Space Heaters

**kaurand554** · 11-07-2009, 06:06 PM

Does anyone use one? Have any recommendations?

I have been looking around for one and am beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed. I am not sure how to judge the electricity consumption is it based on the watts? Ceramic vs. radiant... blowers etc....

I am hoping to heat the kitchen and living room (they are one open area maybe 400 sq feet.

Thank you for any input you may have!

An after thought, this is what got me interested:

I found one at Christmas Tree shop but of course there is no more :-), and was going to just buy it, so it may be a blessing it was out.

It was 1350 watts, 4600 btu per hour....

Duraflame electric Stove with Heater 79.99 can't find it anywhere else for that price.... but then I saw some thin stand up ones that seem to heat same area and could be moved more easily.

**Palooka** · 11-08-2009, 12:11 AM

We have a Kenmore space heater that we use in our downstairs basement that is a little under 400 square feet. I can't remember all the details but it works good and I do notice that when it's on it does raise the electric bill up. I just know it has different settings on it. Sorry not much help and I can't remember what we payed for it.

**frugalwarrior** · 11-08-2009, 08:03 AM

I have several, most of which are Holmes. They almost all have a feature where they shut off if they are tipped or picked up. One of them has an energy conserve mode but it doesn't heat enough then so i never use that feature. They kick out quite a bit of heat but seem to suck a lot of power too. I can keep lower heat though. I turn it on for a few minutes before bed to warm the bedroom. That really helps. Our furnace is old and I can't replace it this year so i try to take it easy on usage esp. because it's only 60% efficient.
As far as price I bought them at the Salvation Army new. (Walmart sells them new discounted items) I got a bunch for $10. and some larger ones for $20-$30. but that is way below retail. Some of the heater come w/ fan features too.
I love them but you can't run them constantly because of cost. I got mine running right now. LOL.

**sommersa** · 11-08-2009, 08:06 AM

We have two Eden pure heaters. Thats all we use right now to heat the house. Once it really gets cold, we will have to turn on the gas furnace to help, but for now this is good. Mine cost me 250 and it does a really good job. It heats my living rm, dining rm, and kitchen. The other heats my roommates bedroom and sitting rm upstairs. I dont have heat in my bedroom right now, just a heating blanket. I like it nice and cold in there. They dont run up the elec bill too much. We've been running them constant and they added maybe 30-40 dollars to the bill. I dont think that's too bad compared to what the furnace would do. The energy company here takes us for all we got, the rates are so high.

**vickilynn** · 11-08-2009, 08:20 AM

I had to have one that looked like a fireplace.....doesn't add much to bill and we really enjoy it! Beats the mess and smell of burning wood. Also use one of the radiator types filled with oil.....it's not breaking the bank yet.....

**banana** · 11-08-2009, 09:38 AM

I find that the oil filled radiator electric heaters work the best. I can regulate the temperature with it. I could use it on high which is 1500 watts, medium which is 900 watts or low which is 700 watts. It also has a dial so when it reaches the temperature it is set at it will automatically shut off. The brand I have is Delonghi and we have had it for a few years now not sure how many but we never had a problem with them.

**ravenmaniac** · 11-08-2009, 10:37 AM

My sister's mil & fil bought them one of those Amish heaters. Basically it is an electric space heater with a nice wood cabinet around the heater. It looks nice, but they paid way too much for it.

I don't know the specifics but you might be able to google the heater online. Then go to the store and buy just that kind of heater. Their basement is 1000sqft. The heater warms the basement fairly nicely. They have their family room, 2 bed rooms, and a bath down there.

**Russ** · 11-08-2009, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by ravenmaniac

My sister's mil & fil bought them one of those Amish heaters. Basically it is an electric space heater with a nice wood cabinet around the heater. It looks nice, but they paid way too much for it.

I agree.

You must look at the BTU output and the watts used.

Example: if two heaters put out the same BTU's compare the watts used to achieve that. Your electric costs don't matter at the point of comparing two heaters.

I just bought a little heater for our 3 season patio. It has a fan, temp control, and it oscillates. It works nicely for the room (400sq ft) when we need it.

The bottom line is BTU output.

**2ndGenGranola** · 11-08-2009, 05:16 PM

We have had all kinds of little space heaters. My favorite is our radiant type. It is in our sunroom which gets cold on overcast days. This keeps it nice and toasty for the kids to play out there. IMO they pull similar amounts of electricity but this one will keep the room heated hours after it is shut off. When our others die, I am buying this kind to replace them.

**Grainlady** · 11-08-2009, 08:04 PM

If you are looking for something larger than one to warm your toes under your desk, I'd suggest looking at Infrared Heaters.

We use a Sun Cloud Infrared Heating System - http://www.suncloud.com/ - as our primary source for heat for a number of years now and have utility bills around 50% less than our neighbors in the same size homes. After checking the energy use with a WATT-A-Meter, it costs us 2-cents per hour to use it, and it will heat up to 1,000 sq. feet (we heat our living room, dining room, kitchen and guest bathroom). We use one to heat the master bath when we bath/shower, but don't heat our bedroom. We purchased one for our son, and that's all he uses to heat his apartment.

It's outstanding safety is an important feature. Check with your home insurance agent and see if your insurance will cover a fire caused by other types of space heaters - many DON'T. The Sun Cloud has been approved for zero clearance, which means it can be placed close to furniture or drapes. You could toss a blanket over it and it wouldn't cause a fire. It has an A-1 Insurance rating. Safe to use around children and pets. A friend of ours said his son likes to do his homework on the Sun Cloud in their family room. Other friends use Sun Clouds with their racing dogs. Another friend who purchased a Sun Cloud after hearing how much we saved on utilities bought one and cut their bills substantially as well. My sister visited us and loved the heaters and bought two of them and put one in each of her mobile homes in south Texas where they really don't need a whole-house furnace very much.

You'll not find a "space heater", other than Infrared Heaters (there are several brand names on the market), that will heat as large a space as efficiently. It's as warm on our sofa as it is at the dining room table or in the kitchen. The only time we use our forced-air gas furnace is when we go on vacation to make sure the basement stays heated to prevent pipes freezing while we're gone. When the furnace was inspected by the technician last week, he commented that it looked like it was hardly used, which is true. About 7-10 days per year, and it gets VERY cold in Kansas.

We even used it in our townhouse that had vaulted ceilings with great success.

It doesn't dry the air and you'll have less static. Your windows won't drip with condensation. It truly IS a comfortable heat.

We purchased ours from a hometown store, so you get sales AND service - although we've purchased three of them and have never had a problem with any of them. We use two and gave one to our son.