Ugh. electric bill. LED flashlight that'll light a room?

[JohnB]

We have an 1200 sq feet and our electric bill runs from 400-600.
We top out around 600.00-650.00 during JAN-FEB

Everything in our house is electric. I looked at running gas lines in and converting the house but they are telling me about 10,000.

A few years ago it would have been worth it but now gas is pretty expensive as well. Now we are looking at pellet stoves to supplement.

I put in new windows and added insulation during the summer so I have m fingers crossed.

 

[WadeF]

If you want to get an electric space heater I can recommend the Vornado Vortex heater:

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=10607485

They aren't cheap ($80 for the cheapest model), but they put out a deceptive amount of heat. Mine feels more like a fan as it blows a lot of air. I'll have the thing on and not feel like it is doing anything and soon start to realize that the room is too warm.

I use one of those in my bathroom. They are great. They also have a built in thermostat so you could run a couple around your place and set them for like 60F or whatever, or turn them up if you're in the same room to make it more comofortable, and then them them back when you're away. If you get your place well insulated they could probably keep your place comfortable. While probably not the most efficient option, it's gotta beat those cieling heaters, and would be a low up front cost purchase until you come up with something better.

 

[Germ]

Thanks WadeF, I should have mentioned the thermostat on the Vornado. As a safety feature they will turn off if they get knocked over. While they move a good amount of air, they are very quiet. Bed, Bath, and Beyond lists a $99 version too. My $79 version has a simple thermostat where by trial and error you figure out what heat setting is best. I think the $99 version will let you set a temperature.

I had one where I left it on full high for a while (probably went off to work) and the thing just stopped working. I thought I did the same thing to my new one, but it is still working. I normally only use the heater on the low heat setting with the thermostat set. When you first start it there is a tendency to want to crank the thing up as it doesn't feel like it is putting out much heat. I don't recommend that, especially if you stand a chance of forgetting the Vornado and leaving it on. If you leave the heater on high it may stop working like mine did. Also, if you leave it on high you are liable to come back with the room at 90 degrees :sweat:What the heater does is force a large volume of air past the heater coils, so the air coming out isn't very warm, but by recirculating the air it warms a room pretty quickly.

Here is a Vornado link:

http://www.vornado.com/heaters.htm

 

[Pierat]

The roll around radiator looking electric heaters come filled with oil which heats up..... it provides radiant heat.... These things cost under 70 bucks at home depot, come with a remote and a built in digital thermostat.... Its well worth its cost for one, if not two of those in different rooms. As for the lighting there are also LED lightbulbs which are more expencive than the CFLS, but last even longer and put out a nicer light. You can find them on thinkgeek.com but you will probably find them cheaper elsewhere!

 

[KDOG3]

That Vornado is neat! I'll definetly look into ont of those things. Last time I was in Walmart, they had a tremendous amount of space heaters for sale. I'll have to go back and look at what they got....

 

[Germ]

I did a little research on the net and ceiling radiant heat doesn't sound so bad. Like SEMIJim said, it is meant to heat things in an area and not the air itself. It actually looks like it can be more efficient than forced air heating.

KDOG3, would you say your ceiling heat looks like this?:

http://www.eweb.org/home/energy/heatsheets/ceiling.htm

When was the house built? What temperature do you keep the thermostat at? Is your ceiling radiant heat something you can control from room to room?

 

[KDOG3]

Germ thanks for the info! The house was built in the '70s and is block construction. The thermostats look pretty old. There are separate controls in each room. The thermostats are pretty low as well about 4.5 ft from floor. I just read somewhere that the plug-in rollaround radiator heaters are pretty decent as well. I have one and just picked up another (Walmart gift card - so it didn't cost me anything!) Just gotta watch what settings I leave it on. I saw a newer style kerosene heater with all the safety features like tip over control and what not, but at 110 bucks, I had to pass. Thanks for the tips guys.

 

[SEMIJim]

Germ thanks for the info! The house was built in the '70s and is block construction. The thermostats look pretty old. There are separate controls in each room. The thermostats are pretty low as well about 4.5 ft from floor.

