Use house heating or halogen far-infrared heater for one person?

[Yong Huang]

Let's say I stay upstairs alone in a 2600 sq ft 2-story house. I can turn on the gas heater of the house for upstairs only, set the thermostat to (say) 70 F. Or I can use a personal haolgen far-infrared heater aiming at me a few feet away, set at the lowest level using 350 watts. Which costs less? You would think the latter is cheaper because the heat is localized. But it's continuous as opposed to the house heater coming on and off. And also the house heater uses gas, which costs less than electricity. If I didn't make myself clear, let me know. Thanks.

[Ed Pawlowski]

In my town, that halogen heater would be about 6¢ an hour to operate. At

24 hours a day, or $1.44 a day or $44 a month. You can't heat a house that size for $44 a month.

You still want the house to be about 45 to 50 degrees to prevent freezing so you won't get away free on the gas, but you could save. The down side is, you will freeze your butt when you sit on the toilet in a cold bathroom.

[Josepi]

You will be frozen on one side and baked on the other and be sick a lot, usually pnuemonia.

I lowered my home to 55F when it was vacant and raised it to 72 on weekends for about a year. A 15 year old house it wrecked the floors, door frames and many other items due to drying them out. One door frame twisted so bad it ripped up the vinyl flooring as it moved away from the frame. When I fastened it again it broke the door frame and I had to repair it. The floors began to squeek and snap and pop and they were all screwed down and never did that before.

Turn the genral house down some...say 65F and get some small electrical heaters to warm the areas you sit in. Be careful of those ceramic puck heaters. I have seen them burn out and shoot flames out of them as the element burns out.

Costs all depend on fuels and rates in your area. With other rooms cooler you will always have draughts as the rooms try to equalize.

[Yong Huang]

Thanks, Ed and Josepi. Your messages answered my question. I forgot to mention I'm in south Texas. The coldest here is still above 55 indoors. But it may be a good idea to raise the thermostat a little to better protect the wood structure. The halogen heater heating one side of the body is not a big problem for me. I place it kind of in front of me.

[Caesar Romano]

Sad that our standard of living has fallen so far that middle-class Americans are puzzling over arcane heating options in the scramble to save pennies.

Welcome to the third world.

[ransley]

To know you have to run a comparison of cost bet Btu of Ng and electric, For me electricity is double the cost of Ng, I bet its the same for you so Ng is cheaper unlesss your heating system is very old and out of tune, but even with my 83% boiler I find electricity to expensive.

[Jeff Thies]

The 350 W is going to be far cheaper. But how much will it warm you, and what if you have to move?

Cheaper is often not good.

Jeff

You would think the latter is cheaper because

[Vic Smith]

Arcane is a good word for that. Pretty extreme. OTOH I never liked heating where it's unnecessary. Not even about the money, just don't like it. Something to do with "clean your plate" and "waste not, want not" psychology. My house is half the sq ft and I don't like heating it all, or keeping the temp above 68. But I have a wife to keep peace with. Without her around I'd get me a snowmobile suit and keep the heat just high enough so nothing was damaged and my fingers didn't numb up.

--Vic

[ransley]

Running 350w 24/7 would add about 50$ to my bill, it may cost alot less to use Ng and heat better

[Caesar Romano]

On Fri, 04 Feb 2011 09:54:03 -0600, Vic Smith wrote Re Re: Use house heating or halogen far-infrared heater for one person?:

I pretty much agree with that, particularly the "clean your plate" and "waste not, want not" ethos. That was part of my upbringing, and its a large part of who I am. It really isn't the $$ (particularly at this late stage of my life) but rather it's about implementing a "minimalist" life style because that's what I believe in.

On the other hand, many of those now struggling with cost saving options are only doing it because they are hurting financially. From what I observe, the minimalist ethos was never previously an important part of their philosophy. They were people who formerly lived "large" but now can't do it anymore. (I'm not referring to the OP, but to what I see around me).

[Edward Reid]

Another factor is that with a radiant heater as you describe, the heat is VERY localized, considerably more so than even an electric space heater under a desk. The radiant heat is not transferred to the air and then to you, but directly from the heater to you via the radiation. (Of course it does some heating of the air too, but the radiant part is direct.)

The way to answer the question, though, is to check the BTU rating of the gas heater. Then time how long the gas heater runs to keep the house and a comfortable temperature, and how long it runs at a lower setting. Then time how long the radiant heater runs to keep you warm when the house is cooler. (A Kill-a-Watt meter can help you.) That will give you the raw data to make the calculation.

If you consistently remember to turn off the radiant heater when you move away from it, then naturally it costs less. You have to judge what your patterns would be, since people differ on this.

Edward

[Vic Smith]

Yeah, I got that. Wouldn't be as much adjustment if they were used to living "small." Might not even be necessary. But people are very adaptable. In re to your "third world" comment, adaptability is a good thing when welfare beckons the formerly flush.

--Vic

[Caesar Romano]

On Fri, 04 Feb 2011 12:24:17 -0600, Vic Smith wrote Re Re: Use house heating or halogen far-infrared heater for one person?:

Very true ideed.

[Yong Huang]

I like a minimalist life style. It not only saves money, but is good to your mental health as well. I believe, everything being equal, a person demanding less lives a longer life.

The reason I asked the question in this thread is because I was wondering if using the house heater would save me more (looks like not). I work from home a few days a week. Kids and wife are all gone during the day. So I want to heat my own body only. But as others remind me, I won't let the house stay too cold causing damage to the floor, etc.