[Stephanie76]

Thoughts on these? I am looking for a way to heat my whole hedgie room (8' X 6' dimension) without having to see a $120 increase on my electrical bill. :roll:

Anyone use these? I know they are pricey, but it just seems to make more sense in investing in one of these puppies if they work well in heating a room then running 2 space heaters in my Colorado home to keep it at a constant 77 Degrees. (brrrrr!)

 

[shetland]

I saw them on TV but i don't know anyone who has one.

 

[LarryT]

I have heard that they are not worth the money and that they aren't nearly as energy efficent as advertised.

 

[Stephanie76]

Hrm, I am seeing that as I read more and more about these. :|
I am okay with paying a higher electric bill and I guess I just have to remember that it has also been an extremely cold winter.. (looks like for a lot of states).

 

[LarryT]

My bill went from $82 for november to $166 in december and as cold as Janurary has been I hate to see that bill :x
My hedgies room and puppy building are both heated using electric firplaces, they claim to only take 7 cents a hour to run it :lol: what a joke that is :roll:

 

[Nancy]

I use an oil filled heater and have for the past 5 or 6 years. It doesn't make a noticeable difference on our electric bill.

Winter makes for higher electric bills anyway as the furnace is running, we tend to cook more since we are inside, watch more TV, lights are on much earlier and in the morning as well etc. So, there is a lot more to higher electric bills in the winter than just using a space heater.

 

[Kalandra]

If you really want to see what you are spending on supplemental heat, whether it is a CHE or a space heater, get yourself a Kill-a-Watt. Kill-a-watts record how much power is used, and over how long. Then you just need to know the price you are paying for electricity to figure out the cost for keeping the quilled ones warm.

 

[Stephanie76]

Great advice. I just might grab on of those Kalandra! Cute name branding for them too! :lol:

Nanc- I agree... I do come home and heat the house up first thing because it has been soooo cold outside lately.. (Hedgie room is always warm though). Unfortunately, Colorado tends to see snow and cold weather all the way through April ... So I am just lucky

I wonder if it would be better to keep the house at 70-ish instead of 60-ish and that might help with the usage the space heater puts out by not having to run almost constantly throughout the day. Hrm...

I do need a Kill-A-Watt apparently. ha!

*edit for formatting purposes

 

[Kalandra]

They are fun to play with. It can be interesting to try various electronics with them to see which ones are using phantom power.

I used it last year to monitor costs to determine if keeping the rest of the house cooler was cheaper or not... it was. The little devices plug into the wall and then you plug the heater into it.... and some Kill-a-Watts even have a feature where you can enter the cost for electricity and it will tell you how much you the $$ amount spent.

 

[nikki]

I use an oil-filled radiator style heater like Nancy and our power consuption is no more than it was before we had hedgies, and we run the heater year round. It actually uses less power than a block heater in a vehicle.

 

[krbshappy71]

Great advice. I just might grab on of those Kalandra! Cute name branding for them too! :lol:

Nanc- I agree... I do come home and heat the house up first thing because it has been soooo cold outside lately.. (Hedgie room is always warm though). Unfortunately, Colorado tends to see snow and cold weather all the way through April ... So I am just lucky

I wonder if it would be better to keep the house at 70-ish instead of 60-ish and that might help with the usage the space heater puts out by not having to run almost constantly throughout the day. Hrm...

Fellow Coloradoan, here, I am keeping the house at 73 steady and have not been killed by either electric or natural gas bills. I have other pets that need it very warm as well so its worth it to me to just keep the whole house warmer. (small house, though)

Just a tip, don't know if this is available in your area, but we have Budget plan for Xcel and the city electric company. That way I always know what my bill will be, I make the same payment each month and once a year I do a "settle up" payment. (this year Xcel had to credit me money because we used so little)

 

[Stephanie76]

krbs~ Not sure if I have that in my area, but it would be worth looking into.

So Nanc and nikki, with these oil-filled heaters, there is no worry of a fire?? I am very behind the times with possible new heaters and I might just be thinking of the old oil-filled heaters.. Are they safe? Is there a smell or harmful odors to worry about with them??

 

[Nancy]

The oil filled heaters are safe and there are no moving parts. They provide a nice even heat and unlike fan forced heaters, there are no cold spots in the room as they radiate the heat. The heater is very stable and does not get hot enough to burn.

There are two types, digital and rotary dial. The digital is more accurate in keeping the temperature at the set temperature but if the power goes off for even a few seconds, the heater will shut off and not come back on until you turn it back on. If this happens 5 minutes after you leave for work, the heater stays off.

The rotary dial are more difficult to get set at a proper temperature but if the power goes off, the heater will come back on as soon as the power does. The rotary dial also has a wattage selector that gives you the option of 600, 900 or 1500W. 600 is the most economical but if it is extra cold or windy, sometimes it needs to be upped to 900 or 1500. The digital heater does this automatically.

I've used both and currently use a digital one but it's rare that there is nobody home for more than a couple of hours.

As with any new heating device, there is a smell when you first start it but it goes away after an hour or so.

 

[spritecann]

im currently on break & back home from college, i keep my hedgie in the spare room and i wheeled in an Amish heater that my parents had, it works GREAT !! heats the whole room without the energy bill going sky high i keep it on low and it gets pretty toasty n the room plus its not just a space heater but a piece of furniture that looks like a little fire is brewing on the inside(just the moving image it displays) =] i like it, hope this helps u