That's because, as I noted earlier: They're radiant heating systems, not heated air systems. That means they're designed to warm the room's occupants, not the room. Btw: The "warm head" issue you noticed is apparently a common complaint with such systems. Anyway, the way they're supposed to be used is you turn them on or up only in occupied rooms, down or off in unoccupied rooms. Used that way: They're supposed to be cost- and energy-efficient. Used like an air-warming system (forced-air, steam, baseboard electric), they're alleged to be hideously expensive to operate.

I just read somewhere that the plug-in rollaround radiator heaters are pretty decent as well. I have one and just picked up another (Walmart gift card - so it didn't cost me anything!)

I've never been all that impressed with them. I have one. Haven't needed to use it in years, tho.

Just gotta watch what settings I leave it on.

Indeed. At 1500W, those'll rack up some KWH pretty fast, themselves.

Btw: One-or-another model of those oil-filled radiator type heaters had a recall on their switches (fire hazard?) a while ago. Best check on any you've had in the house or whatever.

Jim

 

[Handlobraesing]

I live by myself, I don't own any TVs, computers (I'm on my parents PC). I don't even have telephone service. I'm not kidding. My bill this month was $343. I have a cell phone as my primary phone which I charge in my vehicle or at work. As far as "stealing my employers electricity" its' not stealing (at least in this case) since they know about it. Its huge factory and everyone and their brother is charging their phone, mp3 player etc... The bosses know and don't care.

I realize its sounds silly, but its winter and I need heat more than light wouldn't you agree? Don't want pipes to freeze... I do believe its the electric heat that is eating electricity. Its in the ceiling - I guess heat coils. I've turned that off. Gonna look for other options. Like I said, I have CFLs in every socket in the house, 13W'ers. But if I can save that power it will still help. Keep in mind, I'm just exploring options right now

Nuthin you can do about it man, but what you're doing is like trying to save gas money from removing change from the ashtray in your V8 SUV to reduce weight. As long as you have an electric water heater and a furnace, there's absolutely nothing that will reduce power bill.

Go ahead and use a 150W incandescent or 100W incandescent lamp in a lamp. 150W in = 150W out in heat and since your furnace is also electric, the light bulb contributes to 150W of heat in your house at the same cost as furnace.

Get something like the 15,000 BTU indoor catalyst propane heater if you're renting the home. Landlords are the biggest user of electric furnace since they're the cheapest of all, reliable and they don't pay the energy bill, the tenants do.
http://propaneheater.blogspot.com/

An added benefit of vent-free indoor heater is that they don't lower the humidity as much, since the combustion releases water vapor into room as it burns.

Get a gym membership and shower exclusively in the locker room and don't shower at home. It's ridiculous idea, but it will be more effective and will show up on your power bill unlike your flashlight trickery

 

[Illum]

if it hasn't been posted yet...I suppose you could ask Gizmo's advice on that matter
see: http://www.dmcleish.com/MauiHome/

 

[Tubor]

Wow that's spiffy! Especially like the coloured fountain. Some more diffusing of the light might be more practical. Wouldn't look as "cool" though.

 

[Nubo]

With that setup would a reversible ceiling fan save more energy than it uses? Just don't let a dyslexic architect install the fan on the floor.

Definitely. The heater would work less hard to keep the livable space comfortable, vs. keeping the bulk of the heat near the ceiling where it just leaks out into space without warming occupants. Power consumption of a good celing fan on lower settings is quite small. Hunter claims "By installing and using your ceiling fan year-round, you can save up to 40% off of summer air conditioning costs and up to 10% off of winter heating costs." (hunterfan.com). This is probably not even considering this worst case of ceiling electric heat.

 

[TMorita]

I did a little research on the net and ceiling radiant heat doesn't sound so bad. Like SEMIJim said, it is meant to heat things in an area and not the air itself. It actually looks like it can be more efficient than forced air heating.
...

Maybe it's just me, but this sounds like a very, very bad design.

If you have radiant heating, then wearing clothes is probably bad, because it prevents the radiant heat from reaching your skin.

Also, if you have radiant ceiling heat, then standing is bad, because you have a lower cross-sectional profile. If you have a large head, then this is worse, because the the rest of your body is in the shadow of your head.

So basically, in conclusion, radiant ceiling heat seems to work best if you are nude and lying down without blankets or any other covering.

