For people with only electrical heating, how do ya’ll stay warm in the winter?

13 comments

1. A/C on heat is popular in countries with warm winters because it’s just enough to cope with outside temps. They also need the A/C in the summer so it’s a win win for them.

   There are various electrical heating appliances, like IR panels, convection heaters, fan heaters.. [Electric heating](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric heating) – Space heating.

   Right now, I’m using a small 2kw convection heater. It’s good down to about 30-35F. Unusually warm winter though, it’s midnight and 50F, max was 69 today.

2. Layers and spot heating! You wear a lot of clothes in the house and you warm up the room you’re in.

   Plus, you’re just acclimatised to it, so your body is a little more resilient.

   In my parents’ house in the coastal north (so, very humid, and cooler than the Algarve), we have a fireplace in the living room, oil electrical radiators in the bedrooms, and a big gas heater with a butane-tank for when it gets really cold and you need an extra kick. Hot water bottles, electric blankets, and fleece bedsheets help you when it’s time to sleep.

   Edit: I forgot to mention that about 60% of the energy produced in Portugal is renewables, with over half of that being hydroelectric. So energy isn’t too costly, with prices in Dec 2022 being under €0.15 for the kWh – whereas here in the Netherlands where I’m living at the moment, we’re at €0.40 for the kWh by special favour of the government cap against rising prices.

3. Clothing and blankets. And two pairs of socks for wet days. Having the house at 22°C in winter seems crazy to me.

   Edit: If it drops below 5° C or so, we turn on the [butane gas heater](https://s.libertaddigital.com/2021/01/08/estufa-de-gas-butano-catalitica-campingaz-cr5000.jpg). The butane gas tank costs about 20€ and for us (we’re 2 at home) it usually lasts all winter. This year it has been so hot that yesterday was the first day we turned it on.

   Someone might argue that it only heats one room but, 1, it has wheels, and 2, is it really necessary to heat the whole house? We only need to heat the house at night and, once dinner is ready, we don’t leave the sofa until we go to bed, so having it in the living room is more than enough.

4. I cannot speak for the electrical heating but for the temperature.
   22°C would be way to hot for most people I know and have lived with.
   My room has 17-18°C, less during the night.
   People tend to wear sweaters and layers at home.

5. Yes, we pay currently some 600 eur/month for electricity. We use slow heat release heating though, it’s much cheaper than other electrical heating options.

6. Heat pumps (like an AC unit) are actually quite efficient! So much so that up until the current energy crisis it would be cheaper to use a heat pump for the central heating system than gas or oil. I think it might still be cheaper!

   Heat pumps have become quite popular in Denmark these days, you can supplement an existing heating system with an air-to-air system (practically an AC unit) or replace a gas or oil burner in a central heating system with an air-to-water, ground-to-water or even water-to-water system.

   Remember oil and gas is pretty expensive too. I think a gallon of oil is around $7.50 now or a little less than 2€/L, my parents who have an oil burning central heating system use around 530 gallons / 2000 L per year.

   I think old school resistive electrical heaters are still the most expensive kind of heating though. They used to be popular in vacation homes around here, but are not used in new constructions anymore.

   The secret to having a warm home that’s also cheap to keep warm is simply insulation! Double or even triple layered windows, insulation under floor, in the ceiling and inside the walls.

7. It’s not as expensive as you’re probably thinking. When I lived in Massachusetts, we had what was called “resistive heating”, baseboard resistive heating to be specific. That’s what you’re likely thinking of, and is indeed wicked expensive if you don’t have cheap electricity, it consumes a lot of energy for the heat you get.

   What you’re describing here is called a heat pump, and heat pumps tend to be a lot more efficient than resistive heaters, anywhere from 1.5x to 4x more efficient in most situations, depending on temperature. They don’t actually generate (a meaningful amount of) heat, they just gather it from outside, so they can break the 100% efficiency barrier. They’ve become very popular in Hawaii over the last 10 years, since they allow us to finally get heating during cold fronts without needing to have a dedicated space heater or furnace.

8. I just heat my bedroom from 5 to midnight or so with a new space heater(with a thermostat in it I set on basically the lowest point, it’s not blazing hot all the time obviously). Rest of the house is colder during winter but I’m only there with what are basically my outdoor clothes so making food in the cold works fine.

   But yea, I basically spend my time in my room only during my work week. 9-5 working, 5-midnight in my bedroom with the heater, heater of and go to bed and do it all over again.

   The gas I normally use without thinking too much became a tad too wasteful for me so I made some changes this year.

   Also, 22 degrees? Really? That’s just unnecessary. 17-19 is way more common.

   Also kind of want to add if it’s like 10 degrees outside I have 0 need for heating of any sort. It’s when it gets to freezing it becomes necessary. This house is barely 6 months old so plenty of isolation and such. Only have needed heating for like 5 weeks or so during this year.

9. sleep with electric blanket, it’s 60w, keeps you warm during sleep

10. Norway is basically based on electricity, that’s what we use. Since electricity became a thing more than a hundred of years ago we built hydropower plants, these have provided the kingdom with cheap and reliable power used in both industry like metal foundries and homes. Norwegian homes are well insulated to withstand the cold winters we traditionally have in most regions, which can be something quite of a nuisance come summer. Nowadays many homes have heath pumps, either air to air or other combinations. Oil burning heaters which used to be popular have been banned for some years now and people have converted their systems to warm pumps often utilising thermal heath. In addition wood burning is normal. Having 22°C inside even it’s many minus degrees outside is usually not a problem. This last year electricity has been way more expensive than what we are used to due to several factors in the energy market which has led to many having to cut back on their heating, even the government compensates for a large sum in the most costly periods. We also snuggle up with candles, blankets, knitted wool socks, sweaters and base layers of wool. Norwegians did layering long before r/malefashionadvice.

11. Heat pumps are one of the most efficient electrical heating systems. Modern heat pumps can give 4 o 5 times more heat per kw that conventional electric radiators. They only lose efficiency on very low temperatures. So maybe they are not the best for cold places like Poland, but are ideal for Mediterranean countries as the can give efficient heat in mild winters and cool air in summer.

12. It’s not that expensive. Also my apartment is well insulated, so I use one heater for like 3 hours a day when I come back from work

13. No one heats their house to 22c! You heat it to 16c when you need to and use blankets. UK houses are ok in winter but terrible in the recent hot weather – we don’t have AC here.