www.gobblueox.com/.
