Space heaters advertise lots of warmth and lots of savings. You may have seen full-page ads in the newspaper for “miracle” heaters that claim they can “slash your heating bills.”
But can they really do that?
Our partners at Consumer Reports Magazine say in most cases, no.
Why Many People Don’t See Savings
Jim Nanni of Consumer Reports said what the ads don’t tell you is that you will have to keep most of your home cold to lower your bills with a space hear.
“Unless you turn the heat down in the whole house and just use a space heater in one or two rooms, you won’t see much of a savings,” Nanni said.
Consumer Reports says despite what the ads claim, most space heaters give off identical amounts of heat since they are all rated at 1,500 watts (the maximum allowable with home wiring).
But Consumer Reports says don’t count on any space heater to slash your heating bills. That’s because electricity is more expensive than gas. Natural gas costs have fallen in recent years, while electric rates have risen.
Electricity typically costs 20 percent more than gas to heat the same 1,000 square foot space. If your furnace burns heating oil, however, the costs are more comparable.
SOURCE: newsnet5.com
CONSUMER: The Truth on Whether A Space Heater Can Lower Heating Bills was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