Personally, I'm not in this state very often, so from my perspective (as an engineer) it sounds like they have optimized this hardware design for a corner case (set of circumstances) which doesn't occur very often.

Toshi

 

[KROMATICS]

Maybe it's just me, but this sounds like a very, very bad design.

If you have radiant heating, then wearing clothes is probably bad, because it prevents the radiant heat from reaching your skin.

Also, if you have radiant ceiling heat, then standing is bad, because you have a lower cross-sectional profile. If you have a large head, then this is worse, because the the rest of your body is in the shadow of your head.

So basically, in conclusion, radiant ceiling heat seems to work best if you are nude and lying down without blankets or any other covering.

Personally, I'm not in this state very often, so from my perspective (as an engineer) it sounds like they have optimized this hardware design for a corner case (set of circumstances) which doesn't occur very often.

Toshi

Man with giant head arrested for indecent exposure.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

My, that DOES sound like a SICK electric bill!

We have two fairly modern big Refridgers + one small older one + one deep freezer. All electric 1800SF house. Two Tivo boxes. A few lights that are almost NEVER turned off (CFL) and a few other not the best we could do things and I know we've never been over $450.

My sister can't have the AC over about 70 and that doesn't help either!

Floor level heat works WAY better than ceiling heat.

And ceiling fan helps winter AND summer.

 

[KevinL]

I appreciate the suggestions guys. Amazing how a thread on LED flashlights turn into "How to heat your home"... LOL. Oh well.

The nice thing about CPF is that they not only treat for the symptoms, they try to solve the underlying problem too

Not much I can add other than that the flashlight would probably be false economy as lighting, especially with CFLs, consumes very little juice. Plus the cost of the flashlight itself would wipe out any energy savings, so a better way had to be found.

It's almost like the time I decided to build a LED desk lamp producing ~1K lumens (not a lot for fixed lighting systems). The cost of the lamp quickly spiralled out of control, when the obvious and energy/cost saving upgrade would be an Osram instant-strike 23W CFL producing 1330 lumens from one emitter and costing me a staggering sum of $4.67 per bulb. With ~8hr/day usage as my work lamp they last 12-14 months. Oh, and the losses from AC/DC conversion are reduced compared to a wallwart which generates a fair bit of heat in itself.

 

[Lit Up]

Indeed. That is a horrendously high tab for a 600 sq. ft. place.

I agree. Something is not right at all.
Have them come out and make sure the meter is functioning properly. Tell them you're a single person living in a 600 sq ft. house with no TV. You're not exactly playing host to a monthly Van Halen gig.

 

[lukevsdarth]

An update on your problem would be nice .

 

[Kavall]

Well it SEEMS like some of his problems were discovered and relatively easily resolved.

1. He appears to have a radiant heating system that was not designed to be on all the time and is being left on. Discontinuing use of this and heating the occupied rooms through other methods should solve that.
2. Insulating the hot water heater and pipes as well as decreasing hot water temp would again save considerable amounts of energy.
3. Focusing on heat losses around the house. Windows and doors first. The 3m products work well if you want to seal up your windows for the winter. They work exceptionally well when used on old windows that might have air leaks in them. If this is a concern plastic sealing the outside and inside will give an added level of insulation. Feel for air leaks around doors, there are a number of draft stopping measures including simple gasket material.
4. Get into your attic and check the insulation. There is some right? If possible check to make sure the walls were filled with insulation too. Throwing another layer of fiberglass insulation in your attic is a simple job you can do yourself.


Good luck and let us know.

 

[MedusaOblongata]

Yeah I have one of those roll around radiator style heaters. It has 3 settings 600W/900W or both for 1500W.

I have one of these and I've found that, while the heater itself gets very hot, it takes a looong time for it to heat a room. My solution is to set a small electric fan next to it, blowing on the heater. This circulates the air past the heater, and heats the room much more quickly, which reduces the amount of time the heater has to be on.

Instead of an electric blanket, I have an electric mattress pad. Same concept, except the source of the heat is below me, instead of above me, so as the heat rises it goes into the space between the sheet and blanket (i.e., where I am), rather than going above the blanket into the room. It works very well, and usually the lowest setting is sufficient, even though I need it warmer than most people do to be comfortable.