Infrared Heaters

[lawdog]

This is interesting info. My wife wants one of these as we can't seem to get our basement living room warm no matter how high we turn the heat up. We'd cook upstairs before that basement is cozy for her. These might work as a spot heater for down there though the way it sounds. They just won't save us any overall heat costs right?

[CJH]

Fine for zone heating, otherwise not worth it. Use one if you have a cold room when you are in it.

[jltimm]

Buy a $50-60 tower heater and save yourself the $$. I purchased one and it works as good as the expensive infra red one, just a WHOLE lot cheaper. My wife would carry the tower heater around room to room with her if I let her!

[BobT]

Better yet, buy a $10.00 space heater. The operating cost is the same and you get the same heat output. The only reason to spend any more than the minimum is if you are concerned about how it looks.

One thing to consider if you have a room that you just want to make a little more comfortable. Check with your power company to see if they have a dual-fuel electric heating program. In my case, I installed electric baseboard heat throughout my home. We have a forced air oil furnace and a plenum heater would have been nicer but my low ceiling didn't provide adequate space so I went with baseboard.

Anyway, by enrolling in our power company's dual-fuel program I qualified for rebates against the cost of installation and I get the electricity for the heating system at half price. This makes the electric heat very competitive. In fact, the break-even point for me between the oil and electricity is approximately $2.30 per gallon. Just food for thought.

Bob