On 11/20/2017 7:56 PM, JBI wrote:

The poster doesn't say what size the whole house is, but if they closed
off the vents in unused rooms, etc, with the differential in the cost
between electric and other heat, they could probably keep the whole place
going for the same amount or less than the cost of the electric heater.


The entire house is about 900 sq feet.Â* Currently, the oil burner is set
at minimum, which means it won't come on unless the temp drops to 48 F.
I was going to try living another winter this way to save fuel costs,
but I'm having a tough time with the cold even with layered clothing.
So, I decided to try keeping the aforementioned room at 70 F with the
700 W floor heater while keeping the rest of the house at minimal
thermostat.Â* The heater is on a timer for 16 hours/ day.Â* Today it
wasn't that cold and it ran most of that time.Â* I do have some unused
100% light blocking curtains I once used for my darkroom so maybe I'll
try stringing those up.

What is your electricity rate? I pay about 21 cents kW and that heater
would cost more to run than oil for the entire house. I just got oil
last week for $2.30.

Look for ways to cut the heat in unused rooms. Close the baseboard
dampers or the valve to radiators. Be prepared to be shocked at the
electric bill.