Now that the cold weather has finally hit here in SE NY state I have a bit of a problem.

Its getting too cold to go down in the basement to race my slots!!!!!!

My ghetto setup of running the dryer with the hose off of the back to heat the room just isn't cutting it anymore.I need to pick up some kind of a heater this week so I can continue racing.

I was thinking of getting a kerosene heater,or a propane heater.Any time in the past that I used an electric heater,it made my heat bill go through the roof.

Im sure some of you guys have to heat your basements as well.

Any ideas on what to use?????

Thanks!!!!!

Mike

What do you use to heat your house?
If it is forced hot air you could just add a register into the basement to heat it...
Or buy one of those kerosene heaters. They work wonders.
Scott

My ghetto setup of running the dryer with the hose off of the back to heat the room just isn't cutting it anymore.


Oh, man...are you serious? I really hope you're not trying this while drying the clothes at the same time... :drunk:

An electric/oil heater works great! They are fairly efficient too. elec coils heat oil and radiate the heat. (looks like an old water heat radiator.

a small ceramic one should be nice, depending on how big of an area it is. the "ceramic" heaters are more energy efficient.

Whatever you decide on remember if it has a flame make sure you have ventilation.

I have two 2 1/2 car garages. One has a natural gas heater about the size of a washing machine. In the other I use one of those bullet type kerosene heaters. The one that sounds like a jet engine. Heats the garage quickly but has that kerosene smell.

running the dryer with the hose off of the back to heat the room
Egad! That's like fertilizer for rust. Not to mention the lint. Bad news.

I agree with Scott, if you have forced hot air then install another register, and ideally a cold air return too.

I'm very nervous about kerosene heaters indoors. For a garage maybe, but I don't even want to be carrying fuel into my basement. I'd look at a safer option like the portable oil filled electric radiator or a natural gas space heater. Here's a site that covers some of your options: http://www.heatershop.com/basement_heaters.html .

If you decide on anything that hooks into your home's gas lines, get it professionally installed.

We had a high of 23 F degrees today (without wind chill and the wind has been gusting to 40 mph) and are in the midst of a blizzard. Could get up to 2 feet of snow by 5 PM Friday afternoon. Brrrrr!!!

I use a small electric ceramic heater. I am also using electric heaters to suppliment my oil fired baseboard heat in our living space, as electricity is cheaper than oil these days. My oill bill went down over $200 over the last two months and my electric bill only went up about $50. Its hard to directly compare to last year because the temps may be different.

LOL!!!!! No way am I drying clothes in it while it's running into the room.

I actually got the idea to do that from a thing I saw once that was a T line for the dryer outlet.It had a valve kind of deal in it so you could direct it outside,or inside to heat the room.

Thanks for the help so far guys.I dont know,Im leaning towards the kerosene,but I am going to do a little research later on with some of the ideas you guys gave me and take it from there.

Mike

LOL!!!!! No way am I drying clothes in it while it's running into the room.

I actually got the idea to do that from a thing I saw once that was a T line for the dryer outlet.It had a valve kind of deal in it so you could direct it outside,or inside to heat the room.

Thanks for the help so far guys.I dont know,Im leaning towards the kerosene,but I am going to do a little research later on with some of the ideas you guys gave me and take it from there.

Mike
Be careful, maybe it's just me, but I get headaches from the continued smell of kerosene, the occasional "wiff" don't bother me, but I use to get these annoying steady all day headaches that would only clear up an hour or 2 after leaving the house.

sethndaddy-headache is one of the warning symptons of carbon monoxide poisoning. Ventilation is very important.

yes the kerosene heat is a very dangerous especially in a confined area i think i would try something like an electric space heater or something like that unless you can run a duct off of ductwork inside the house

The most efficient way of keeping the slot car area heated, without raising your fuel bill whatsoever would be very very simple. Just move the track upstairs to the living room!

Racer X-

You are invited to come down to Florida! Hurricane season is over and the slot car room is climate controlled.

Jim

Cold can be bad for plastic...therefore you should carefully bubble wrap your collection. send it too me who has a nice climete controlled 16x12 race room now..I promise I will take care of them.


Coach

P.S. If this doesn't work try cutting the lower insulation off your duct work and adding a couple of floor vents inverted in the basement ceiling. This will warm the basement up for you.. Althought a functional idea I still think Option one is your best course of action.

Hey there, Mike-

This is probably not something you can do for the short term.

What I would consider investing in, is a wood or pellet stove. Wood is a very inexpensive way to heat a basement (and more) in the long run. A pellet stove is basically the same thing, but the wood has been processed into pellets.

Some say the pellet stove is cleaner burning, but I don’t know. These are not that expensive new and used wood stoves are quite easy to find and cheaper still. Just don’t get a ‘designer” model.

If you have a place to put it (the stove) and have access to a foundation wall, you can (carefully) put a hole in it and run some pipe to the out side as a flu vent. Check you local codes to see what height the outside vent must be.

If you decide to go this way for next year or so, invest in something like “Metalbestos” brand flu pipe. It is tri-walled and requires zero clearance between the wall studs, for easy install, and so you won’t have any probs’ with the internal wall getting too hot and a fire starting.

Another (but more costly) option is looking at a waste-oil burner. This unit sits outside the dwelling and forces hot air in via a fan and ductwork through the wall, also. They sell different size units, so a smaller one might be a good cost alternative in the long haul.

I have a wood stove as a secondary heater for the whole house, and I use it as much as possible during the cold months.

The savings are quite substantial—How’s almost $1000 a year saved, sound?

Good luck and be careful what-ever you choose.:)

Cheers..

Thanks for the tips guys!!!!!!!

Iwent to the hardware store this morning and picked up a small 1500w Honeywell electric heater.I think it was 30 bucks.Then,when I got home,I partioned off the part of the basement that my track is in by hanging some humougous vertical blinds I have for patio doors and a few old sheets.

I let the heater run while I was at work this evening to test it out.The section of the basement where my track is at is a nice 78 degrees!!!!!!

Doin some hot laps with my magnet cars in my shorts and Hawaian shirt tonite!!!! :wave: :hat:

Mike

all right you go mikey lol

Don't forget to water the palms! Aloha.