Electric Space Heaters

[lakelover]

With the price of heating oil shooting up, I think a lot of people are planning to do this. I can easily isolate my good size living/dining room - about 125 square feet - there is a sliding door to the kitchen and a curtain over the entrance to the hallway where the bedrooms are. The family is mostly in the living room for the evening hours, then to bed.

I am thinking of getting an electric space heater so I can cut way back on my thermostat setting this winter (upstate NY). I'm looking into convection heaters, not radiant, as we might be spread out all over the room. Trouble is, I don't really know anything about electric heaters any more, not having used one for about 30 years.

Can anybody make any recommendations or give me any tips on what to look for? I've been Googling and people recommend ceramic heaters. I want something durable and safe, not a $20 special from WM or something.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[mscher]

Re: Electric Space Heaters

I recommend installing electric baseboard heaters in the rooms you will use most.

They are not too expensive or difficult to install. They isntall on the floor, at an outside wall, where the cold air is.

Turn them on and they will warm up a room pretty quick, turn them down (or off), when you don't need them.

Most have a built-in thermostat, or choose a wall mount if you don't want to bend.

 

[aspeck]

Re: Electric Space Heaters

Oreck makes a real nice model ... looks like a piece of furniture. Don't get a cheapo, and don't put them on an extension cord, and certainly not a cheap, light cord .. use a good heavy guage, if you must. And don't load up circuits. Too many fires last winter because of that.

 

[wajajaja02]

Re: Electric Space Heaters

know your kilowatt per hour cost, for your utility, mine is 11 cents, my neighbors is 200 feet away with a different company, not in the co op is 27 cents per hour.
My co op offers a heating system that will spot heat or do a whole house for 6 cents per kwh. and will finance the installation of the unit. An alternative is to put in a hot water heater, on a reduced electric timer scheadule and pump the water thru registers in the living room for space heat. I installed a outdoor wood burner last January and saved 3800 off my heating bill, and stayed a nice 76 deg all winter.

 

[mthieme]

Re: Electric Space Heaters

Dunno how much electric is in your neck of the woods, but Constellation took over BGE in MD recently and the price has nearly tripled.
Here are some monthly figures from last year from various friends in average houses whose houses use electric baseboards with heat pumps...$1100, $1500, $1300, $500.
I have four sources of heat in my house. One of which are some electric baseboards strategically placed in rooms on the north side of the house. These units draw 3 amps max (220v). If you decide to go baseboard, do not get the cheapie 110v contractor grade junk at your local Home Depot...you will be for it dearly before the winter is out.