About The Home
Energy Saver
The Home Energy Saver is designed
to help consumers identify the best ways to save energy in their homes, and find the resources to make the savings happen.
The Home Energy Saver was the first Internet-based tool for calculating energy use in residential buildings. The project has
been sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as part of the national ENERGY STAR Program for improving energy efficiency
in homes, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Department of Housing and Urban Development's PATH program,
the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program,
and Touchstone Electric Cooperatives.
About 1,000,000 people visit the HES site each year.
Should I use portable room heaters to lower my energy bills?
With rising energy prices, it's tempting to think about using portable room heaters. It's also
worth considering a programmable thermostat, if you don't already have one. If your central heat is electric, you'll
almost certainly save money by using portable electric heaters. In fact, part of the savings come because valuable heat isn't
being lost in the ducts before it reaches your living area.
If your central heat is gas, you might be able to save money by using portable electric heaters,
but it's not something to take for granted.
Your local energy prices and desired comfort level will determine the answer. Also, a typical central
furnace will provide about 20-times as much heat as a portable, depending on its efficiency. Keep in mind that even if the
hourly cost of using portable electric heaters is lower than for your furnace, you will be dramatically increasing your home's
overall power demand, which contributes to regional power shortages that ultimately can trigger blackouts and price increases.
We've put together the following
chart to help you find out how much your heating bill could be reduced by using portable electric heaters.
To use the chart, follow this four-step process:
- Find your gas price on the left hand vertical scale and read over to the right
until you hit the scale marked "Your Heating Bill." This is the hourly cost of running a 100kBtu/hour central furnace.
- Next, find your electricity price on the horizontal scale and read
upwards until you hit the yellow line corresponding to how many portable heaters you would like have on at one time (one to
five).
- Next read from this point over to the "Your Heating
Bill" scale to find the hourly cost of running a typical 1000 Watt portable electric heater.
Compare the two hourly operating
costs to see which is lower.
