Which is more efficient/economical to run: a baseboard heater or an oil-filled radiator-type space heater? [more inside]
posted by apricot on Oct 25, 2009 - 11 answers

Our house (with a recently replaced boiler) doesn't get heat in every room. I thought I had figured out the cause, but I was wrong. [more inside]
posted by mkb on Oct 14, 2009 - 11 answers

A cat in heat is keeping up the entire household at night with her werewolf yowling. They're about ready to give her up. What can they do? Much more inside. [more inside]
posted by Viola on Sep 29, 2009 - 39 answers

Installing geo thermal in an old house with boiler? [more inside]
posted by idyllhands on Sep 28, 2009 - 8 answers

I need to bake something, but it's hot (and getting hotter) and humid, and I don't want to raise the temperature in here any further. Any suggestions for no-bake (or toaster-oven?) treats? [more inside]
posted by Dr. Wu on Aug 11, 2009 - 27 answers

I have an electric smoker grill, with 2 setting - on / off. Is there a way to regulate how hot the heating element gets, in order to control the cooking temperature? [more inside]
posted by savagecorp on Aug 6, 2009 - 9 answers

Help resolve a dispute among co-workers. Vancouver is a wonderful city, everybody says so. It just doesn't happen to have been built for serious summer heat. Yet now it is hot (and getting hotter) and here we are in a "home office" that will start to absolutely bake in roughly one hour (when the afternoon sun hits the windows). Given that we have no air conditioning and that we are on a deadline this week and so must stay "on the job", how best to keep this place as cool as possible ...? [more inside]
posted by philip-random on Jul 27, 2009 - 31 answers

What's the recommended action to take and agencies to contact when faced with an animal stuck in a locked car in 100 deg heat? [more inside]
posted by arcticseal on Jun 13, 2009 - 25 answers

Does Benjamin & Medwin still exist? And if they don't, any idea where I can get a lid for my cast iron pan? Can I make one? [more inside]
posted by Diablevert on Jun 12, 2009 - 5 answers

I'm having trouble with my oven and think it's the door gasket/seal. Specifically, I see that the gasket is only going 3/4 of the way around the door, and isn't on the bottom. Is that normal? I think the answer is probably no, so...... how easy is this to fix?
posted by saffry on May 22, 2009 - 8 answers

Are there any good low-capital alternatives to electric Cadet heaters for warming and cooling my house? [more inside]
posted by msalt on Apr 29, 2009 - 2 answers

How can I cool off my NY studio apartment this summer? Our building has central air conditioning, and while it's cold enough when I sit right next to the unit, the rest of the apartment gets boiling hot. During today's heat wave, when it was 82 outside, a thermometer sitting on the unit read 70 degrees. On the other side of the room, it was more like 75, and on the other side of of the apartment, almost 80. The building doesn't allow window air conditioners. This is making living here really uncomfortable -- what else can I do to cool this place off? [more inside]
posted by lsemel on Apr 28, 2009 - 29 answers

Help me control the intense heat radiating through my living room windows! Reflective film? Curtains? [more inside]
posted by gnutron on Apr 20, 2009 - 19 answers

This weekend, I saw a green renovation show that used a large amount of gravel in the basement to hold heat gathered from a solar-collecting area in the roof. My dad, a builder, says this method doesn't work well. Help me understand if someone has devised a "better mousetrap" or if this is just something that has never worked and is being done for greenwashing on TV... [more inside]
posted by bitter-girl.com on Apr 14, 2009 - 14 answers

Should I get a home energy audit? This article says old houses use up to 50% more energy than new houses!!! Our house was built in the 1880s, and it's big enough (around 3000 sq. ft.) for waste to matter. We also live in Chicagoland, so we use a lot of heat. [more inside]
posted by walla on Apr 6, 2009 - 8 answers

I thought my cat had just _finished_ her first heat and made a vet appointment to have her spayed tomorrow. Well, guess who started yowling and moving her tail sideways to display feline private parts?! Should I keep tomorrow's appointment and have her spayed _during_ her heat, or should I wait? [more inside]
posted by bunky on Mar 22, 2009 - 12 answers

