A space heater is perhaps one of the most brilliant, enjoyable, and convenient home appliance inventions of all times. Do space heaters use a lot of electricity? Made obvious by the name, space heaters are responsible for heating a certain space, such as one room. This makes the room warmer and cozy. While allowing the rest of the house to remain cool. Many argue that the use of a space heater is much cheaper than using your installed central heater because it only heats one area.
However, space heaters are usually electric. Therefore, do space heaters use a lot of electricity? And if so, how does it affect your monthly electric bills?
How does a Space Heater Work? Do Space Heaters Use a Lot of Electricity?
There are two main types of space heaters that can be installed in your house. An electric space heater and gas space heater.
Gas space heaters use gas to heat a room. They pass cool air a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is warmed by a process called gas combustion. So, gas space heaters work by gas combustion. After the combustion process, warm air produced is pushed through vents and enters the room causing heat.
Hot or Cold Sensations
The way gas space heaters turn on and off as well as know how hot to get through a thermostat that is installed in the heater. The thermostat is responsible for receiving hot or cold sensations. Sent off by the space and therefore reacting by either turning on or turning off.
An electric space heater, on the other hand, is powered by electricity. Furthermore, these heaters are not installed thermostats but rather individual units that can be plugged into a power source in any room.
Electric space heaters come in a variety of shapes and sizes. But there are four main types: the ceramic space heater, the oil filled radiator heater, the micathermic space heater, and finally, the radiant space heater.
Here’s A Relevant Video From YouTube:
4 Types of Electric Space Heaters
These are the 4 types of electric space heaters:
Ceramic Heaters
Ceramic heaters are the most commonly bought electric space heaters. They are powered on when electricity flows through their plates. From the plates, the electricity is then passed into aluminum, where the heat then enters the room through a fan. However, ceramic heaters aren’t meant for every space. They work best in small spaces up to about 150 square feet, such as offices or bedrooms. They are also the fastest ones to start up.
Oil Filled Radiator Heater
The second kind of heater is the oil filled radiator heater. The great thing about these heaters is that they operate off oil that is filled inside of them, and the great news is that they never have to be refilled. The downside is that these heaters take longer to heat up compared to the ceramic heater, but something they have that the others don’t is the fact that they are quiet while they run and are the most efficient with the energy they produce. They also stay warm for the longest time and use the least amount of electricity.
Micatheric Space Heaters
Third, we have micatheric space heaters. Like the oil filled radiator heater, something that makes them great is the fact that they produce heat fast. They are also very functional, as they do well in pretty much every type of area. It also handles moisture the most effectively, leading to reduced dry skin that can be caused by some electric space heaters. And that’s not the only health-related benefit of micathermic heaters. These heaters are also perfect for people with allergies and asthma.
Radiant Space Heater
Finally, we have the radiant space heater, also called the quartz space heater. These heaters are unlike any of the above three. Instead of heating up an entire room, they directly heat specific objects. This feature comes in handy when you need instant or focused heat. Because the radiant heaters use less power and heat direct objects, they use much less energy than other space heaters.
What is the Cost of Using an Electric Fireplace?
Fireplaces are also considered space heaters. Because they provide warmth for specific rooms in which they are burning.
Electric fireplaces are becoming an increasing trend in today’s culture. As they don’t require the labor-intensive act of chopping wood, don’t bring outside things inside of your home, and can be used in any kind of location because they don’t need firewood.
But, while they are more efficient than the traditional wood burning fireplace, are they less costly?
The installation of an electric fireplace is said to be less expensive than installing a gas or wood heating fireplace.
Generally, however, the total cost of using your electric fireplace is dependent on three main factors.
The 3 Factors are:
- The type of electric fireplace you get
- How often you use it
- Local utility rates
It’s estimated that it costs roughly 10 to 42 cents per hour of usage, depending on your specific and personal situation in the 3 factors listed above.