Am looking for some advice on saving $$ for what I’m guessing will be an especially cold weather. We have gas heat in a large (2200 sq ft) family home with a large family, will have to heat most of it. Am putting up plastic on the windows, have the most efficient water heater, now looking at the expense for the central gas heater. Two questions (if I should be asking another one to save dollars, please add it):
How do you figure the savings without actually buying the space heaters first? Are any of the “new generation” or the “heated oil” electric space heaters indisputably better than the central heat?
Thanks!
space heaters are only cost effective if using it to heat a single room, as opposed to the entire house. for instance, i live in a large home, without a large family. therefore, i save money by only heating the room i’m presently occupying with the space heater. if you are going to need multiple spaces heated at the same time it will only cost MORE money to run a space heater in each space.
NO. There is no money to be saved with any space heater, unless you are content to only heat a very small area in lieu of heating the whole house. If your goal is to heat the whole house, your central heating won’t cost you any more (unless maybe you’re burning propane).
The lowest operating cost for heat these days is a geothermal heat pump, from what I read.
The oil filled space heaters are the safest but also the least efficient.
With a large family and many space heaters no matter how efficient, you run a high risk of an accident, not everyone will be careful and all it will take is one slip up and the dollars saved will be far outweighed by a single mistake.
Button up the house the best you can, keep the furnace tuned and get everyone to chip in for the heating bills!
I agree with Don and Pandora, But the real key to saving $$ on heating and cooling your house is heating/cooling it with efficient equipment, and having a well insulated and sealed envelope on your home.
Windows and doors that seal tightly, and having your home well insulated, will help you save money. Have an energy audit done by someone with an infrared camera, will help you find spots where you are losing money and can’t even see or feel it. Install a geothermal heat pump for the best Coefficient of Performance.
I agree with the first two answers, space heaters are not the most cost effective way to heat a whole house. I do have some suggestions which I hope will help cut down your heating bills. If you have a forced hot air furnace close the vents in any unused rooms. Partially close the vents in bedrooms and invest in electric blankets. We keep our master bedroom heat down low and turn on the blanket an hour before bedtime and it turns itself off in the morning. you can also turn down the thermostat and just use a space heater in the family room or what ever room the family spends most of the time. I don’t know what type of house you’re in, but if you have tall or vaulted ceilings invest in a ceiling fan. In the winter run it on low and in reverse. Reverse forces the hot air back down without creating a draft. Check your insulation in the attic, if there isn’t any (common in older homes) I would try and get some.One of the worst places for heat loss are doors and windows. The plastic on the windows will help a bit, storms would be better, but can get expensive. The next windy day walk around the house and run your hand around the windows, bottoms of doors, etc. You’ll feel where the cold is getting in and do your best to eliminate the draft.Weather stripping, door socks, and caulk are all effective and can work wonders.
Hope this helps, stay warm
Most electric space heaters are rated at 1,500 watts, or 1.5 kilowatts. If you are paying $0.10 per kWh, for example, it would cost $0.15 (15 cents) per hour to operate.
However, you are probably paying closer to $0.15 per kWh when you include the “customer service” charge and transmission costs, etc.
At $0.15 per kWh you would now be paying 23 cents an hour per heater. So the cost to run let’s say 5 heaters would be $1.15/Hr.
You can see how easily this could add up to a $600 or $700 a month bill for just heat, never mind hot water.
Pandora 078 has the right idea for the efficient use of a space heater.