Space heaters are a common sight in many homes during the frosty fall and winter months. While they are a sure way to keep warm, using a space heater incorrectly can be costly to your electric bill and dangerous for you and your family. Here are some quick tips to help you stay warm and safe in the upcoming months.
In comparison to whole home heating systems, space heaters are simply not as efficient. Whole home heating systems are able to distribute heat evenly throughout a house – space heaters are designed to heat certain spots. If you were to shut off your whole home heating system and use only space heaters, your home would not be nearly as warm and quite a bit of electricity would still be used. However, this spot-heating ability of space heaters can be a supplement to your home heating system to help you save money:instead of spending money to blast the heat in your whole house to make one area warmer, you can more efficiently heat this one spot with a space heater.
Space heaters carry an increased burn and fire risk, so using these appliances safely is key. All objects, pets, and people should be kept at least 3 feet away from the heater. The burn and fire hazards from space heaters are very real, so safety should not be overlooked when using these heaters.
