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behaviorkelton

space heater instead of house system??

behaviorkelton
17 years ago

I posted this in the "heating A/C" forum as well:

I'm new to winter living... mild Tennessee winter...but I'm a Florida native. Anyway -

I'm experimenting with more economical and enviro friendly ways of keeping warm. I live in a mostly uninsulated old house with a new dual fuel central a/c & heat system (heat pump and gas 2.5 ton, small house).

Instead of running this big unit to heat the whole house, is it better to run one of those little ceramic space heaters just in the area that I sit?

Basically, I'm either at my desk, or the lazy boy chair. The little heater keeps me plenty warm although the house is chilly. (I don't insist on being totally toasty)

So let's assume I keep two of these heaters running on low (900watts each) most of the time. At night, I turn them off and use a heating blanket for sleep.

It *seems* more efficient than heating the whole house although I will have to wait until my electric bill arrives to get an idea. I don't know how to do the wattage cost calculation (particularly when I have to figure on the watts/gas cost of my central system)

What do you think? Surely, these tiny little heaters don't use anywhere near the energy as the big unit outside? right? Especially since the central system has to (try) to keep up with this inefficient house.

It's a little extreme and nontraditional, but it just rubs me the wrong way to heat a whole house when it's just me and my gal (no kids or parrots or hairless dogs).

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