Heaters...
 

Hey, I was looking into buying a room heater for my house, mainly because my little girls bedroom does not have a heat run to it. And it does stay kinda warm but I need to put something in there for at night. Being that my daughters are 3 and 1 I cant expect to put something in the room that gets hot and nor can I expect them just to leave it alone. So I need a heater that is safe for kids. My Dad had suggested that I buy an oil filled radiator and put a frame around it to keep them from touching it.

This idea is ok but recently I have been seeing ads for this "Edenpure" heater. It claims that it will cut your heating cost and not have much affect on your electric bill. Does anyone have one of these heaters? Also, it claims that it is safe for kids, it claims that the surface of the heater doesnt get hot, it goes on to say that pets are drawn to it and showed cats sleeping on it.

It has 2 models one that heats up to 500 sq.ft for $297 and another that heats up to 1,000sq.ft for $397. My dad wants one but he is old school and wants to know more about them from people that have one before he dishes out the cash... However, he told me that he would go half on one for me to be his lab rat...

Just looking for information...

Re: Heaters...
 

From the looks of it [URL="http://www.infomercialratings.com/product/edenpure_heater_reviews"]EdenPURE Heaters aren't so go[/URL].

Re: Heaters...
 

I bought a [URL="http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=3847-33454-HHP1500&lpage=none"]DeLonghi Flat Panel Microthermic Heater [/URL]from Lowes and mounted it 5 feet up on my wall so that my 18 month old couldn't touch it. My basement is very, very cold and it seems to work pretty well after about an hour.

Re: Heaters...
 

[QUOTE=724Skinsfan;273771]I bought a [URL="http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=3847-33454-HHP1500&lpage=none"]DeLonghi Flat Panel Microthermic Heater [/URL]from Lowes and mounted it 5 feet up on my wall so that my 18 month old couldn't touch it. My basement is very, very cold and it seems to work pretty well after about an hour.[/QUOTE]

It runs off of electric, I am assumeing? Also, how did it affect your electric bill? And how big is your basement, area?

Re: Heaters...
 

Just put it in a couple of weeks ago so I haven't checked how it affects my electric bill. The room is 16' x 32' and is in the basement which is not efficiently sealed. We don't go down there too often on a weekly basis so I'm not sure if we'll see a noticeable difference, though.

Re: Heaters...
 

Is there a reason why you cannot run heating into that room from the main heat?

Re: Heaters...
 

[QUOTE=firstdown;273791]Is there a reason why you cannot run heating into that room from the main heat?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, it is an old house and was not laid out for forced air heat runs. At one time its main source of heat was fire places, I have one in my one living room and in the basement it was set up for a wood/coal burner. The house was built around 1925 - 1930 in that era.

Re: Heaters...
 

[QUOTE=724Skinsfan;273789]Just put it in a couple of weeks ago so I haven't checked how it affects my electric bill. The room is 16' x 32' and is in the basement which is not efficiently sealed. We don't go down there too often on a weekly basis so I'm not sure if we'll see a noticeable difference, though.[/QUOTE]

That heater looks interesting, I am looking into it. I dont need the heater as a primary source of heat it would be mostly used at night in my daughters room and at that price I may get another one for in my main living room.

Re: Heaters...
 

Space heaters in general are a much less efficient source of heat than burning a fossil fuel. It takes a lot of electricity to generate meaningful heat.

No matter what, you're going to see a sizeable uptick in your electric bill if you're using one of these things. But if it's only to be used at night, then you likely only need to heat the room just a couple degrees, so the additional electric bill might not be too terrible.

Re: Heaters...
 

This is from the site that saden posted:
"After much research I have found that one watt of electricity makes 3.41 BTUs of heat, no matter how it's done... with resistance wires, with quartz, with oil filled radiators, with electric blankets, toasters, ranges, heat lamps... you name it..."

I don't know if it's true, but it makes sense. Work is work, no matter how you look at it. Climbing stairs or walking up a ramp of equal height requires the same amount of work to be performed -- it's the same idea.

I guess the only thing you have to worry about (other than safety) is an ineffecient heater -- one that doesn't produce 3.41 BTUs from a single watt.

Re: Heaters...
 

[quote=Redskins8588;273796]Yeah, it is an old house and was not laid out for forced air heat runs. At one time its main source of heat was fire places, I have one in my one living room and in the basement it was set up for a wood/coal burner. The house was built around 1925 - 1930 in that era.[/quote]
So how do you heat the rest of the house?

