The bad wrap of electric heaters

Okay, so years ago electric heaters were a danger in your home.  They would tip over, start fires, burn young hands and cost hundreds of dollars to run.

But as with everything, technology has been able to "fix" those issues.  Your modern electric heaters are safe as most have a base that will keep them from tipping over (unless you have a dog that decides he wants it over).  They now come with a auto shut off if, on those rare occasions, the do tip over.


They sure are looking much better than they did when they first came out.  Now for small spaces and for heat the little ones work just fine but if you are wanting to make a piece out of your electric heater there are many ways to do that.


So, are they a good idea?  I don't think I would recommend them for a permanent source of heat but they are wonderful for small spaces that just need that little "extra" warmth; bedrooms on a cold night, office or TV room.  



We have seen an increase in our electrical bill (in some cases an increase of .13 per kilowatt to .32 per kilowatt in just three years) so you want to know how much it will cost you to run an electric heater it's a simple equation.  

Take the number of watts on the electric heater (for this scenario we will use 1500 watts as it is common for electric heaters).  Let's figure out what it would cost per hour so you know how long you can afford to run it.

1500/1000 X 24 = 36 x .25  = 9.00 per day or 37.5 cents per hour.

1500 watt electric heater divided by 1000 (this changes it from watt hours to kilowatt hours times cost of kilowatt (each company is different) times 24 hours times what you pay per kilowatt with your electric company.

So let's say you run it only at night while you are sleeping, eight hours (quit laughing some get eight hours of sleep) it will cost you about $3.00 a night to have it on.

It may seem like a lot of money when you take that times 30 days in a month but when you lower your furnace temperature at night but have one family member who needs it warmer you will actually save on heating costs.  Instead of heating the entire home for one room you heat only the one room.

Now I'm not going to say anything negative about the large chain stores but it may be difficult to find someone that can explain this to you.  When I have questions I go to the local mom and pop hardware stores as it seems that each employee there actually want to help you and they tend to be more knowledgeable on their products and I am a huge supporter of small businesses.

If you have one of the "old" electric heaters it's time to catch up with technology. Your safety will thank you and so will your wallet.

This blog is brought to you by Pueblo West Hardware store.  Like them on Facebook.