How to Heat Your House When Furnace Goes Out?
Learn how to keep yourself and your home warm when the heating is not working
Everyone wants to stay warm and cozy during the winter months. When cold winds are howling outside and snow is falling, all you want to do is to stay at home, scooch in, and grab a cup of hot tea or cocoa. But what to do when your furnace suddenly goes out in the middle of the winter?!
When you realize that your home is rapidly losing its warmth, your first move would be to find a way to keep that warmth in somehow. And this article can become very helpful.
We will explain today how to keep your house warm without a furnace and what simple tricks you can use to warm up yourself and to keep the rooms of your house or apartment warm enough to not make you turn into an icicle!
How to Heat Your House When Your Furnace Breaks?
Having a furnace that’s broken in winter is not good. Of course, if your furnace collapses and stops working at all, you have to call a technician to come and fix it!
But until then, how should you keep yourself warm? What to do and how to warm yourself when the heater goes out?
This is one of the most common questions that homeowners ask.
Below, you can check out the most popular and easiest tips on that subject. With their help, you will know how to keep your house warm when the furnace breaks.
Besides, since all these methods are very easy and affordable, you will not spend a fortune on keeping your home warm no matter how long you will have to wait until your furnace is fixed or replaced.
Close All the Rooms That You Are Not Using
If you have a storage room or any guest space in your home that is not in a use, those must be closed. In particular, you have to close the vents in those rooms and keep the doors closed tightly. You may even want to lock them.
See, the more space you have, the harder it will be to keep your home warm and maintain this heat, especially if your furnace is not working or working very poorly. By reducing the space that needs to be warmed, even if you just shut the doors of unused rooms, you can keep warmth much longer.
Leave the Oven Open After You Finish Cooking
If your furnace will not be able to work for a while, this is another trick you can use. Each time you cook dinner or bake something, turn off the oven but leave the door open when you finish preparing the meal. The heat from the oven will stay around for a little longer, spreading out of the oven and into the rest of your kitchen.
Put On Layers Of Clothes
You should also keep in mind that your own body must be kept warm! The good old rule of thumb is to bundle up and put on layers of clothes to keep yourself warm. You can pull on a t-shirt, then put on a sweatshirt or sweater, wear a long sleeve shirt as well as an undershirt, thicker socks, et cetera. The idea is simple: the more layers you have on, the more insulated your body becomes.
Lay Down Area Rugs Around Your Home
If your home has many surfaces covered with tiles or you have hardwood floors, you will need to cover those to reduce heat loss. For this purpose, we recommend you use some plush area rugs for coverage as they help keep the heat from escaping your floorboards.
These rugs will help keep your home warm if the furnace breaks down. Besides, with area rugs on the floor, it will be much warmer for you to walk on them rather than to walk on bare floors.
Start a Laundry
To warm your home up, you can do a chore like a laundry. In particular, you should try washing your bedsheets just before you go to bed since the residual heat from the tumble dryer will help you warm your body in turn. You can also try putting a sweatshirt in the laundry before you put it on.
Use a Hot Water Bottle to Keep Yourself Warm
Using a hot water bottle will help you keep some warmth when you sleep. All you need to do is to fill up a hot water bottle or two and keep them under the covers where you need it to be warm the most. The heat will eventually spread around the whole area, but the highest concentration will be right in the spot where you put the hot water bottle.
Drink Hot Beverages
Drinking a hot beverage like hot chocolate, tea, or coffee can be a good help when you need to warm yourself up inside. Of course, you won’t be able to drink them constantly, but at least, as a temporary and quick measure to warm up, a cup or two of something delicious and hot will definitely be handy!
Make Sure All the Cracks Are Covered
Any cracks under your doors, around the windows, and anywhere else in or around your home should be sealed since they make the heat escape the room dramatically fast. To make warmth stay longer, you can try putting a towel down to cover the cracks under the doors. As for the windows, those should be caulked for better protection to keep the heat sealed inside.
