Using a space heater to target rooms you're using instead of heating the entire house is a surefire way to trim money off of your monthly energy spend. Space heaters cost about 20 cents per hour to operate, give or take, which is a whole lot cheaper than central heat for a home of almost any size.
The Energy Department estimates that the cost to heat an entire home with electric space heaters cost 43% more than a gas furnace. Using a space heater in your bedroom only while you sleep is a practical way to use a space heater and won't make much of a dent in your electricity bill.
While space heaters consume less energy than central heating systems, they are not as efficient if you are trying to heat up an entire floor of your home, for example. It is also important to consider how long you need to keep the space(s) warm.
Baseboard heaters rely upon convection to circulate the heat. This makes them marginally more efficient than 'space heaters', which use a fan to circulate the heat.
If you have a larger home
In larger homes, a small room may be worth heating individually if it's less than a quarter of the size of the whole house, although there's less benefit if your house is well-insulated.
You want to know whether using a space heater will save you money. The answer is yes and no. From a pure energy to dollar ratio, electricity costs more than gas. If you make a habit of checking the unit price on groceries, your furnace will outperform a space heater in “price per unit” any day of the week.
Assuming an average electricity rate of 14 cents per kWh in the United States, a 1500-watt heater would cost 21 cents per hour to run on full power. If you pay more than $0.14 per kWh for electricity, then running the heater would cost more than this. If you turn your heater down to a lower setting, it will cost less.
Con 6: Most Efficient When Run Constantly
If you like to adjust your thermostat a lot or turn it off and then on again when you need to, then baseboard heaters might not be the most efficient option for you. Baseboard heaters tend to be more expensive to power if you change the temperature around regularly.
Overheating and Fires
They heat up quickly. As a result, it's not uncommon for space heaters to overheat and catch fire. If you have children, keep them away from the space heater at all times. You can save money by using a space heater instead of increasing the temperature on your thermostat.
Most space heaters use approximately 1,500 Watts of electricity per hour making them one of the most inefficient heating options for your home.
Open rooms, such as a living room or kitchen, with hallway access to other rooms are more difficult to heat efficiently. Do not turn off your natural gas furnace and heat your entire home with space heaters. Although electricity is cheaper than gas per unit (kilowatt-hour vs.
As a rule of thumb, you will need 10 watts of heating power for every square foot of floor area in a room. This means that a 1,500-watt heater can be the primary heat source for an area measuring up to 150 square feet. If it's used as a supplemental heating source, however, it covers a much larger area.
Pro: Saves Money
Using a space heater properly can be a great way to save money. Space heaters heat only the area where they're placed. You put one in the room you're currently using and it heats that room, usually through convection (or circulation–the same way HVAC heats).
Space heaters are only meant to provide supplemental heat; don't use them to warm bedding, cook food, dry clothing or thaw pipes. Run it in spurts. Only use your heater for short periods of time; it shouldn't be left on 24/7. Turn it off.
Across most types of furnaces and especially when we consider space heaters, they are less efficient than air conditioners and lose energy that often escapes as waste heat.
Electric Baseboard Heating
One common usage is for baseboard heat to run in a bedroom overnight, while the whole-house heating system can be put on a budget-friendly low setting.
On average, you can expect to pay about 20 cents per hour to run an average space heater that is 1,500 watts and can heat a standard room. If you run it for eight hours per day, you'll pay about $1.60 per day. That comes out to just under $50 per month.
So, is electric or gas heat cheaper? Using off-peak electricity, conventional electric heating may cost about twice as much as gas heating to run. And here's why: electric heaters are essentially 100% efficient.
Conclusion. So, after looking at the different types of electric heaters available, due to its lower power-output, halogen heaters are the cheapest electric heaters to run.
What are the most efficient heaters? If you're looking for a heater that won't use much power and helps cut costs on energy bills, your best bet is a halogen heater, a convection heater or an oil-filled radiator, particularly if they have effective thermostat controls.
The smaller the difference between the indoor and outdoor temperatures, the lower your overall cooling bill will be. You can easily save energy in the winter by setting the thermostat to around 68°F to 70°F while you're awake and setting it lower while you're asleep or away from home.
The lower the temperature is inside of the home, the slower the rate of thermal energy loss. To achieve optimal comfort, it is recommended for homeowners to set their thermostats between 68 to 72 degrees while there are people inside of the home.
Cracks in Walls, Windows and Doors
Around 38% of heat loss in your home comes from cracks in your walls, windows and doors (often invisible to the naked eye). In fact, a ⅛ inch gap under a 36-inch wide door will let as much cold air into your home as a 2.4 inch hole through your wall.