With fuel prices looking to be at an all time high, I got to thinking (scary isn’t it) about ways to save money on my gas bill this winter. Since I run natural gas at my house, what about buying 3-4 portable ceramic heaters to heat certain rooms of the house? Do you think that this would be cost efficient? Running on low to supplement the gas heat and therefore letting the house heater to run less? It may come out to the same price in the long run but it might be worth a shot. What do you think? Just thinking out loud.

Britt

 

Hey Britt,
Yes gas will certainly go up, but I think electricity is too. I believe I saw a headline in the Dallas Morning News the other day where they were predicting a 60-90% increase in electricity cost for the winter. So, I don't know what to think about the answer to your question.
As bad as the price increase is for working stiffs, I feel bad for the elderly and low income. As I am sure you can attest to, people will resort to very unsafe methods of trying to stay warm in the winter or they will freeze to death because they have to decide whether to eat or pay the utilities.

~Rob

 

I use propane for the house, but I have had 3 ceramics used intermittantly in the basement areas for the last 3 or 4 years.

I don't have any tip-over worries, and only use them when we need the basement. Not really noticed a big deal with the $$. Give it a try and see what you think. They work for me very well.

Ed

 

Rob,

You are correct about the elderly and low income. We tend to have most of our fires in the cooler months of the year. My district covers a good portion of low income houses in the city and you are right about unsafe methods used in heating.

I have a couple of "nice" ceramic heaters that we have used in the past. We have never used them for heating our house but they worked great in our camper. In fact they would run you out of the camper if you weren't careful. It is amazing the amount of heat that these things can put out even on low. They have the "tip over shut off" on them but I'm not too worried about that until my little one gets a little older.

Electricity may go up too but do you think it will go up as much a natural gas? Right now I'm looking for any break I can get.

Thanks sherod. That's kind of what I was thinking also.

TryingtosavemoneyforanewhouseBritt

 

You can guesstimate how much it will cost you to run the ceramic heaters by using the electrical info on the labels. My guess is that you won't really save enough to notice. Your biggest bang for the buck would be to make sure that your home is adequately insulated and sealed. Have you checked your attic layer ? Are your windows and doors draft free ?? Are you using double pane glass windows ? Do you put plastic on the windows during the winter ? What about heavy, insulated curtains ?? Small things like this can be much cheaper and pay big dividends in what you have to shell out each month in heating costs.
My house is definately not up to par for many of these items but is layed out in such a way that one small buck stove heats the majority of the 4300 sqft. The basement stays cool but I am not too concerned about that anyway. I will probably run us out of the house when I get the place sealed up like it should be.

PISTOL

 

You said it Rob. I think we're going to see a BIG increase in the amount of people freezing to death, (literally), in their own houses or dying in auxillary heater related fires. I'm hoping I'm wrong, but I also think the incidence of suicide will rise as the elderly become desperate and hopeless.

It's truly sad that these people that have worked all their life, looking forward to relaxing in their retirement years, have to be faced with this kind of thing.


chaikwa.

 

Depending on your light company, it may exactly match the natural gas rise. There are alot of natural gas fired light plants out there. When natural gas was so cheap, many companies converted over from coal and oil. That, and the "easy pickings" of the natural gas fields being pretty much used up, are what's driving the insane increases of the last few years.