Energy Usage, Conservation and Weather Stripping - Which cost more
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Bryant
11-17-08, 06:27 PM
My home currently has electric baseboard heat ($$ Cha Ching). I plan to buy a furnace in the spring, however, I have to go through one more winter with the current set up. I normally heat the majority of the house with the wood burning stove, however, the heat doesn't make it all the way down the hallway and I have to turn on the electric heat in the bedrooms. I have an electric tower heater with a fan that I use from time to time and it warms up my sons room much faster than the baseboard heat. It also has a thermostat. I'm thinking about buying one for each bedroom and not turn on the baseboard heat at all. Which would burn more electric? The electric baseboard or the electric heater fans?
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
badeyeben
11-18-08, 08:17 AM
You need to know how many watts the baseboard and the tower run at. Just for simple example say the baseboard runs at 20 amps and the tower runs at 10 amp. If both run for the same amount of time then it is cheaper to run the tower because it uses 1/2 the amps. But then you need to figure the tower fan...does the fan run all the time and the heat come on and off as needed with the thermostat? If so you need to figure that as well. But still I would think the fan would not use many amps so it would still be cheaper than the baseboard.
The main reason the tower heats the room faster is the fan. The baseboard takes longer to get the room to the temp. you want but may not come back on for a longer time than the tower. So you would need to test each for a few hours to see if they are running (actually heating) the same amount of time. For example if the baseboard actually heats for say for 10 minutes every 1/2 hour for 4 hours using 20 amps per cycle then it used 80 minutes of 20 amps power. Then if the tower ran for 10 minutes every 15 minutes for 4 hours at 10 amp plus the full 4 hours for the fan at say 5 amp then it actually used more power.
I am sure the electricians have a chart or calculator for this type thing and my examples are made up so it is easy to see the figures. But you see how it is a complicated question because it depends on several things you have not provided.
The main reason the tower heats the room faster is the fan. The baseboard takes longer to get the room to the temp. you want but may not come back on for a longer time than the tower. So you would need to test each for a few hours to see if they are running (actually heating) the same amount of time. For example if the baseboard actually heats for say for 10 minutes every 1/2 hour for 4 hours using 20 amps per cycle then it used 80 minutes of 20 amps power. Then if the tower ran for 10 minutes every 15 minutes for 4 hours at 10 amp plus the full 4 hours for the fan at say 5 amp then it actually used more power.
I am sure the electricians have a chart or calculator for this type thing and my examples are made up so it is easy to see the figures. But you see how it is a complicated question because it depends on several things you have not provided.