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Have you seen
these ads? You have probably heard radio ads or have seen ads in newspapers and magazines that claim they can cut your heating bill by up to 50 percent by just buying their electric space heater. With the high price of heating, who wouldn’t like to do that? The key wording in these ads is up to. There is a huge difference between 50 percent and up to 50 percent. The ad explains that the way you reduce your heat bill is to turn the heat down in your house to as low as 50 degrees and move the space heater into the room which was occupied. The truth is the savings are not in the heater; it is the fact that you turned the heat in your house down to 50 degrees. Consumer Reports found a large number of evaluations for these expensive space heaters, which is heavily advertised in newspaper circulars and on television. The manufacturer claims that his space heater can "cut your heating bill up to 50% while keeping you toasty warm." However, Consumer Reports read dozens of reviews at Amazon.com and InformercialRatings.com from owners who say this space heater did not live up to its end of the bargain. Professional comparison tests also place this electric heater near the bottom. They found better reviews for units costing far less. They claim the space heater will not reduce humidity or oxygen, which is true, but it is also true that the electric space heater you buy at the local hardware store doesn’t either. There are 3,413 Btus for each kilowatt-hour and the only way to get more is with heat pump technology, which transfers heat at a high efficiency rate. SWPPD has not seen nor heard of anything like that with portable electric heaters. In southwest Nebraska during the winter, one plug-in space heater is not going to heat a 1,000-square-foot home. This offer of 50 percent savings on our heating bills is enticing, but these are not magic heaters that will allow us to maintain the same temperature settings in our home and realize this level of savings. Lowering the thermostat setting does produce energy savings, but you don’t need these high priced space heaters to practice thermostat setback. Our advice on heating your home is to invest in weatherization and insulation along with a quality electric heating system plus an adequate automated backup heating system. A dual fuel or adequate thermal storage system along with wise conservation practices are our best tools to face the uncertain and more costly energy future. Source: http://www.consumersearch.com/www/house_and_home/space-heaters/index.html
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