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I'm trying to save energy. I have weatherized the windows and my one bedroom apartment has gas Fasco baseboard heaters, one 6ft and one is 4ft. I purchased a small electric "fireplace" for $70. It has a 650w option and a 1300 w option. Would I be saving money by not using the apartment heaters and just using my heater? Thanks!
Answer
What you need to evaluate is energy available from the two sources, and the efficiency rating of the appliance.
I don't know the efficiency of a gas baseboard, never seen one, unless you are talking about hot water filled fed by a gas boiler. I tried to search for it to determine efficiency rating and failed. Combustion appliances have ratings of 65% to 95%. I used 80% as the average for comparison given below.
Electric resistive heat sources are all rated at 98% efficiency, exchanging one resistive heat source for another will have no cost saving, Watts are watts, a watt = 3.4 btu's. A lower setting would save money, but just by giving you less heat.
Resistive Electric heat generally cost about 3 times the cost per btu than natural gas, so to break even you would have to heat only 1/3 of the space, without any of the heat leaking from that space and heating adjacent areas. So you may need to heat less than 1/4 of the space to break even.
Here is a spreadsheet I used from The Department of Energy that shows average US energy costs and efficiencies of different types and resultant net cost per btu. To modify it for your specific fuel costs you may need to save it then reopen it.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eia.gov%2Fneic%2Fexperts%2Fheatcalc.xls&ei=ypeMUOPiBea8igKY5ICICQ&usg=AFQjCNEI3O4-27x7XDhiFFJKOpjvhEZHsA&cad=rja
What you need to evaluate is energy available from the two sources, and the efficiency rating of the appliance.
I don't know the efficiency of a gas baseboard, never seen one, unless you are talking about hot water filled fed by a gas boiler. I tried to search for it to determine efficiency rating and failed. Combustion appliances have ratings of 65% to 95%. I used 80% as the average for comparison given below.
Electric resistive heat sources are all rated at 98% efficiency, exchanging one resistive heat source for another will have no cost saving, Watts are watts, a watt = 3.4 btu's. A lower setting would save money, but just by giving you less heat.
Resistive Electric heat generally cost about 3 times the cost per btu than natural gas, so to break even you would have to heat only 1/3 of the space, without any of the heat leaking from that space and heating adjacent areas. So you may need to heat less than 1/4 of the space to break even.
Here is a spreadsheet I used from The Department of Energy that shows average US energy costs and efficiencies of different types and resultant net cost per btu. To modify it for your specific fuel costs you may need to save it then reopen it.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eia.gov%2Fneic%2Fexperts%2Fheatcalc.xls&ei=ypeMUOPiBea8igKY5ICICQ&usg=AFQjCNEI3O4-27x7XDhiFFJKOpjvhEZHsA&cad=rja
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Title Post: Space heater vs. apartment heater?
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Rating: 100% based on 99998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
Author: Unknown
Thank FOr Coming TO My Blog
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