Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Re: Heating upstairs

[Regan Conley (reganconley]

> --- Alfred wrote:
> So far we have been told that not installing heat upstairs will not  
> work, that
> it will work, and that at worst we would have to plug in electric  
> heaters
> --- end of quote ---

I lived in a heatless upstairs house in the San Francisco Bay Area  
when I was in high school and my sisters and I were always freezing.

Several people here have noted that it's fine because they like to  
sleep in cold bedrooms, but not everyone does.  And what if you want  
to use those rooms for more than sleeping?  Many of us have the  
experience of getting chilled in our offices because we are sitting  
still -- do you want that experience in a home office?  Are your kids  
going to be doing their homework in there?  Keep in mind that the  
rooms would only get even residual heat if you left the doors open  
all the time.  You dramatically limit the useable square footage of a  
house by not heating it.

In my opinion, not installing upstairs heat will "work" or "not work"  
to the extent that people like to be cold or warm.  And this is  
something that is extremely difficult to do on one's own.  I think  
you'd be better off supplying fundamental systems to all parts of the  
house and leaving the finish work to the occupants if you really need  
to save money.

Regan Conley
Urban D.C. Cohousing (forming)