electric fireplaces under 300 image
Meagan P
As the cold came so Quickly this year i was forced to put my heaters on early, my house is 100% electric, during the winter months our electric is averaging $500/ month during the cold months. $225/mo during spring and fall when no home heating or cooling is needed and about $300/mo during the summer with Energy star window AC's on. My house is about 30 years old with poor ventilation, crappy doors but Good new widows and roof. The heaters are probably as old as the house too. We rent so any major home improvement is out of the Question, I have been thinking about purchasing a fireplace to help take some of the Burden of the electric bill, but im wondering would it even make a difference? i could use the fireplace to heat about 1/2 of my house (kitchen and living room, hallway and bathroom) and use the baseboard heaters for the rest the house (the 3 bedrooms) so i guess my question(s) would be:
Would a portable Fireplace help or hurt the electric bill?
What kind of Fireplace would be better?
i know electric and Propane would be basically my only options since i don't have natural Gas hookup and no chimney for wood burning.
And we are only 9mo into a 2 year lease breaking the lease would cost us upward of 5k so moving is not an option either (looked into it already)
or is there some kind of other fireplace that would heat my home? i see alot about Gel Fireplaces but cant find much info on them
Answer
Has this house got any insulation in the ceilings at all? Our other home was built in 1974 and was total electric. We never had any heat bills in the years we lived there that were as high as yours seem to be. We had a heat bill of just over $200 one time after 20 days of temperatures that never went above freezing during the day! We had 220 volt baseboard heat too. We used a 23,000 btu kerosene heater on occasion when the power was off, that heated the whole house. We had about 1,500 square feet. Unless there is a basement or crawl space under this house, natural gas or propane aren't an option because you need a furnace with duct work to each room to carry the heated air. There are some natural gas and propane radiant heaters that can be hung on outside walls. You'd have to check the fire code on these. An outside wall location may not heat the space required. the landlord would have to be involved with this because holes are required in the outside wall to run the gas line through. I hesitate too suggest a kerosene heater because they can cause a house fire if not used properly! Ask your landlord about the attic insulation. Is there any at all? How many inches? If insufficient attic insulation, would he have more put in? Make sure you turn the heat down to about 55 degrees in rooms not used during the day. Turn the heat up to 68 degrees when the rooms are occupied. Make sure the baseboard heaters are free of dust so they're more efficient. I would suggest that if you have a friend who's an electrician, that they check this house to see if there's a problem with the electric circuit. The month electric bills sound way to high for these modern times! Also, check to make sure the electric company is charging you the correct kilowatt per hour rate. You should have a different ( lower ) rate for a totally electric home. Hope you find an answer for these high electric bills.
Has this house got any insulation in the ceilings at all? Our other home was built in 1974 and was total electric. We never had any heat bills in the years we lived there that were as high as yours seem to be. We had a heat bill of just over $200 one time after 20 days of temperatures that never went above freezing during the day! We had 220 volt baseboard heat too. We used a 23,000 btu kerosene heater on occasion when the power was off, that heated the whole house. We had about 1,500 square feet. Unless there is a basement or crawl space under this house, natural gas or propane aren't an option because you need a furnace with duct work to each room to carry the heated air. There are some natural gas and propane radiant heaters that can be hung on outside walls. You'd have to check the fire code on these. An outside wall location may not heat the space required. the landlord would have to be involved with this because holes are required in the outside wall to run the gas line through. I hesitate too suggest a kerosene heater because they can cause a house fire if not used properly! Ask your landlord about the attic insulation. Is there any at all? How many inches? If insufficient attic insulation, would he have more put in? Make sure you turn the heat down to about 55 degrees in rooms not used during the day. Turn the heat up to 68 degrees when the rooms are occupied. Make sure the baseboard heaters are free of dust so they're more efficient. I would suggest that if you have a friend who's an electrician, that they check this house to see if there's a problem with the electric circuit. The month electric bills sound way to high for these modern times! Also, check to make sure the electric company is charging you the correct kilowatt per hour rate. You should have a different ( lower ) rate for a totally electric home. Hope you find an answer for these high electric bills.
