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Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

richsoil.com

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Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#21

Post by kimmel »

sargun wrote: post #12
p_eter_p wrote: post #8

A similar approach works in hot climates. A friend of mine saved a substantial amount of money by getting an efficient portable AC unit for his bedroom, and shutting off the main air conditioner for the house at night. In a southern summer, the savings add up quick.

How does he purge the heat?

I have a portable air conditioner but it is not as portable as you would think. It is about 2.5 feet tall, sits on nice rolling wheels and has a small exhaust and fitting so you open your window and put the pipe end in place to vent the heat. You do not have to mount it in the window which makes it portable. I can move it from room to room and it only takes about 2 minutes to setup the fitting.

Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#22

Post by mrb »

vacri wrote: post #13

Why not use the reptile heater instead of the incandescent globe? Having a light shining right in my face would end the experiment in minutes.

This is a great point! Infrared heat emitters produce less visible light, therefore more heat than a light bulb of comparable wattage.

Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#23

Post by TD-Linux »

voidlogic wrote: post #7

>In June of 2010 I moved to a place in Montana with only electric heat. Living that far north and depending on one heat source is crazy! Think about the power going out when its -30 out... or if you used gas, running out or having your furnace break down. (Not to mention electric is usually the most expensive way to heat). Most houses where I live have 2 or 3 heat sources. I have wood, LP and electric...

I lived in Minnesota and had only electric heat. Most other houses have only gas heat, and it usually requires electricity to run. Luckily the electricity is pretty reliable.

If you do lose heat, the solution is generally to use blankets outdoor gear until it is fixed. But this has never happened in my 20 or so years of living there.

Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#25

Post by chaostheory »

debrice wrote: post #9

Well, not heating your house enough can also cost you your house as mold and ice can grow in very cold zone of your house. But I do like the ingenuity of the solution. Shit Norwegians Say: “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes”

Yes mold is very annoying, but maybe he can experiment with dehumidifiers in key areas to mitigate it. Of course it would probably kill a lot of his energy savings.

Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#26

Post by balfirevic »

raverbashing wrote: post #5

Yes Most people want "summer inside the house" which is absurdly wasteful Of course, it sucks when changing clothes or taking a shower, but there are ways of heating locally.

I don't know how people's desires can be "wasteful". I find that "summer inside the house" during winter is absolutely wonderful from the comfort standpoint and certainly wouldn't trade it for the saving that I would get on electric bill.

Of course, I realize that many people don't care for that. More power (and smaller bills) to them.

Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#27

Post by TheLoneWolfling »

mrb wrote: post #22
vacri wrote: post #13

Why not use the reptile heater instead of the incandescent globe? Having a light shining right in my face would end the experiment in minutes.

This is a great point! Infrared heat emitters produce less visible light, therefore more heat than a light bulb of comparable wattage.

Umm...

Assuming you are not producing any EM radiation at frequencies that go through the skin of your house (radio, X-ray, visible light through the window, etc), any resistive heater will produce the same amount of heat.

Because guess what happens when EM radiation is adsorbed? It turns into heat. Any EM radiation.

Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#28

Post by mangecoeur »

lutorm wrote: post #17

This is why changing out incandescents for CFL's in a heated house does almost nothing for saving energy... and if the heat comes from electricity, nothing for saving money, either.

Wrong. Does plenty to save energy. Reasons:

- for half the year, you don't heat but you still light, so you automatically gain savings for that whole period. (also if you have air conditioning, in summer you heat the house with lights then have to cool the air again) - Lights are on the ceiling. Hot air rises. Therefore heat coming from lights does almost nothing to improve your thermal comfort. - If you are heating using gas rather than electricity, it is far more efficient to heat air with energy from the gas boiler than from the electric lighting

Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#29

Post by bluthru »

lutorm wrote: post #17

This is why changing out incandescents for CFL's in a heated house does almost nothing for saving energy... and if the heat comes from electricity, nothing for saving money, either.

Of course it does. Heating up a hole in your ceiling does not efficiently warm the occupant. You want to introduce heat low and near occupants.

Also, changing out multiple incandescents means more manufacturing, more truck deliveries to the store, more manufacturing, etc. vs. using a single LED bulb for two decades.

If you live in coal country, then you definitely want to reduce your electrical load and instead rely on a less-bad option of natural gas for warmth.

Re: Micro heaters cut 87% off my electric heat bill

#30

Post by moron4hire »

When I was a kid, we were rather poor. My parents scrounged together to buy a computer for the family, and I started to get interested in programming. But my parents were fearful I'd break their computer (not in a "don't be programmin'" way, but definitely in a "please be careful" way). And then a friend donated a computer to me. And I set it up in my bedroom. And I had my first comfortable winter in that house that year.

Of course, it made summers unbearable. But for the most part, I was used to heat.

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