I have a fan on the wood stove pointed at the door to next room (works off heat no electricity)
I also use two ceiling fans blowing down, these help to circulate heat and furnace does not come on

Thank you I think this is really fantastic, I need more low tech innovation. If I get a few terracotta pots big enough, I can use them for heating in the winter or zeer pots for coolers in the summer and other pots can sit inside with plants the rest of the time so they are decorative .

I saw a video a couple of days ago that was similar but the small flower pot was bolted inside the large one through the hole in the bottom, I like this one better, it makes sense to leave the hole open for warm air to escape. thanks for posting this

In a survival situation, making a smaller room to heat and taking a page from history by using "tapestries" can help with the efficiency of any heater type. Light-blocking curtains or those with the plastic sheeting on one side, drop cloths, the pools that were mentioned on another thread, and tarps get used against walls as a moisture block, then heavier material - especially if it's dark - like denim, canvas and even inexpensive comforters and quilts found on Craigslist, Goodwill or similar sites form an insulating "tent" so that heat is trapped. Thick, dark materials will absorb and hold onto more of that heat, just like the black plastic or geotextile garden liners do for the soil in spring.

I would think the reflective Mylar blankets and old Mylar windshield sunscreens would be cost prohibitive for a lot of rooms, but I used them with great success under my bedroll, over my bivy, and to reflect heat from a fire or stove toward me when I was into backpacking.

Also, adding any kind of metal grating to a heat source will help radiate more of the heat into the room. It gathers the heat, warms up, holds heat, and creates a wider dispersal area, especially low to the floor. There are "holey" covers that can be purchased for commercial woodstove chimneys to accomplish the same thing, but oven and grill grates, steel pipe fashioned in a yagi antenna array style, or rebar and T-posts would also work. The lower to the floor they and the heat source are, the more warmth will have time to be absorbed (and felt) by humans and pets.

Any of the ad hoc heaters should really come with a base like the clay pots, bricks, or tile plates. Using a handful or two of smaller clay pots (which are porous, which is why they work as a no-elec fridge with water and sand) to form a base between floor and stove, especially if they're used to prop up a chunk of plate steel and putting a camp stove, ammo can stove, or something like the video also adds efficiency. The metal plate heats from the heat sources, and disperses in all directions, including the air inside the hollow clay pots. That warmed air slowly seeps out, right at floor level, and just like the chimney and stove grating mentioned, provides an even bigger "surface" area for the warmth to spread through and away from. Being wide and low, there's more bang for the buck with heating fuels.

Any of these should be safeguarded with baby gates if there are little ones or pets who lack good survival instincts (I have a Lab; whole new level of stupid). I also feel the need to mention: fire extinguishers, fire extinguishers, fire extinguishers. Sorry if that's insulting to anybody, but I am constantly amazed that everybody doesn't already own one for the kitchen, one for the fireplace, and one for the bedroom so you can foam your way out of a fire or to the fire that starts in the dryer vent.
Cheers!
-Mrs Ps

Having read the whole first message in this group I see that my answer was somewhat not with the program
I think I may have an answer for the base. I had to replace one of the bricks in my fireplace and I think these would work great

A similar setup on an oil lamp or a small open fire would work wonders. I always wonder why chimneys are so inefficient and release a lot of heat to the outside

I had watched that video with the candles and the 2 pots and i went and purchased the items and tried it cause my daughters room gets quite cool in the winter cause of a poor insulation in the room and it works great and it was very cheap..i paid 2.50 for the pots and 2 dollors for all the candles ...if u havent seen the vid check it out its a really cheapway to create some heat and it is safe as well cause it keeps it contained...

RobandSue

If you guys have a cold room a 200 watt headlamp might be enough, that's about 2-3 cents an hour. And not a fire hazard

Somebody just sent me a picture of a window covered with bubble wrap. Lets in light, reduces noise and is extra insulation. I kinda like it

I use the large packing type of bubble wrap on double glazed windows and it makes a tremendous difference . It is super easy and at least as effective as those single layer shrink plastic and I take it down in spring and save it for the next winter to use again. I like that it lets the light in and I really don't worry too much that it distorts the view , it is easy to move and put back with a tiny bit of scotch tape on days you want the view or want windows fully open to take advantage of a nice day .

I use the large packing type of bubble wrap on double glazed windows and it makes a tremendous difference . It is super easy and at least as effective as those single layer shrink plastic and I take it down in spring and save it for the next winter to use again. I like that it lets the light in and I really don't worry too much that it distorts the view , it is easy to move and put back with a tiny bit of scotch tape on days you want the view or want windows fully open to take advantage of a nice day .

I love your signature. I'm writing a novel and have the same idea worded differently.

Our windows leak cold air around the frames so covering the window glass only doesn't work as well as taping that weird plastic over the whole thing, frame included. The owner of this building's solution? Keep the heat at 25c all winter. So, ya, hot with a freezing cold breeze. Energy efficiency at it's absolute finest :P. Plus peeling paint off the trim in spring when that plastic comes off.

Have you seen this post by Paul Wheaton of permies.com? I think this is a great idea. http://www.richsoil.com/electric-heat.jsp

I am making these kits for my family
I found flower pots to fit in a coffee cans
Much safer than a regular survival candle standing in a tuna can

Sorry in the above message I forgot to say it is for their cars