Ideal Bite

We have a heater in the bathroom so that on cold days we don't freeze while trying to dry and dress. Our dog thinks this is her special heater. She will lay down right in front of it. Sometimes nose pointed directly at it and sometimes tail.

Please don't forget the space heater uses electricity which is generated in a power station, which are in the US mostly fueled by coal. The efficiency rate of these stations is barely 35 percent, means 65 percent go off as heat and other losses due to the Thermodynamic conditions off this process. The better way do heat your home is a heating system that allows you to regulate rooms separetly (zoning) that can be done by thermostats connected to every radiator or if you have central air, install zoning devices. To accomplish that homeowners need to invest money and unfortunately you can't see that money unlike the new kitchen or porch and it probably doesn't add to the home value like all those shiny things. So keep buying space heaters to fight the old ancient heating systems and drafty windows. But don't think you'll save the earth with it.

I discovered a ceramic panel heater which you mount on a wall. It only radiates heat, no forced air, but it only uses about 3 cents an hour in electricity. I just bought another one for my bedroom, so now there are three, total. My central heat rarely even needs to come on anymore. You can check the heater out at http://eheat.com/. They are also very safe and intended to be left on for extended periods. My cat loves to park herself just in front of it. Also safe for children. Check it out!

winter in some areas is much colder and longer than in others. a space heater is a nice ADDITION to central heating, but not the answer ecologically--and certainly not enough to keep people, animals, and pipes from freezing.

I went online fully intent on buying the Holmes water filled radiator heater because my husband likes to turn the heat up at night instead of down and it drives me (and out electricity bills) through the roof. When I clicked on the link though, there was no online checkout system and the only stores that stock them are located in Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa. I REALLY WANT THIS ITEM so if anybody knows where I can find it online- please post a comment and let me know!!!

My blood curdles whenever i hear/read about "energy saving space heaters". The only way they really save energy is if they're used to just heat the smaller space you occupy, rather than heating the whole home to the same degree centrally. When you buy an electric plug-in heater of any sort, regardless of anything else (what it is or isn't filled with, whether it's got a "ceramic element" or not, groovy styling or no)... one is no more or less efficient than the other. If it's rated at 1000 watts, that's what it puts out and that's what it consumes. If it's rated 2000 watts... that's it. End of story. Forget about any verbiage of "efficiency"... you get what you get, no more, no less. But to thicken the plot, if it's electric, it's also essentially "fossil fueled" since that's where most of us get the electrons that come down the wires to our homes. Coal still vastly dominates US domestic supply, with nuk's and natural gas following. Of course, if you've signed up for some form of alternative energy offsets, you're doing one better. You'll do better still to insulate like there's no tomorrow ('probably so, at the rate we're going) and just minimize all consumption. Go solar / renewable to whatever degree you can, so as to disengage from that fossil fuel tit ever more. pax, Karl *-----> Boulder, CO

Does anyone know how gas heat stacks up? We have small, old house (built around 1940). It has a large gas heater downstairs that just radiates, and a small gas heater in the bedroom, which is the only upstairs room. We do not have central heat or air. We keep fans running to circulate the warm air, and the small upstairs heater works VERY well, so it can be run at the lowest possible flame, and only for a little while. Does anyone know how this compares to central heat and/or space heaters for eco-friendliness? We don't plan to stay in this house and have no desire to do any major rennovations, but if there's something small I could be doing that would be more efficient, I'd like to know about it. Thanks!

Ditto Tara. I have a gas wall heater, light the pilot when it gets cold, and blow it out in the spring. How does a gas heater measure up against a space heater? My situation is a little complicated by the fact I live in a loft, so there's no comparmentalizing my heating "zones" - it all gets heated.

While I do agree that using electricity is not ideal and using solar to do many things, using the zone approach is a good alternative. We have a small child, live in Indiana, have an older thus not very insulate home, and have found a different approach to heating our home. It is using a cieling fan that has a heater. It's from Reiker, and it's great not only because it has a fan and light, but it also has a space heater that the little one cannot get to. It's nice to heat only the bedroom or the familty room. We like using it instead of heating the whole (very drafty... but working on that) almost hundred year old house we're in. We bought ours at www.fanheatlight.com. So far so good, and it's supposed to be -4 tonight. YOWSERS!