01 Mar Five Things to think about when choosing to warm your home with a space heater and how infloor heating will save the day
Five Things to think about when choosing to warm your home with a space heater.
While shopping at Costco before Christmas I noticed SaskPower had a display booth for energy efficient light bulbs. On the same display Costco was selling indoor heaters. The purpose of this blog is not to criticize a product but to be curious and ask the hard questions. For more information on climate change visit our blog on 5 Ways In-floor heating can save the Planet
Companies such as Canadian Tire, Lowes and Costco sell electric heaters by companies such as Sunbeam, Honeywell, Elliot and Beale. They come in all sizes and prices – anywhere from $57.79 to $549.00.
Who said climate change was hard – the solutions begin with the questions we ask.
In Oct 2015, over 190 countries met in Paris to respond to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise of this century below 2 degrees. It is an ambitious goal and opened the door for the need to ask some very hard questions.
One hard question is can we improve our carbon foot print with simple design shifts? Portal space heaters do create a few questions that really are worth a discussion. See our blog on Do-It-Yourself In wall heating on how to create warmth in an older home Do It Yourself Project – In-Wall Hydronic Radiant Heating
At RadiantLink, we are hear to answer your questions.
Five things to think about when choosing to warm your home with an electric heater.
1. Cost to operate – here is the math – to warm a space and deliver 500,000 btu/hr energy by air will take 14 Horsepower units, by water 1.5 horsepower unites. Your SaskPower bill will be the proof that heating with a space heater is not as efficient as radiant heat.
2. Type of energy used – electricity vs gas. That is a great question and something you will want to consider when you plug in for heat.
3. Fires – space heaters are involved in 79 percent of home heating fire deaths. Asking the question is this product safe for my home – is a good question to ask. http://www.nfpa.org/news-and-research/news-and-media/press-room/news-releases/2010/space-heaters-involved-in-79-percent-of-fatal-home-heating-fires
4. Chords – Radiant heating systems work by embedding the pex piping into the floor or the wall. Placement of a portable heater is best close to a plug- in to ensure that you do not trip on the chord.
5. Climate Change – Electric heaters are a very easy to install and do warm up a space very quickly and they do have a heavy carbon foot print. See our blog on Hydronic heat vs Electric heatHydronic floor heating vs electric floor heating
Why home owners are turning to quick fixes to create warmth in their homes?
Homes built in the last ten years have improved upon creating comfort. That leaves a great deal of Canadian homes that are in need of warmth. This likely explains the flyers and shelves stocked with portable heaters.
Asking the hard questions is never easy but with 2 degrees to get it right – can we improve aging homes to be comfortable and improve our carbon foot print. We at RadiantLink believe the answer is yes. Hydronic heating will save the day – we just need to be open to new solutions.
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