?
"DerbyDad03" wrote
"Electric heat is 100% efficient, so dragging a portable unit to
the basement or wherever, is not a bad solution. "
I've heard that hundreds of times but there is still a part that
confuses me.
Like many other houses, my basement is cooler than the rest of the
house and I occasionally will use an oil-filled radiator to warm the
space up if I need to spend time down there. I also use a small space
heater with a fan to warm up my basement shop.
I know that the heaters are "100% efficient" but all that tells me is
that all of the electricity is being used to create heat. What is
doesn't tell me is how much it's actually costing me to heat the space
with an electric heater as compared to adding more forced air ducts.
Sometimes when I read that line, it almost appears to be saying
"Electric heat is 100% efficient so go ahead and use as many electric
heaters as you want, wherever you want, for as long as you want."
That can't be the case, right? If it was, we'd all just turn off our
forced air furnaces and go all electric. Since in most areas
electricity is more expensive than NG, why *isn't* it a bad idea to
use an electric heater as supplemental heat?
I've always had trouble getting my head around that one. Must be I'm
missing the "understanding electric heat" gene.
You have to compare on Btu for accuracy. A gallon of fuel oil is 138,700
Btu. At 85% efficiency 117,895 will reach the heated space. That means you
need 34kW of electricity for the same heat. Today, oil is about $3 a gallon
and in my area, electric would cost $6.20 for the same amount of heat. 1kW
= 3412 Btu.
You can do some rough comparisons with different fuel here
http://hearth.com/econtent/index.php...on_calculator/
When you see those expensive electric heaters on sale, you are getting
screwed on initial cost as well as the potential savings. I can heat a big
portion of my house for the same as a single room with a space heater. I'm
also glad I replace my old boiler two years ago as the savings are even
greater with the high oil costs.