central heat vs. portable heater?

Question

Here is the question. During the winter my electric bill jumps from 150 to 400 dollars. My electric central heater is very old, made in like the 1970's and my thermostat doesn't even come close to working correctly. If I could get new ones I would, but I rent so I can't change them. Because it is so hard to keep the heat at a constant temp and the high cost of heating, I was thinking of getting like two portable heaters. One for the living room and one for the bedroom. Would that use less electricity than the old half broke central heat?

Thanks sasha but I don't have fans in the house, but portable fans might work right?

well the landlords covered two of the vents with tile and one with carpet so the bathroom has no heat and my son's bedroom has no heat. I was thinking of cuting them so heat went through cause the tile and carpet get really hot. Do you think that would help?

Oh and as for the outlets, that is a good question because my roof has holes and water bleeds through the walls and an entire wall in my bedroom the outlets went out because of the water, I don't think I should use portable heaters then, but I'm afraid to use central heat because of the heat on the covered vents. The floor and tile get really really hot. The landlords have known about this for over a year. We are just trying to get through it till Febuary when we can move, but I have a young child and I don't want him to be cold this winter.

Answer 1

Yes, the portable circulation fans will help if you don't have ceiling fans.

The portable space heaters would probably use the same or slightly less electricity than the main air handler electric heat. If you decide to go that route, make sure you do your research and get a good UL rated heater, even one with the tip-over protection. These portable space heaters are often what cause fires in winter if the drapes touch the coils for example. Make sure you follow the manufacturers recommendations for clearances around the units.

I've used a portable heater for supplemental heat before but I could never get it adjusted right to give me a good constant temperature. You would probably have to find an expensive one with a remote thermostat to make it maintain comfortable temps.

So what's my recommendation? If it were me I would talk to the landlord and try to get him to do something about the broken down unit or just live with it. It may be as simple as a bad thermostat and cost like 50 bucks to replace it. I don't think the portable heaters are worth the safety risk and you still won't have real comfortable even temps. What do I do in my cold room in my house? I bought a 500 Watt halogen lamp that I turn on when its cold. I get the light and heat radiating from the lamp and it does as good a job as anything while I am in the room.

Answer 2

You can try leaving the furnace fan on continous; this tends to keep the house at a more even temperature.

The thermostats tend to loose their accuracy over time due to dust, fatigue on bi-metal thermostats. This causes them to have large temperature swings whichmake the house uncomfortable - hot, cold, hot, cold, etc

Have the landlord replace the thermost with a new electronic one. They are relatively cheap now and it will give a more even heat.

Is the thermostat located near any heat source (lamp, refrigerator, freezer, range, heating vent, affected by direct sunlight?

These can attribute to inaccurate temperature control.

Refrigerator and/or freezer - relocate if possible.

Lamp - relocate at least 3 feet from thermostat.

Heating vent - put a deflector over it to deflect the heat flow across the flor away from the thermostat.

Range - not too much you can do about this (maybe put a non-combustable portable partician between the range and the thermostat).

Direct sunlight - close curtains

Remember - anything permantly attached to the building can be claimed by the owner if you rent.

Permanently attached includes nails, glue, screws and bolts (even though they can be removed).

Problem with portable heater
They can be fire hazards.
Do you have outlets that can handle the load?

Good Luck

Answer 3

Well central electric (non heat pump) units are very costly to operate. Very inefficient, even the new ones. Have you talked to the landlord about this??? Anyways, a good portable electric heater is an oil-filled radiator. I have a Delonghi brand I bought at Home Depot for..$60 probably. They have a thermostat on them so they will cycle on and off. They are slow to heat up, but they are pretty efficient really. Now this won't heat a real large space, but one will easily heat a 15X15 bedroom

Answer 4

With electric heat you get a specific amount of heat per amount of electricity used. So one is not usually any more efficient than the other. But if you only heat say one or two rooms with space heaters then you can realize a real savings by doing this. Also to replace the thermostat is relatively inexpensive and you may be able to do it yourself.

Answer 5

Those things pull massive amperage. Your electric bill will skyrocket.

I've heard the electric oil heaters are very efficient.

From some of your other comments, I think you need to report your landlord to the folks in charge of building safety. You have a fire hazard from water getting into the wiring, and you have a mold hazard from water in the walls.

You need to get out of there.

Answer 6

Another answer would be ceiling fans. I use mine all year.
They are reversible and when you switch the blade movement it forces the warm air, near the ceiling, to the living area.