Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My "opinion" is that opinions based upon incomplete and sometimes divisive information designed to trigger responses are worse than worthless. We see that everyday in politics, and we see the result.
Before even writing a single line of computer code for a program, a competent developer will perform something called "systems analysis," where all of the relevant input variables are found and incorporated, the potential for various outputs examined, and basic data structures and formulas gathered and verified...
This is as bad as the water/electricity question.
What climate? Primary heat source?
In my case(s), experience, heating with electricity is expensive, but I use it when needed. I warm the bathroom before showering. I sit next to the DeLonghi oil radiator when it's cold.
Whats all of you guys opinion...do you think it would be cheaper, to get about 3 small indoor heaters (depending on the size of your house) and not run your home heat, or does it really matter?
I bought my mom a reflective oscillating heater. It has a timer and two settings, 400w and 800w. I put it on the 400w setting. She has it by her bed and uses it all the time. On the low setting, energy use is not bad at all.
Whats all of you guys opinion...do you think it would be cheaper, to get about 3 small indoor heaters (depending on the size of your house) and not run your home heat, or does it really matter?
Probably not. Electricity is expensive.
I do exactly that. Why? Ancient house with a gravity heater. Sure, electricity is expensive but gravity heaters are so inefficient it really doesn't matter. I close off the front vents and just heat the back of the house in winter. The central heat is just used to kick start the temperature. Once I get it up where I want it, I turn it off and use the electric space heater to keep my office heated which only has about 8 feet and one very leaky wood window of external walls. That's if I'm home since I work from home but am out in the field most days. At night the house usually gets down to the low 50s. Not the most pleasant when you're taking your morning shower but whatever. If I'm going to be home the next day I'll keep gravity heat on at 60 degrees and burn money. You're not really supposed to run electric heaters at night although they're not really THAT dangerous.
If you're not living in an uninsulated house with a horribly inefficient gravity heater though, you'll almost always be better off using central heat. Just close off the parts of the house you aren't going to heat. Space heaters are only useful if you have a crappy heating system, which is a lot of houses.
In my experience, it's always cheaper to just heat the space you are using.
I see you're in NM. I lived in WA for many years - from the OR border to the Canadian border - hence my name NoMoreSnowForMe. I also lived in the Nashville, TN area, which is even colder and wetter - down to around 7 below zero more than once while I lived there.
But, I grew up in the SF Bay Area, and am thrilled to be back here now.
But, what I learned, is that first you make sure your pipes won't freeze. Sometimes, all this takes is leaving the faucets dripping.
Then, all you usually need to do, is keep yourself warm. If you are blessed with wood heat, and don't have to deal with digging out green logs from some pile far from the house - this is the most wonderful heat ever. It will warm you through all of your bones, like some kind of marvelous spa treatment.
Otherwise, as long as the pipes aren't freezing, space heaters are great. Some are cheaper to run than others.
My experience over owning homes in cold climates in TN and WA, is that baseboard heat is not efficient at all. You're way more comfortable with a space heater in the middle of the room. Plus, those dang baseboard heaters usually mean you can't put any furniture against that wall, which is just unrealistic.
So, yes, is the overall answer - find some really efficient small space heaters. If it's possible to have a heat source that is not dependent on electricity or gas, that's even better, in case the power goes out. Like wood heat or propane - that doesn't require electricity.
Something to also keep in mind - sometimes a home will have gas heat but that heat source will require an electric ignition in order to work. I had friends in the Nashville, TN area, with a very expensive home, have a problem when there was a major ice storm there - because the system that ran their gas heat required electricity.
So, if you can figure out a heat source that can't be shut down whenever there is a power outtage - that's the ideal.
Depending on where you are, not running the heat might result in frozen pipes.
Space heaters can use a lot of electricity, so depending on the number and size you might not save a lot.
Certainly you could turn the thermostat down (not off) and use a personal heater (or electric blanket or throw) to increase comfort.
There are so many factors about your house that matter too. How insulated it is, how much heat you lose to radiation from windows, leaky weather stripping, room sizes, all sorts of stuff. We don't know, so can't help with that. A space heater could run forever without much effect if the room you are trying to warm up is too large. In a cool room with high ceilings all that heat will head for the ceiling, not where you are sitting. Use insulated drapes to block heat loss from large windows. You can close off rooms you don't need, but depending on where your house thermostat(s) happen to be it might not trick the home heat source all that well. Also, if your home has only one heat zone it may not matter either. What are your electricity rates?
There may be other ways to save on electricity that are more effective....unplug appliances that use current even when not being used (things with clocks or connections that need to stay "live"). If you are constantly charging all sorts of devices consider NOT charging some unless absolutely necessary, or maybe charge more of them while driving your car. Use super efficient lighting and only light the space you are using. Turn down and insulate electric water heaters. Replace older less efficient appliances. Put things on timers so they don't run when not needed. Keep furnaces and appliances tuned up and clean. If you get good sunlight during the day, try to let more passive solar energy warm your rooms.
Nope. Its as big a fallacy as people that hand wash dishes "to save water." The dishwasher uses about as much water as running your shower for two minutes. Good luck washing your dishes with that.
Space heaters are usually an energy suck. The only exception I could see was if you had a HUGE space to heat and were basically confined to a room.
Resistance type heat all costs the same. One unit of heat is produced by the same amount of electricity, no matter what heater you use.
Heat pumps are a bit cheaper to run because they produce heat in a different manner.
Here is my suggestion to you, OP, to save on the heat bills.
First, weatherization everything that can be weatherized. Weather stripping, storm windiws, those little foam pads that go behind the electric receptacle plates...
Then set your heat low, to run all the time. You have to keep plumbing from freezing and it is hard on your house and furniture to have big temperature swings.
Wear a sweater, use lap robes when you are sitting for long periods. If you get cold when you are inactive, have one of the oil filled radiators right by your chair so that it is increasing the air temperature right around you, not trying to heat the whole house.
I keep my thermostat set at 63 degrees. That's comfortable for me. If I am inactive for awhile, I put on a sweat shirt and slippers.
I've had an electric lap robe that was inexpenive from Costco, but it was too warm. Just the blanket by itself was warm enough without plugging it in. If you kept the whole house cooler, or the house is drafty, you might try the electric blanket.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
