eheat, room heater

[Cooler]

I bought one of these electric room heaters.  

https://www.eheat.com/

The plan was to lower the thermostat in the house and use the eheater to warm the bedroom only.  

My winter oil bill is about $500.00 per month.  

I lowered my heat to 65 degrees and ran the eheater from 6 pm. to 6 am.  According to the an online calculator the 425 watt heater at the current cost of my electricity ($0.06373/kWh) would cost 32½¢ per day ($9.75/month).

According to the EPA, for each degree I lower the thermostat I save 1% in fuel.  So lowering it by 5 degrees saves me 5% of $500.00, or $25.00.

So I save a whopping $15.00 per month with this setup.  

On the plus side it was simplicity to setup.  It came with a drilling template and only required that I drill two holes.  The whole thing took 10 minutes.  And it looks slick. 

It has no  fan, so no quick response...just convection.  But also perfectly silent (good).  And safe--you can't knock it over.  So there is probably some good spots for one.  I would have liked to put it in my bathroom, but code requires 3 feet from any water source and that was not possible.   

It seems cool, but hardly worth it.  

I will use it all month and see if the EPA estimate is about right.  

[fredhargis]

While I am extremely jealous of that electric rate (ours is about 11¢/kwh), I'm sure glad I'm not paying that oil bill....ouch!

[Cooler]

While I am extremely jealous of that electric rate (ours is about 11¢/kwh), I'm sure glad I'm not paying that oil bill....ouch!

That was the published yearly average.  It varies from month to month.

In May it was $0.09098/kWh  and in December it was $0.04585/kWh

(That was the max/min for the last 12 months, and a pretty big spread if you ask me.)  But the average was posted at $0.06373/kWh for the last 12 months.

[Phil Thien]

That puppy is going to soak up all the heat like a sponge soaks up water.

[daddo]

It'll be 11 months or so before you break even (Cost of heater). Next year, you'll start getting that 15 a month- But by then, oil prices will have risen as well as electrical, so you may not recover at all.
Aren't I a cheery fellow?

Is the insulation and windows in the house up to date for your area? Leaky windows and doors will cost more to put up with.

[CLETUS]

My winter oil bill is about $500.00 per month.  

I lowered my heat to 65 degrees 

My fuel oil bill has only averaged about $300 per month this winter.

Weekdays
5am thermostat goes up to 68.
8am thermostat goes down to 63.
4pm thermostat goes up to 68.
11pm thermostat goes down to 63.

Weekends
8am 68
11pm 63

[TDKPE]

According to the an online calculator the 425 watt heater at the current cost of my electricity ($0.06373/kWh) would cost 32½¢ per day ($9.75/month).

Does that include delivery, taxes, and so on?  I pay a shade over $0.10/kWh, which is the marginal rate in the second tier, and includes everything but the fixed portion, which I pay even if I throw the main breaker and use nothing for the billing period, and of course the first tier usage.

[Cooler]

Does that include delivery, taxes, and so on?  I pay a shade over $0.10/kWh, which is the marginal rate in the second tier, and includes everything but the fixed portion, which I pay even if I throw the main breaker and use nothing for the billing period, and of course the first tier usage.

Here is the Central Hudson price information from the electric company.  It appears you are right.  They don't show those other costs.  

https://www.cenhud.com/rates/supplypricehistory

[jteneyck]

Here is the Central Hudson price information from the electric company.  It appears you are right.  They don't show those other costs.  

https://www.cenhud.com/rates/supplypricehistory

Forget the cost of electricity.  You need to address why you are using $500 worth of oil in the winter months.  Unless you live in a huge old house that's just ridiculous.  And if you do you your efforts to save would be better focused on addressing insulation and infiltration.  

John

[TDKPE]

Here is the Central Hudson price information from the electric company.  It appears you are right.  They don't show those other costs.  

https://www.cenhud.com/rates/supplypricehistory

You have to check your bill for that.  There should be line items for energy (per kWh), possibly in two or more tiers, and delivery, also per kWh, and also possibly in tiers.  Use the highest tier for the marginal cost, as you'll be adding that heater to your usage, though you may possibly also be subtracting some electric usage by not running the oil-fired heat as much. 

So I guess it's possible that the electric usage will remain the same or even go down a little (can't even fathom a guess without monitoring both), while oil consumption will be reduced.