My solar system is generating a lot of electricity. I have a pretty nice surplus pending purchase of an electric car in the future (when the country opens back up and we can travel freely; no point in buying now when we can't go anywhere).

Gas to heat the house in winter remains expensive however.

I'm looking for an electric room heater to minimize gas consumption. I'll use a small gas heater in the family room fireplace. And use an electric heater in the master bedroom and perhaps in the home office. I think I can largely keep the central heating off most of the time then.

Looking for a good, safe, reliable heater (desired temp around 70-72F):
1. external ambient can get down to 40's, sometimes 30s.
2. internal ambient w/o heating can get down to 50s. house is not well insulated nor tightly weatherproof
3. what size heater (in watts? btu equiv?) do I need to heat a master bedroom (approx 15x20' + bath about 15x10')? how efficient are these heaters?
4. want to minimize physical size - small bedroom w/ furniture.
5. want safe and reliable; no PRC fire hazards. well engineered and made in NA, EU, Japan. Taiwan may be okay. Other countries other than PRC may be okay if NA, EU or Japan branded (recognized brand).

Any thoughts?

Look at the cabinet plug in units. The one I have is a duraflame. But many companies make them. Very efficient. Not going to heat a huge room but does a nice job for us in our main living area. Use it as a supplemental unit to our propane heater when it gets cold. I really like it. Cheap to run too.

I would have an electrician install baseboard heating.
I think that would be the safest and most efficient type of electric heat for your bedroom.

Most electric space heaters are going to run at 750W (low) or 1500W (High) settings designed to run on standard 15 amp home circuit breakers and outlets. If that's the only thing on the circuit, it's plugged directly into the outlet (no power strips or extension cords), and the heater is placed in a safe location it can work fine.

Most decent space heaters (even cheap walmart ones) should have a thermostat and tip over switch to shut it off if it falls over. Other than that, they're mostly the same.

If you have 20 amp outlets you may be able to find higher wattage heaters.

Unless you have a dedicated circuit, there's no way I'd use an electric space heater for primary heat.

All straight electric heaters have the same efficiency, 100% of electric used is converted to heat.

1 watt = 3.413 btu.
1500 watts = 5119.5 btu.

Doesn't matter if its an electric heater or light bulbs.
Watts is watts.

Only way to be more efficient, is to install an electric heat pump.
Then you can have a 200-450% range of efficiency. Depending on the outdoor temperature.

Want high efficiency, install a Mitsubishi mini-split.

Thanks. Never heard of either. I'll try to look them up.

I've heard of floor heating (under luxury vinyl planks and such). Haven't heard of baseboard heating though - imagining something similar in concept. I kind of ruled out floor heating though - not sure how much (exposed) floor space I would need to sufficiently heat the room. I'm hesitant to put the heating under the bed and (wood dressers and such) furniture.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
Unless you have a dedicated circuit, there's no way I'd use an electric space heater for primary heat.

All straight electric heaters have the same efficiency, 100% of electric used is converted to heat.

1 watt = 3.413 btu.
1500 watts = 5119.5 btu.

Doesn't matter if its an electric heater or light bulbs.
Watts is watts.

Only way to be more efficient, is to install an electric heat pump.
Then you can have a 200-450% range of efficiency. Depending on outdoor temperature.

Thanks - good info. Any idea what I would want to heat my room (xy dimensions above w/ 10' ceilings)? 1500W enough?

Need to look up what a heat pump is.

I respect your opinion and expertise ECM. But the one I have very minimally affects the electric bill and does a great job, so just say'in.

Something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Durafla...frared/dp/B00K172QS6

Plug-in space heaters are a fire hazard.

Please be careful.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

Any idea what I would want to heat my room (xy dimensions above w/ 10' ceilings)? 1500W enough?

Too many unknown variables at this point to make an educated guess.
Location (weather conditions), insulation, windows, exterior walls vs interior, construction (vinyl, brick, stucco), flooring (concrete, crawlspace, basement), single/two story, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Need to look up what a heat pump is.

An air conditioner with extra controls to reverse the flow of refrigerant. In order to heat the structure vs removing heat.

Mini-split is a small system. Wall hung unit connected to an outdoor unit.

quote:

Originally posted by old rugged cross:
I respect your opinion and expertise ECM. But the one I have very minimally affects the electric bill and does a great job, so just say'in.

Something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Durafla...frared/dp/B00K172QS6

Any electric heater will do the same job and cost you the same on your utility bill.

Watts is watts, no matter how you slice it.

Safety on the other hand is to be considered. The console heaters are pretty tough to knock over.

I think y'all know my opinion on this subject by now.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I think y'all know my opinion on this subject by now.

The people at the old folks home kept telling the same jokes such that everyone knew joke and punchline as soon as the first few words were spoken. Eventually, in order to save time, a number was be assigned to each joke. Someone would call out "Number 4!” and everyone would laugh. “Number 10!”, again everyone would laugh.

I think we could adopt a similar scheme here and save a lot of typing as well as bandwidth.

I would not be comfortable , personally, on running a space heater or similar device on standard wiring (14-16 gauge?) and a regular 15 amp outlet, that’s typical for bedrooms. I would at a minimum update that circuit with thicker gauge wire and a 20 amp outlet, with a 20 amp breaker back at the box. Minimum.

An oil filled radiator is probably the safest, “cheap” option.

You could buy a bunch of powerful video GPUs (nVidia RTX3070 or 3080 seems to be the sweet spot) and mine cryptocurrency.

Make some money while outputting heat.

Only mostly joking.

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
I think y'all know my opinion on this subject by now.

“Number 10!”

Ha Ha Ha! ROTFL! I never heard that one before!

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I've heard of floor heating (under luxury vinyl planks and such).

It's very common in parts of Europe. Usually hot water heat. They use electricity for the heat source. Solar panels on their roofs keep the cost down.

Supplies a very comfortable, even heat throughout the room.

quote:

Want high efficiency, install a Mitsubishi mini-split.

This sounds like a good option, if you have all that excess solar power credits then install a good electric mini split in the room(s) otherwise
install an electric furnace for the whole house and burn up the credits there...

Thanks guys. Great inputs. Looks like I have more to consider with these space heaters and additional options on the table as well - need to get educated on the new stuff like.