I am looking for ways to reduce heating cost for my 2 story house. The house is roughly 1000 square feet on each floor. I primarily use only a couple of rooms downstairs and only the bathroom to do laundry upstairs. The downstairs is pretty open, the only room that actually has a door is a small bathroom. The original bedrooms were upstairs and have doors, but the upstairs is not really usable right now because of needed repairs and a medical condition that sometimes flares up.

The house was built in the early 1980s, but has poor insulation and a lot of leaks around doors and windows. In the summertime keeping the house very comfortable the power bill runs a reasonable $100 - $200. However, winter time power bills are outrageous. My last power bill was $320.00 for mid October - mid November. That is with all but two vents upstairs closed off and plastic already on about 1/3 of the windows. Average temps were probably 50s daytime / 30s night time. I keep the thermostat in the 68 - 70 degree range.

The three colder winter months will probably be in the $500 - $600 range. I have had power bills as high as $900 a couple of winters ago. The house has the original electric furnace. We have had about 3 increases in power company rates over the past five years. Prior to about 3 or 4 years ago a bad power bill for the house was in the $250 - $350 range. Not sure how much of current cost situation is due to rate increases, how much is due to moving almost completely downstairs about 4 years ago, and how much is due to stuff getting older / more worn out.

I know I need to replace several windows and probably both entry doors. The furnace may also need some work. However, I have not had the finances to do any of this stuff in the past few years. I also, do not want to put any significant investment in the house right now (even if I could). The house / property is completely paid for, however, I am considering career possibilities that may require a move. If I stay here I might actually consider tearing this house down and replacing it with a new one story structure in a few years.

I am currently the only one living in the house and I don't really care if I heat the upstairs at all other than for the sake of the plumbing in the bathroom. Downstairs I need to heat a combined living room / dining room (currently serving as bedroom and where most time is spent), kitchen, and a small bathroom. This probably encompasses about half of the total downstairs.

My total do something about it budget right now is only in the $300 - $400 dollar range. I have been looking at infrared heaters and notice some of them are getting cheaper. I found a Dr. Infrared 1500 Watt Quartz + PTC with what they call an advanced dual heating system for around $141. It has only a few reviews, but most of them are favorable. Does anyone have any experience with infrared heaters and specifically the Dr. Infrared brand? Would running this type of heater either standalone in only the parts of the house I want to heat or in combination with my current furnace (turning the thermostat down to say mid 50s) produce any significant savings?

I am thinking of maybe a couple of the infrared units and some smaller units for the bathrooms. Any suggestions on other alternatives? I would like to get my power bill at least back down to the $350 range for the coldest months.