How unpleasantly hot and humid is Japan's rainy season, and what can I do to prepare? [more inside]
posted by Kirn on Mar 4, 2009 - 14 answers

Two nights running with no power or hot water. What's a tenant to do? [more inside]
posted by ricochet biscuit on Feb 26, 2009 - 12 answers

My wife and I would like to install a floating Brazilian Cherry wood floor over radiant heat. Almost all manufacturers do not warrant this (and Brazilian Cherry is often called out as the worst possible wood to use over radiant heat). However, SOME manufacturers do warrant it. For example, I just finished speaking with Mannington, which warrants this flooring over radiant heat (as long as the floor doesn't exceed 90 degrees). The rep couldn't tell my why their floor is different than anyone else's, so I'm skeptical that this is a good idea. Can this be done successfully? I am suspicious of the manufacturers that claim to warrant it. I'm especially interested in hearing from someone who's had a similar floor installed for several years.
posted by jewzilla on Jan 8, 2009 - 11 answers

My heating bill is about twice as much as my downstairs neighbors'. What's going on, and what can I do to mitigate the cost? [more inside]
posted by backseatpilot on Jan 3, 2009 - 17 answers

[Asking for a friend:] What can I do about the stinky, wasteful oil furnace in my apartment? I'm worried about my health, and I'm not sure that the landlord cares. [more inside]
posted by TurkishGolds on Dec 22, 2008 - 4 answers

I'd like a complete, sequential list of the music in Michael Mann's film Heat. [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Dec 22, 2008 - 4 answers

Best application for 3D graphing (heat maps, contours, bump maps and so on)? [more inside]
posted by unSane on Dec 18, 2008 - 6 answers

If I get a space heater, will my cat touch it and get burned? Or am I severely underestimating her intelligence? Or will she get burned once, and then learn not to do it?
posted by zavulon on Dec 6, 2008 - 18 answers

The mechanic said my heater core needs to be replaced and it will cost $700. What does this mean? Lengthy explanation inside. [more inside]
posted by lunasol on Dec 2, 2008 - 18 answers

My sister has a stone muffin pan like this (except it is 6 jumbo muffin cups) that broke into three pieces during a recent move. She said none of the cups were damaged, so any ideas on an oven-safe adhesive to put it back together? [more inside]
posted by sararah on Oct 31, 2008 - 13 answers

My cat is exhibiting symptoms of being in heat despite being fixed. Any advice? [more inside]
posted by milarepa on Oct 25, 2008 - 8 answers

I'm looking at getting a new phone and a new service provider. After careful searching, almost all companies require a stringent credit check. I have horrible credit. Prepaid is not an option as any decent prepaid phone is ridiculously expensive and the service is generally sub par. I narrowed it down to something from Virgin Mobile or Helio. I have heard some bad about both companies, but since neither require a credit check, these are my choices. I'd rather not go with Virgin Mobile as almost all of their phones feel like cheap plastic and some even feel like a cheap ceramic. This leaves Helio. [more inside]
posted by 29 on Oct 23, 2008 - 17 answers

Is it cheaper to run a full house heat pump during colder months, or use Vornado heaters to heat subsections of the house that we are in at the moment. [more inside]
posted by diode on Oct 11, 2008 - 5 answers

I'm looking for thoughts on whether I should lock-in a heating oil rate of 3.79 for the season. [more inside]
posted by madamjujujive on Oct 1, 2008 - 11 answers

How big a wood stove should I get? [more inside]
posted by geos on Sep 17, 2008 - 6 answers

TechFilter: Help me find a replacement fan for my Arctic Cooling heatsink. [more inside]
posted by judge.mentok.the.mindtaker on Sep 3, 2008 - 1 answer

How much does it cost to heat an apartment in Brooklyn? My roommates and I are about to put down a deposit on a 3-bedroom in Greenpoint. The only unknown is that heat isn't included, and we have no idea what that will cost for a winter. Rough estimates and anecdotal evidence appreciated. 1000 a year? 500? 3000? Thanks much.
posted by boots on Aug 11, 2008 - 11 answers

