On Sunday, February 15, 2015 at 11:19:33 AM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 2/15/2015 10:11 AM, trader_4 wrote:


I can't imagine electric heaters being cheaper than other fuels. Do you
have natural gas available?


I was thinking that too. One winter I tried using an electric heater
for the room that I'm in most of the time and keeping the heat lower
in the rest of the house. My electric bills were substantially higher
and the gas bills not all that much lower.
And with NG being relatively low cost, I concluded it was probably a
wash at best, maybe a net increase in cost. That was for one room.
If you have multiple heaters, it's going to be even worse. I decided
that even if it does cost a bit more to heat the whole house, it's
not worth it. Of course with different fuels and rates, the situation
could be different.


That was my experience too. Some merchandisers have done well
promoting those Amish made heater cabinet things as a way to reduce cost.

Right now at 2.60 a gallon and .196 KWH a million btu is $23 for oil
versus $57.44 for electric.
For anyone interested in doing a compaison:
http://www.cozycabin.net/index.asp?r=0&pid=19&calc=yes

Next year I'm considering a pellet stove in the family room, not to save
money, but to increase comfort in the family room. That room tends to
be cooker as it is on the north side and has an 8' slider with a view to
the woods. I have a wood stove now, but it has become too much of a
PITA dragging in wood.

I just looked at my latest gas bill and my usage for Jan last year
was about 27% less than this year. It was 1 deg colder this Jan, but
it looks like maybe that electric heater cut the gas bill more than I
thought. But still, it amounts to spending $52 more this Jan than last.
Factor in that it was 1 deg colder, IDK what difference that makes, but
maybe $5? So, the electric heater might be saving $45 in gas, but I
think that's about what my electric bill went up. Plus with the gas,
the whole house is warm.

That calculator is a good link. For what it's worth, I ran relative
numbers for here in NJ:

Electric heat .13 kwh 100% $38
Oil $3 gal 80% $27
Nat gas .96 therm 93% $10

Glad I have gas.....