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If you think you can heat your house with space heaters..

Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 9:37 pm
by StillKavey
You CANT! Period! Just thought I should share my experience.
As seen in my post here http://mobilehomerepair.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1380
I was having heating issues (terrible heat)
I finally gave up on space heaters.. last year I had several of them running 24 hours a day and I racked up probably close to 2500 in electric bills. This year I went and bought some new nicer ones and was running them constantly again trying to keep the house warm and it still wasnt doing it. So I broke down and got a furnace with central air and WOW.. I run it about 5 minutes and the whole house is toasty.. can turn it off for about the next hour and it is still decent.. Think I need a digital thermostat then Ill be set.. cant seem to get it just right with the manual one. But either way Im looking forward to seeing my next electric bill. Bet its cut in half if not more. One winter will pay for a furnace.. dont try the space heaters.

Just my opinion.. would love to hear others opinions who have tried this or are currently doing it.

RE: If you think you can heat your house with space heaters.

Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:47 pm
by jubangy

I can just about guarantee if you were racking up $2500 in electric, now your electric bill will be closer to $100-$175 or so. Only thing that will go up is your gas if the furnace if it is gas, but you can bet that you will still be under the $1k mark with both.

I have a neighbor right now that has had his electric shut off due to him not being able to pay. He has never had gas as the previous owners converted it over to propane and this guy can't afford the upfront payment needed to get new tanks.
Anyways, the first year he was there he went door to door trying to borrow electric heaters. Up until the electric got shut off that is what he used to heat his place. Now he has a orange extension cord running to his neighbors shed, and from you can see form the street he has 1 lamp on, the TV, and his computer with roadrunner...the irony I tell you can't afford to have electric or gas but can afford the cable bill.
My wife was saying how she felt bad for them and wanted to get their electric turned back on as we know how it it to not be able to pay the bills. But like I told her if you can afford the cable you can afford to work out a payment plan with the utility company, especially our electric company they are pretty decent. And if this yuts couldn't get any hep from liheap I am guessing he already blew the help that was available.

Anyway, me and my neighbor have sent messages to the electric company complaining but they have done nothing. It wouldn't bother me but if what I seen him carting in his house the other day is a sign this guy is about to become a real big fire risk as he just brought home 4 brand new electric space heaters from wally-hood. That and the kerosene he got caught stealing form my neighbor, I got my rump in gear and went and bought some new smoke detectors, the kind that are interconnected so if one goes off they all do and they have battery backup so hopefully nothing will happen but if it does I want enough warning to get my wife, and my aminals the hell out of dodge.

But anyways you are right, electric space heaters are not meant for heating a home they are meant for small camping trailers and personal heating like to keep on your desk at work or something.

Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:41 am
by StillKavey
2500 was for the whole winter.. not per month. But yeah.. im guessing it will be going down quite a bit.. I was ranging from 300 to 400 a month usually. Im betting I will be under 200 now. Will also save in the summer with the central AC.

On the space heaters.. I know they werent DESIGNED to heat a whole house. But I didnt have the cash last year to buy a furnace.. I had already put a ton in the house after I bought it to get it decent and ran out before I got to the furnace. They served their purpose but it sure wasnt easy to sleep knowing I had all those space heaters strung out through the house.

Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:56 pm
by hiskid1973
I heated the last month here in Pa with two space heaters one at each end of the mh..I wanted to pull the blower off and vacuum off the top of the heat exchanger and clean the ducts out but I was not doing well health wise to accomplish it..The two radiater mica style heaters were costing me $3.41/ day.. I would have probably got close to that with fuel oil/hotshot at 2.50/gal but it does heat more evenly with the furnace..Would love to go heat pump with propane back up and ac in an outdoor unit but$$$$..Will likely have a woodstove in beofre the warm weather returns..God Bless..Kim

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:01 am
by StillKavey
Well.. got my first bill with the new furnace... $164.12!
Cant beat it :)

RE: If you think you can heat your house with space heaters.

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:55 am
by Yanita
Hi,

Got you beat, my electric was 58.16. We had installed a Goodman self contained AC/gas heat unit. Last year at this time with our original 35 year old furnace our electric bill was 219.07! New windows/doors and heating unit will pay off over the next several years.

Now I am not a tech, but after much research and conversations with Robert and other local techs please do your homework on heat pumps. Not saying they are not good units, but my understanding are they really only efficient if your winter temps do not get below 30 degrees.

Happy Holidays,

Yanita

RE: If you think you can heat your house with space heaters.

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 12:42 pm
by Manitoba Bill
Yanita; Does that include all heating costs? Or did you not include gas bill. My latest Hydro bill was $171 for 2,650 KWH. All electric but I am running a floor humidifier this season.

RE: If you think you can heat your house with space heaters.

Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 1:03 pm
by Yanita
Hi Bill,

Sorry that was just the electric. Hmmm, have not done the math yet but our tank was full (propane) they only fill to 80%, right now it reads a width of the needle above 75%. This gas pack does not have a standing poi let going all the time, I truly believe that is making a huge difference in the gas bill as well. We are in a payment plan with our gas company, locked in price regardless of how high the prices go. We did this when we first got the home. I locked in at 1.79 a gallon, currently it is over 2.00 a gallon. My monthly payment plan bill is 49.00 a month, last year it was 138.00 monthly. They had to reduce the payment as I was accruing to much credit.

About the only thing electric that is shut down right now is the pool pump. Everything else is still running full tilt. Unfortunately Hubby loves to be in his shop with all those power tools. Something is always running out there.

Now for folks that read this post please note that we had installed all new doors and windows, have added lots of insulation in the attic space and the belly area, oh yeah several exterior walls as well. Since buying this home I can not count the number of tubes of caulking we have bought. We spent the entire summer winterizing this home. Even doing the little things like adding outlet and switch insulators to all of those on exterior walls. At times it seems like this home might be to air tight...

Yanita

RE: If you think you can heat your house with space heaters.

Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 5:25 pm
by SpongeBob
Greetings Folks,
Today I was in a neighbors home asking about their new Toyo direct vent stove (model L-56 K1). Approved for use in MH's. It is a space heater with a huge punch of warmth. Today it is 4* here in new hampshire and I was quite impressed with their new heater. I should also tell everyone that all their pipes are on the inside of the home passing thru a slotted chase that looks very much like a conventional baseboard heater.
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Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 6:01 pm
by Greg
Bob, That is not really considered a "space heater" They are a mini furnace at a full size furnace price.
I have the Monitor, same thing different brand that we have used for 15 years. they run on about a gallon a day and do a great job. Greg