· By Diego Gómez
Space heater or furnace: which is cheaper for heating one room?
When a space heater saves money in a Canadian home and when it costs more, depending on whether your furnace runs on gas or electricity.
The honest answer: it depends on what heats your home and how many rooms you use.
If your home has electric baseboards
A space heater and a baseboard heater both turn electricity into heat at close to 100%. A space heater doesn't heat more cheaply, but it lets you heat just the room you're in and keep the rest cooler, which is where the saving comes from.
If you have a natural gas furnace
In many provinces, heat from natural gas costs less per unit than heat from electricity. Running a 1500 W heater for hours to avoid using the furnace may not save anything. Where it can help: turning the main thermostat down a couple of degrees and using a space heater only in the room where you spend the evening.
The cheapest heat of all
Heating the person instead of the air: a heated blanket uses about 100 W, around 1.5¢ an hour at 15¢/kWh.
Put in your own electricity price in the calculator to see what a heater costs you.
Recommended
DREO 1500W ceramic space heater
- 1500 W (PTC ceramic)
- digital
- tip-over and overheat protection, child lock
The best-selling space heater on Amazon.ca right now, with more than 20,000 reviews: a quiet 1500 W ceramic heater with a real thermostat and tip-over protection.
PELONIS oil-filled radiator
- 600/900/1500 W
- wheels, mechanical thermostat
- tip-over and overheat protection
Basic oil-filled radiator with three power levels and 8,000 reviews.
Sealy heated blanket (full, 80×84 in)
- 80 × 84 in
- 10 heat levels
- ETL certified, auto shut-off
Full-size flannel-to-sherpa heated blanket from Sealy.
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