We have ceiling heat---what to change to/or how to deal with it

[JustMe]

The house I bought/now live in has ceiling heat. Its about 1400 sq. ft and has some pretty open areas. I can't even imagine how much our heat bills will be once winter hits. My options seem to be

-use the ceiling heat, see how much it is, fork over lots of money each month, etc

-decide if somehow space heaters will be less/month then the ceiling heat (anyone have any idea?)

-get a heat pump (lots of money upfront, but seems it will reduce the monthly bill--we dont really need air condition as it doesnt get that hot in the summer, but all else seems to be a benefit)

-convert to wall heat --less money upfront than the heat pump

Not really sure what to do--but winter will be here before I know it, so need to decide soon!

[legaleagle]

How cold does it get in the winter? There is no ductwork in the house at all? Are you planning on changing floors out at all? This is SFH?

[KrisM]

I'd probably do nothing major this year and see how much it really costs.

[elliput]

See if you can get the past usage from your utility service in order to do some comparisons.

[elektra]

I would say see how it goes too.
We had sort of the opposite issue in that our A/C did not really work well in the addition part of our house. We saw how it went the first year, and then decided the second year that we really needed to get it fixed.
They were able to work with some of the existing ductwork and do some rerouting and such that helped push more air to where we needed it.
So maybe there are some cheaper fixes for you too.

[baymom]

We have radiant heat from our ceilings as well. It's not ideal. Also, aside from just the kitchen and bathroom, the entire downstairs is open to the second floor (so high ceilings, like you). We've lived here for 12 years and have tried different things. DH once tried putting fans from the upstairs walkway, pointing down to the downstairs to blow the warmed air down. Didn't work all that well. We've tried just spending most of our time upstairs (where it warms up very quickly and is very pleasant in the winter). But, ultimately, we realized us layering up and hanging out in the family room/downstairs is what works the best. When the kids were infants/toddlers we'd heat the whole house (we have a separate thermostat for each room), and it would cost upwards $300 a month! We are way too cheap to do that all winter! That said, we had all our windows replaced last year and it has made a difference with retaining heat in the winter, but the heating bill was still pretty crazy. I guess it's lucky our family likes to bundle up in cozy layers.

ETA: We sometimes use space heaters and have liked them. In our case, we haven't really found it to be any better at heating the bedrooms than our ceiling heat, so just use the ceiling heat for bedrooms. Downstairs, unless we are sitting right next to it (which does feel good!), most of the heat seems to rise up to the ceiling anyway--so not particularly helpful.

[JustMe]

OP here! Thanks so much for the replies!

How cold does it get in the winter? There is no ductwork in the house at all? Are you planning on changing floors out at all? This is SFH?

It can go down to about 0 F. in the winter eves, but more typical eves would be low 30s.

As far as I know, no ductwork. Its a 1970s house. I am not planning on changing the floors immediately, but it may be somewhere in the future. There is really nice carpeting throughout, but carpeting tends not to do too well here due to muddy winters. It is a single family home.

I asked the previous owner about his bills, and he told me he just lived in the master bedroom all winter (single guy in his 60s). Not really a choice with my 2 kids. I am kind of afraid to do nothing because my bill for my first month here (I did use our sprinkler system, but no heat/no ac...we did use a ceiling fan sometimes. It was very sunny/we have lots of windows, so we sure didnt use the lights too much) was $160! I have no idea how much it will be when I add heat to that mix! Also, the house runs on the cold side. Like in can be 90F outside, and it is pretty comfortable in here. Once it gets to 60F, I am cold (not turn on the heat cold, but warm sweaters, etc).

[bisous]

We have radiant heat in the ceilings. We hate it. In fact, we turn it off in most rooms by switching off the breaker in the garage! But we live in an area that grows citrus and hence VERY rarely dips below freezing. The only area that I use the heating occasionally is when I have a little baby and it is a cold night for us (below 50 or so) and that is because I'm afraid of the safety issue with space heaters. This winter was a mild one and I think I only used the ceiling heat about 3 or 4 times. In that month, though, our electric bill went through the roof. Seriously. It cost us more to heat that ONE room for three days in one month than it cost us to room our A/C window unit all night long during the summer (and I kept it COOL!) During the winter in our bedroom we use a space heater. It is very efficient but our room is very small. I might use a space heater in the room the boys share this winter. Although frankly with three boys in one room, they might generate enough warmth. I plan on putting the baby in with us at night. During the day and in the living spaces, we just wear sweaters. I don't think that would be an option for you, though!

[JustMe]

Ugh! So torn about what to do. I got an estimate about how much it would cost to put in what I believe are ducted units (not sure). I would need 3 inside based on the layout of my house and there is another type of unit outside. Cost is $7000, and this is a very LCOL area so that's quite a lot!. It supposedly saves tons of money. We are having to use the ceiling heat and it actually works fine for the bedrooms, smaller family room and dining room---but I don't know what my utilities bill will be and am afraid to find out!

[SnuggleBuggles]

I bet you could call the electric or gas company to see past bills or at least ball park.