Re: Heaters...
 

[quote=Redskins8588;273798]That heater looks interesting, I am looking into it. I dont need the heater as a primary source of heat it would be mostly used at night in my daughters room and at that price I may get another one for in my main living room.[/quote]

As with any piece of equipment that draws a lot of current, make sure you don't overload that particular circuit.

Re: Heaters...
 

[QUOTE=firstdown;273803]So how do you heat the rest of the house?[/QUOTE]

My first floor has heat runs to each room some rooms have more than one heat run in it all from the main heat run. But then my living rooms about 10 foot tall cellings and there is only one heat run to the upstairs and that is in the hallway.

Re: Heaters...
 

[quote=firstdown;273803]So how do you heat the rest of the house?[/quote]

They make woodstoves with blowers on them. They can warm up an entire floor pretty well.

Re: Heaters...
 

Another option for the girls' room could be a small electric fireplace with a blower on it. You can get a small one with glass on it so there's no way they can burn themselves and it will distribute the heat throughout the room.

They have really small ones for about $200 at Lowes or Home Depot and they're safe and efficient. They won't use much current and will do the job. Then, you can always move it to another part of the house if they go off to college or run away with a boyfriend at age 16. :)

[url=http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/shop_cart/pg_print_product.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=shop_cart/pg_print_product.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@1186746235.1170436683@@@@&BV_EngineID=cchcaddkdhdlkgicgelceffdfgidgio.0&MID=9876&prod_id=100342127]The Home Depot[/url]

Re: Heaters...
 

[quote=GhettoDogAllStars;273802]This is from the site that saden posted:
"After much research I have found that one watt of electricity makes 3.41 BTUs of heat, no matter how it's done... with resistance wires, with quartz, with oil filled radiators, with electric blankets, toasters, ranges, heat lamps... you name it..."

I don't know if it's true, but it makes sense. Work is work, no matter how you look at it. Climbing stairs or walking up a ramp of equal height requires the same amount of work to be performed -- it's the same idea.

I guess the only thing you have to worry about (other than safety) is an ineffecient heater -- one that doesn't produce 3.41 BTUs from a single watt.[/quote]

Only trouble is, 1 watt of electricity is more expensive than the amount of natural gas or oil it takes to generate 3.41 BTUs.

If you're going to use electricity to generate heat, it's going to cost a fair amount more in the long run than it would if you installed something that ran on your heating system. Of course you have to weigh that against the cost of renovating and directing your heat system into that room.

Re: Heaters...
 

Have you had a heat and air guy come to your house to see what could be done? I'm not a big fan of portable heaters because it aways seems when you here about a fire the next sentence is about the portable heater causing the fire.

Re: Heaters...
 

[QUOTE=Schneed10;274324]Of course you have to weigh that against the cost of renovating and directing your heat system into that room.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, and right now my electric bill is about $35 -$40/mth. And I do not currently have the funds to renovate and run a heat run to that room just yet.

Re: Heaters...
 

[quote=Redskins8588;274328]Yeah, and right now my electric bill is about $35 -$40/mth. And I do not currently have the funds to renovate and run a heat run to that room just yet.[/quote]
How do you have such a low electric bill?

Re: Heaters...
 

My freaking bill was 170 bucks for a 1600 square foot house. We're just keeping our air at 70 all the time. No higher, no lower. I don't know WHY our shit is so expensive.

Re: Heaters...
 

TMC, is your house insulated at all?

Re: Heaters...
 

Yup, actually very good insulation. I DO think there is a draft coming in from somewhere that's causing a problem. We also are on the top of a hill and get a LOT of wind where most of the area doesn't.

Re: Heaters...
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;274342]My freaking bill was 170 bucks for a 1600 square foot house. We're just keeping our air at 70 all the time. No higher, no lower. I don't know WHY our shit is so expensive.[/quote]

When you say "air" do you mean heat derived from a heat pump or a furnace?

Re: Heaters...
 

Heat pump.

Re: Heaters...
 

That may be one reason why your electric bill is so high unless the one you have is designed for temperatures lower than like 35 degrees. We cut over to our gas heat when the temperature drops below 45 degrees. Do you not have a secondary heat backup (gas furnace?).