Help finding the coolest burning bulbs for my bathroom vanity... [more inside]
posted by caveat empress on Aug 10, 2008 - 12 answers

Apartment filter: I need my apartment to be cool inside! We moved into a very nice 3rd (top) floor, west facing apartment... in March... came home in June and no exaggeration, it was 94 degrees in my living room. The AC has a 20 degree difference and runs nonstop from 4pm to 11pm and its 84 degrees in the bed room till 11pm. [more inside]
posted by phritosan on Aug 4, 2008 - 38 answers

What do I do with our broken car? (Long explanation) We have a 2001 S40 Turbo. Despite following the standard maintenance schedule and ensuring oil/water, etc is always good, it's been a pain in then neck since we bought it in 2003. I think I've put more into it for repairs than I paid for it. The last 18 months it's had a problem with the temp gauge spiking and then dropping down to normal. We've had it in a half a dozen times and each time the mechanics replace the themostat and the heat sensor. That fixes it for a while and then 3 months later, boom ... it happens again. No one has ever found the problem, until now. [more inside]
posted by damiano99 on Jul 30, 2008 - 13 answers

Regular Floor Fan Filter: My wife swears that it's best to use a fan to "suck the hot air out of the room" first before turning the fan around to draw in the cooler evening air. I say the only hot air in the room is...well, help us figure this out! [more inside]
posted by Spyder's Game on Jul 15, 2008 - 27 answers

Air conditioner puts out more water than cool air. Ideas on what two renters can do? [more inside]
posted by Ufez Jones on Jun 29, 2008 - 9 answers

How do I fix a thermometer when the mercury has separated? [more inside]
posted by odinsdream on Jun 27, 2008 - 14 answers

It's getting warm out, and the top floor of the house we live in is heating up a lot. My infant son sleeps upstairs and the heat from the day is moving up to the top floor and lingering for hours and hours. The catch is he sleeps best in complete darkness, so opening windows means screwing up his sleep for the night. Anyone have any suggestions on how to cool down the top floor while creating a minimal disturbance for my kid? [more inside]
posted by theNonsuch on Apr 20, 2008 - 14 answers

How do I arrange windows, doors and vents to keep my house warmest? [more inside]
posted by jacquilynne on Apr 7, 2008 - 15 answers

ScienceFilter: Creationists, crystals, and thermodynamics. [more inside]
posted by XMLicious on Feb 6, 2008 - 19 answers

How can I stop myself feeling/getting hot at night when the environment is cold. [more inside]
posted by dasfreak on Jan 29, 2008 - 6 answers

Help! It's cold and my furnace is broken. Since it doesn't have RAM, a PCI slot or a motherboard, I am clueless. Are there any manageable troubleshooting activities I might try on my own before I become a meat popsicle? [more inside]
posted by kbanas on Nov 28, 2007 - 25 answers

I'm too stupid to program the heater in my house. [more inside]
posted by vito90 on Nov 19, 2007 - 6 answers

What, if any, is the relationship between bandwidth and power? [more inside]
posted by odinsdream on Nov 19, 2007 - 14 answers

Which costs more: keeping my thermostat at 69 all winter, or using an electric blanket and radiator-style space heater in one room? [more inside]
posted by bjork24 on Nov 16, 2007 - 16 answers

Where can I read about the techniques and crimes of modern professional armed robbers and thieves? [more inside]
posted by Bookhouse on Nov 15, 2007 - 12 answers

My gas fueled clothes dryer initially gets hot but soon after goes cold...hivemind help me debug the problem. [more inside]
posted by mmascolino on Nov 8, 2007 - 13 answers

What kind of radiators are in my house, and how do I fix them? They're broke, it's cold, and the radiators are so old I can't find any information about them on Google! Pictures here. [more inside]
posted by schroedinger on Nov 5, 2007 - 20 answers