News

By: Derrill Holly

During winter, for most of us, comfort at home means heat.

Space heaters get seasonal use, but they are responsible for 25,000 residential fires a year, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, which pegs the annual mortality rate at 300 a year. Burn injuries associated with surface contacts with room heaters send about 6,000 people to emergency rooms every year.

Because the devices are designed to give off heat, they should always be set in locations clear of all flammable materials and out of reach of small children, pets or anyone with impaired mobility.

“Space heaters are not the ideal solution for heating homes,” said Brian Sloboda, a senior program manager for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA). “For every unit of electricity that is consumed by these devices, they produce one unit of heat.”

While adding several space heaters to supplement your central heating system is also likely to drive up your energy costs, selective use may help you save some money.

According to analysts at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the key is using space heaters in smaller rooms that are occupied infrequently, in conjunction with lower thermostat settings on your central system.

Lowering thermostat settings from 70 to 65 degrees and using a thermostat-controlled space heater to heat 10% of a home’s conditioned floor space will save a heat pump user an estimated $67 a year. But the EPA cautions that space heaters can actually waste energy, causing increased electric bills, if consumers try to heat too much area with the devices.

There are currently no space heaters among the EPA’s list of ENERGY STAR®-rated products. Agency officials said they have evaluated several models but have no plans to include such products in the labeling program in the near future.

Still, high-end space heaters are heavily marketed during the winter months. An energy-efficiency expert at your local electric co-op can help determine if a space heater is right for your home.

“They may suggest other alternatives, like sealing air leaks, adding insulation or tuning up your heating system so it operates more efficiently,” Sloboda said. “Those are just a few of the options that won’t increase your overall energy use.”

Derrill Holly writes on consumer and cooperative affairs for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association.