How I Saved Money On My Heating Bill

[Skamikazi 0]

So I'm not really a scientist or anything, and I'm not even sure if this had really helped out at all. But, at my house we have a room specifically for the computer/ xbox (with an old tv), also known as the computer room.

 

Anyways, I had discovered that the old monitor and the old television produced immense amounts of heat when they have been operating for atleast 15 minutes which was also dependent on what it was that was on the screen. Not only that, but the computer/ xbox also produced a ton of heat when they are on. So basically, I put aluminum over the vents on the montor, television , xbox and computer to from a sort of tunnel for the warm air to travel to, which would be pointing directly twords me, and for the computer it would be point at my feet, I couldn't really direct any of the heat from the xbox, but it did float around the room probably warming it up a tad bit. At first I wasn't sure how well it would work, but after being on the internet for about 20 minutes, I could feel the heat coming right at my face, and it came out constantly!!!

 

So, to save money on our heating bill I not only turned the heat down, but closed the vent in that room. Figuring that even though this was a small amount of heat, it would still keep me warm. So the room got freezing cold after I left, and when I came back to use the computer it still was. The computer is always on anyways except the monitor. So I decided to see if When I got on the monitor would produce enough heat to warm me up, even though the room was freezing. Wa la! in about 5 minutes, my face begun to feel warmer and I could start to feel my feet starting to warm up a tad bit. about 10 minutes later, after adjusting the vent thingy I made I really began to feel much warmer, almost as warm as if I were using the heat in the room.

 

All in all, it worked out quite fine, the television is a little to far to feel the heat being directed at me, but when it's on for a while, especially when I'm playing xbox, the heat will kick in!

 

I wasn't sure if you guys would have been up to hearing about this, but I thought it was quite amazing, and if I knew what the heating bill here was, I'd have to see if I have saved any money, I'm pretty sure I did since the heat was turned down plus all the heat went to rooms that need it.

[jlhaslip 4]

I'm guessing that the cost savings were minimal since the electricity to run the computer was required to be paid, also, but there would have been a cost benefit. Your Mom would have second thoughts about making you turn off the xbox and computer...Waste heat is used by industrial and commercial facilities all over the place. I once worked at a Pulp and Paper plant that used the waste Heat from their process to run a Turbine that produced electricity for them and also they sold it back to the Power Company. The whole operation cost them big dollars to install, but between reducing their purchase of electricity and being able to sell their excess power, they benefitted by increasing their 'margins'. It must have been worthwhile for them, because they did another facility a few years later.

[Blacklaser 0]

You'd be amazed at what a thick blanket can save you. I generally prefer it cool in the house, so during winter I set the heat to about 58 degrees Fahrenheit and whenever I'm not doing any physical activity, such as watching tv, sitting in front of a pc, a thick blanket does wonders. For other activities such as cooking or cleaning 58 is enough for me.

[brainless 0]

hehe, nice idea ... and if you don't have anything else in the room which would need the heat, this should actually be visible on the bill if you can keep this thing up an entire month in winter since I guess it's kinda warm in summer anyway...this probably wouldn't work for my place since my cat likes to occupy the central spot in my room and she likes it warm but something like that pointed at her ... I guess not jlhaslip: when those things are running anyway, it doesn't matter whether their operating costs have to be paid or not, using those things' waste heat actually lowers the operating cost (since you don't only get entertainment anymore but also don't need to heat that room ... at least as long as there's only one or two persons who use the waste heat...)anyways, these industrial-sized off-grid electricity production probably fits into wild20's "Power Off-Grid"-Thread, I'm afraid I can't provide a link right now...

[Dooga 0]

Is it good to put aluminium on the vents of the TV etc.? Isn't the vent supposed to be the place where it lets out hot air? I thought that TVs needed to stay cool, so they don't overheat...

[DaeFenris 0]

My initial thoughts were that the aluminum would cause your devices to overheat, but if you were able to safely redirect the heat, then so be it.I know that my monitor gives off immense heat. I keep my door closed all the time, so it's very warm. I am very sensitive to cold and like to keep warm at all times. Everyone else in the house walks into my room and complains about the heat. I just tell them to talk to me through the door if the heat is too much of a problem. Hahaha.I think if I were to turn on all my devices, my room could get pretty hot! My monitor is enough to soothe me tho.

[Skamikazi 0]

I'm guessing that the cost savings were minimal since the electricity to run the computer was required to be paid, also, but there would have been a cost benefit. Your Mom would have second thoughts about making you turn off the xbox and computer...

I normally leave the computer on all the time, restarting it once a week ( also running spyware/disk clean up before hand), thus I am not using any more electricty each week than I would have normally. The xbox heats up rather quickly, and the T.V it's hooked up to is even quicker. But your right, I'm probably not saving any more than a couple of cents, but still it's a start

[JasperIk 0]

My cats are way ahead of you lol. They like my moniter because it produces heat. But yeah, when my computer is on its much warmer in my room. Sometimes itll be more warm in my room then in the rest of the apartment. But I never leave it on for the night, I always shut it down, or else itll freeze up. So when I go to bed, about 10 minutes of laying down it gets cold because the heat has gone away.

[matto 0]

I'm guessing that the cost savings were minimal since the electricity to run the computer was required to be paid, also, but there would have been a cost benefit. Your Mom would have second thoughts about making you turn off the xbox and computer...

Actually, booting up uses the most electricity. Depending on how often you would be using the computer without rebooting, it is more than feasable that leaving the computer on will save electricity.


And wow. That's a very interesting idea. My computer is pretty efficient, and doesn't give off a whole lot of heat (it isn't very powerfull for its age...), but if it were hotter, I would definitely consider doing what you've done. It's a really good idea, especially considering the fact that the systems would have been on anyway. Good job =D