Currently Using Space Heaters in 40º Rainy Weather

The weather has turned cold here in Northern California, as I’m sure it did long ago for those of you who live in the Midwest or on the East Coast (or overseas, for that matter). Though California is known for its temperate climate, those of us who inhabit the state’s northern reaches might object to that classification. After all, the state is the third largest in the US, clocking in at over 160,ooo square miles (nearly 424,000 kilometers, for those of you who are inclined to the metric system). It carries its size mainly in length; its 250 miles in width are outscaled by the state’s 770 miles (1239 km) in length. Also notable are the facts that California contains the highest peak in the Lower 48, Mt. Whitney, at 14,505 ft (4,421 m), as well as Badwater, a location within Death Valley that’s the lowest point in North America at 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. Amazingly, these two points are just 76 miles apart from each other, which shows how the state’s climate can vary significantly within a relatively short distance. California’s climate is indeed diverse, ranging from Mediterranean to Subarctic, although most of the state is considered temperate.

Anyway, my point is that although we’re no Chicago in terms of our winters, we Northern Californians have to endure the cold, too. Around the world, people see images of well-tanned actors driving around in convertibles in Santa Monica in the middle of January in glossy magazines and on their TVs. I’d invite any of those who think California has perfect weather to venture North during winter. Up here, fleece jackets and puffy down vests are like the local uniform, and I’ve been known to have to scrape frost from my windshield on a regular basis. It doesn’t snow often where we live because of our proximity to the coast, but being so close to the ocean means enduring a damp, bone-chilling cold that most people don’t expect from the state known as Golden.

So, some form of heating system is a prerequisite for homes in Northern California. (I think there’s actually a law about heating systems being required in rental homes, though I’m not sure what it entails.) So imagine our dismay when, as the first cold front of the season swept across the state, we tried turning up the thermostat only to discover that it wasn’t working. We figured it was just a busted thermostat, so we called a local heating system repair company to come fix it. Little did we know that our sorry old heating unit would eventually earn the distinction of being labeled as “condemned.”

Apparently, our house has a heating unit that’s AL LEAST sixty years old. This house was built in 1913, so I’m not that surprised. What was shocking was learning that our gas line had not one, but SEVERAL, gas leaks, creating a pooling of natural gas in our basement. Also, the heating unit had what’s called rollout, which is created when the pilot light takes several seconds to light, creating a pocket of gas inside the actual unit that accumulates until the flame is lit, at which point there’s a tiny fireball inside the heater. Awesome.

Thankfully, we’re renting this house, so we called our landlady about the problem. She sent someone out immediately to get a second opinion, and this time the guy actually condemned the unit, rendering it useless. He said the wiring from the unit needed replacing, and that the ducting would also need to go; in some places, it had been propped up with piles of bricks stacked upon basement dirt. Lovely. I am impressed with our landlady, who’s been pretty cool about the whole thing. Replacing the unit as well as the wiring and ducting isn’t going to be cheap, but she’s been eager to make sure we’re safe and warm, so kudos to her.

As Ted and I can say from experience, older heating units are pretty inefficient. Also, older ducting can have lots of leaks that draw in outside air, requiring extra energy to heat that cold air in the system. So, from those perspectives, I’m glad for the pending arrival of the new unit. A newer, more efficient model will surely be better for the environment, as well as for our bank accounts. But the whole experience has made me ponder the merits to different kinds of heating systems. Our house has central heat; this system is the most common in North America today. But this method certainly isn’t the most efficient, or even the most comfortable. Here are some details on different kinds of heating systems for homes:

Central heating: Heat originates from a central point in (or underneath) the house, and is distributed from that point to several different rooms. In our case, air is heated using natural gas as fuel and is forced through air ducts in every room in the house. Sometimes central heating uses coal, oil, or gas to steam-heat the air in the system, though the most common method involves the use of a fossil fuel to heat the air in a furnace or boiler unit. Central heat can also use a water heating system, in which heated water is pumped throughout a series of tubes in the walls of a home.

Underfloor heating: Also known as radiant floors, underfloor heating is the result of a system of metal pipes running through a concrete or wooden floor through which hot water is piped from a boiler. This radiant floor can be covered with any type of floor covering, including stone, wood, tile, or carpet, though the effects the heat will have on any given finish should be considered. The floor is warmed by the pipes, and then the heat rises throughout the home. This is pretty efficient, because this kind of system doesn’t have the kind of cold air leaks that a central heating system is prone to develop; but inefficiencies can exist when the pipes are poorly laid out, causing heat to escape the pipes at lower depths than desired, resulting in heat loss where it’s not needed. Also, sometimes the heat is created by electric wiring, which is less energy-efficient than heated water.

Solar heating: Solar heating uses (duh) solar energy to heat the home. Solar heating is divided into two categories, active and passive. In active solar heating, a solar collector (like solar panels) gathers solar energy, which is then used to heat either air or water that is pumped throughout the home using pumps and fans. Passive solar heating is simply designing a home to best use natural solar heat, relying on the design and structure of a home to best store and distribute heat. This method requires no additional equipment and emits no greenhouse gases. However, passive solar heating may not provide enough heat for truly cold climates.

Those are the basics of the different kinds of home heating systems, as I understand them. Personally, I don’t understand why ALL homes aren’t designed with passive solar heating in mind, with the addition of an active solar radiant floor heating system when more heat is needed. The benefits of this system are numerous, including the fact that the house’s hot water could be heated using a solar combisystem, meaning that the home’s hot air and hot water could be heated simultaneously using solar collectors.

Ted and I have a dream of someday building our own super-green house, which would involve the use of just this kind of solar combisystem (as well as other considerations, like rainwater collection tanks). However, this dream is still a little out of our reach, since buying land in Sonoma County involves selling your children into slave labor and working fourteen jobs to afford the payments. Still, dreams are good, and we’ll hold onto ours.

For now, we live in town in a house that we rent, so central heating is what we’ve got. I’m glad we finally have a newer, more efficient unit. For that we have our landlady to thank, as well as the old unit for finally kicking the bucket.I’m just glad the gas leaks didn’t cause an explosion before we caught them, because that’s totally not the kind of heating system I’m talking about.