Re: Heaters...
 

We do have a backup source. According to this guy who came over to fix our furnace downstairs, he said once it gets really cold, to flip it over to emergency heat since all we're doing otherwise is just blowing cold air.

Re: Heaters...
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;274342]My freaking bill was 170 bucks for a 1600 square foot house. We're just keeping our air at 70 all the time. No higher, no lower. I don't know WHY our shit is so expensive.[/quote]That sounds about right for that size home. My office bill runs around 180.00 and my home about the same. Both my home and office are gas units which is not included which make it run around 240.00. Then in the summer my gas goes down to nothing and elec. jumps to around 240.00.

Re: Heaters...
 

That's good to hear that we're not crazy. During summer, we didn't run AC much and used fans and it was down to around fifty bucks.

Re: Heaters...
 

I don't know, TMC, I just checked our electric bill (1800 out of 2100 sq ft is heated) for the month of January and it was $56.00, whereas our gas bill was $96.00. We keep the heat somewhere between 72 and 74. We have AEP and Roanoke Gas service. The heat pump has been off since early November.

Re: Heaters...
 

I know we don't have gas whatsoever, so everything is working on electricity.

Re: Heaters...
 

[quote=TheMalcolmConnection;274387]That's good to hear that we're not crazy. During summer, we didn't run AC much and used fans and it was down to around fifty bucks.[/quote]
Have you ever seen one of those 4x4 fans which mount in the ceiling which draws air through the house and into the atic. My sister has one in the house they purchased and she laughed at me when I said it would do a good job cooling the house in the summer. She loves it and they only have to cut on the air on hot days and nights. They really do a good job of sucking air through every opened window cooling the house.

Re: Heaters...
 

My parents had one of those when I lived at home. During summer though, as I mentioned earlier, we get a LOT of wind, so the good news is we have a great breeze coming through during summer. It's this winter cold that sucks! :(

Re: Heaters...
 

We have had a cold spell the past couple of weeks. I was under my house last weekend hooking up the water to my garage and I had several places that had no insulation and other places where it was falling. I had never noticed this before and after fixing those spots I could tell a difference right away. So for anyone having drafts in their home it might be wise to craw under for a look.

Re: Heaters...
 

[QUOTE=firstdown;274329]How do you have such a low electric bill?[/QUOTE]

I am not sure to be honest with you. My oven/stove, fridge, and washing machine are really the only appliances that run off of electric other than the usual like the tv, computer, and whatever else. Everyother month the bill is estimated. Also my oldest child is only 5 so I am sure that as my kids get older my bill will go up with them not turning things off and whatnot.

My house is forced air furnace heated, dryer, and hot water tank all run off Natural gas and I am on there budget plan where I pay about $150/month. Even in the summer when I only use Natural gas to heat my water and run my dryer when my clothes are not hanging outside.

Recently the natural gas company in my area uped the bill by 75%. And everyone was upset for such an increase. Then when the weather wasnt that bad the gave everyone a break on their bill by cutting it by 5%. So at the end of the day they only uped the bill by 70%. So anyhow you ask anyone up here about National fuel and you will be hard pressed to get anyone to say anything good about them...

Re: Heaters...
 

sounds like you guys are lucky as hell when it comes to your electricity bills,I live in houston,house is about 1600sqfeet,I was on balanced billing with Reliant energy,about 6 months ago,bill went from 220.00 a month to 400.00 a month!!! my house is all electric but come on!!
since then I installed a clothesline in the backyard,put on window tinting,switched to all flourescent bulbs,timer on hot water heater,and switched electricity providers,and the lowest bill I've got was 220.00,and I think that was for about 11 or 1200 kwhrs,and thats the very least I can use,looking at my old bills I used 1500 to 2600 kwhrs a month depending on the month

Re: Heaters...
 

Just moved into my townhouse at the beginning of November. Set up similar to 8588, forced air furnace with dryer, hot water, and stove running off of it. Electric fridge, washing machine, dishwasher.

I've been averaging about 30 or so a month electric (paid really low 2 months, then a high 3rd month (manual meter check)), and about 90 for natural gas.

Keeping the thermostat at 70 has helped, along with it being fairly warm in December and part of January. I have a feeling this week coming, the thermostat's gonna go up...thinking about getting a programmable themostat so I can have the temps lower while we're gone.