Use High-Quality Sheets for Your Bed
In order to be warmer at night, try investing in bedsheets of a higher quality. Instead of a light cotton that will lose heat pretty soon, you might want to try flannel or fleece that is more suitable for colder weather. Snuggle up underneath the sheets and stay warm as you sleep.
Don’t Forget About Using Space Heaters
Finally, let’s not forget that it is the twenty-first century now. You can use warm blankets and seal the cracks in your home, but the quickest and easiest way to warm your home is to simply use space heaters! These appliances will work well to heat up a small bedroom or living room when your furnace is not working.
So, now you have a bunch of handy tips regarding how to keep yourself and your home warm in winter when your furnace suddenly stops working.
For better effect, we recommend you use several of them at once. Like this, you will make sure that your home is properly heated and will stay warm long enough until the furnace is fixed.
How to Heat a House Without a Furnace?
Although we have explained how to keep your house warm when the furnace breaks using simple methods, you might still be wondering what to do in case you need to keep your home warm for longer periods of time. What if it won’t be possible to replace or fix your furnace soon enough? In this case, you will have to maintain warmth somehow.
For this purpose, you may want to opt for a few alternative ways of heating a house. Some of them are pricier whilst others are more affordable. Read on to learn what can be done and decide which option might be more suitable for you.
Warm Your House With Fireplaces
This method will be suitable only for those who live in a house that already has a fireplace that’s still in a good condition and can be used. Typically, older homes will have a fireplace in every large room, or at least there will be one big fireplace in a living room.
But using a fireplace means tending the fires, and also hauling out ashes regularly. Also, you will need to get the firewood. These days, there are quite a few people who would love to experience all that firewood bother.
Plus, getting firewood is not easy. We don’t mean you will have to cut down the firewood yourself in a nearby forest! But buying it can be quite pricey. These days, a cord of firewood costs about $250 and you would need several cords to keep your home warm during the winter.
Invest In Solar Panels
This is a modern approach that will allow you to keep your house warm in winter without logs and ashes. You can simply install a large bank of solar cells atop your house in advance to stay warm when winter frosts will arrive.
There is only one problem with this method. See, the winter sun doesn’t provide much energy, and at night, there is no sun at all. That means you will hardly have an ideally heated home unless you live in an area with really sunny winters!
Opt For Electrical Heaters
Electrical heaters can become handy if you need to heat your home in winter. Of course, you should note that these appliances will not be able to warm your entire home perfectly well because they are meant for heating smaller spaces.
However, you can still place a heater in your bedroom and another one in your living room to keep those areas warm and pleasant to stay in.
Now you know what steps you can take in order to keep your home warm in winter if your furnace suddenly stops working. You will have to wait anyway until the furnace is revived, so make sure you get ready and think about the possible heating options to not freeze in your own house!
Luckily, with the tips and life hacks that we shared today, you will easily find a solution.
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Frequently Asked Questions
⭐How soon will a house get cold when the furnace is out?
It depends on the size of the house and the temperature outside. But typically, if not heated somehow else, it’ll get much colder indoors in a day.
⭐How much does it cost to fix a furnace?
The price’ll depend on why it got broke. The average cost might be anywhere between $50 and $300 for an electric furnace. For oil or propane and gas-powered furnaces, you may have to pay from $300 to $1,200 for a furnace service cost.
⭐Is it possible to fix a furnace yourself?
With a little experience, you can troubleshoot and repair your furnace yourself. But it would be better to have it checked and repaired by a professional to ensure everything is done right.
I’m thinking about installing solar panels but this is the thing: we don’t have that many sunny days during the winter where I live. Will those panels be a worthy investment?
Hey there. My guess is that you’d rather not use them. See, if there’s little sun, the panels will not be able to heat your home well enough. You’ll pay tons of cash for the stuff that’s not doing its job right, in fact.
I’m an artist and I’m working in a small studio, but the problem is that in winter, the furnace there often collapses and stops heating. I’m just wondering how I could warm the space instead of the furnace?
Hi! I guess you should try electric heaters. If the space is small, one heater will definitely manage it. Or you might also use candles in the evening! They will also add a cozy vibe except for the heating option.