Using electric heat to keep pipes warm...
Ok, hear me out on this one. I know the general consensus is to leave the furnace on low to keep the pipes from freezing. What temps do you reccomend for this, by the way? I've been keeping it at 48 but would like to go a little lower to save propane, but will any lower allow the pipes to freeze if it gets to 5 below out at night?
My real question is this. We have fans, right? I mean the kind that go with the ducted air system, instead of "cool" or "heat" you put it on "fan". So, all the air when either of the 3 are running go through the intake vents in the stairs and come back in, right? So my question is, to save propane, is there any reason why I could not run the fireplace space heater in the back of the unit, and the separate non-ducted heater in the bedroom, leave all the doors open, and turn on just the fan for the ducted air? If I kept it plenty warm inside just on space heaters, wouldn't it pull the heat into the basement via the intake vents and keep the pipes warm THAT way? I sure am using up propane fast, it seems, even keeping it at 48 or 50 or so.
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