How much gas should a gas fired hot water heater use?
danrice126
I know that this is dependent on a number of factors. I've never had a gas heater before, so I'm new to this whole system, but I'm wondering if it's possible that I have a leak. My wife and I are living by ourselves in a house with a gas hot water heater. Ordinarily, we use about 15-20 bucks worth of gas, last month our bill shot up to $88, then to $150+ (this was about 143 CFM of gas), just for the gas portion of our bill. We live in the south, where it has been unseasonably cold, but I'm wondering if this is likely or if I should start looking for a gas leak?
Our last bill showed 143 CFM of gas used. We have a hot tub heater (which we don't use) a fireplace (on gas which we don't use), and neither of them has been turned on since our last reading a week ago. In that one week, our hotwater heater (the only thing on gas) has used 21 CFM. Temperature at night has been around 40. It is just my wife and living here.
It is an older unit with a 40 gallon tank a recovery of 33.6 gallons/hour and a 10,000 BTU rating. The ignition area has not recently been cleaned. Does this sound like something that is "normal" usage of gas under these conditions even if we have it set at 140 degrees (I don't know if we do or not, I'm just trying to pick and upper limit). I spoke with someone who lives nearby who heats their house, does laundry and heats water with gas and their whole bill was 1/2 of mine. I understand house sizes differ, drying is extra, but we have neither of those (heat and dry with electric) and we don't shower excessively. Is this obscene raise in gas usage due to us just needing a more efficient water heater? The cold spell? A faulty meter?
Any insight on this would be appreciated. As I said, I'm new to gas, and I want to make sure we're not using a lot of gas for no reason if it can be avoided.
thanks!
Thanks for the tips. I'm not sure if it's really 140. My wife and I moved into the house fairly recently, and we have not adjusted the settings. I just guessed at that as what I thought the typical setting was.
I have also looked at the meter. It is not constantly running, so it's unlikely that it's a leak (and I had the gas company check it to be safe). However, it's gone up about 20 CFM since last week when it was read last, and the meter appears to be accurate to that respect.
I don't know who gave the guy a thumbs down, but that seemed to make some sense (I can't rate as I'm not level 2...whatever that is.)
I timed my usage, then I realized the main issue is that I'm an idiot. I thought my heat was electric...turns out it's gas, thus the cost. Guess I should get the system checked, but I'm sure that's the issue.
Answer
I find it difficult to believe that you usually only use $15 - $20 worth of gas, per month, if you have a gas water heater and use a normal amount of hot water. First thing you need to do, if you do, indeed have it turned up to 140 degrees, is turn it down to around 125 - 130 at the highest. 140 degree water can and will produce 3rd degree burns in a very short time on exposed skin, small children and elderly folks are most suseptible to this. The age of the heater only makes a difference in that the newer models are insulated better than older ones. This can make some difference, but it would be negligible unless the heater were setting in an unheated room that was exposed to the outside temps. The burners in the new models burn about the same as the burner in the older units. Fire burns the same from one decade to the next, and burners haven't changed much. I have an electric water heater and a gas range and furnace, and in the winter months, my gas bill shoots up to over $300 for several months till it starts warming up again. I would think that your increased useage would most likely be attributable to the same thing, the season and the weather conditions.
I find it difficult to believe that you usually only use $15 - $20 worth of gas, per month, if you have a gas water heater and use a normal amount of hot water. First thing you need to do, if you do, indeed have it turned up to 140 degrees, is turn it down to around 125 - 130 at the highest. 140 degree water can and will produce 3rd degree burns in a very short time on exposed skin, small children and elderly folks are most suseptible to this. The age of the heater only makes a difference in that the newer models are insulated better than older ones. This can make some difference, but it would be negligible unless the heater were setting in an unheated room that was exposed to the outside temps. The burners in the new models burn about the same as the burner in the older units. Fire burns the same from one decade to the next, and burners haven't changed much. I have an electric water heater and a gas range and furnace, and in the winter months, my gas bill shoots up to over $300 for several months till it starts warming up again. I would think that your increased useage would most likely be attributable to the same thing, the season and the weather conditions.
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Title Post: Best way to heat my house?
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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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