All Warm and Fuzzy Inside: The Energy Saving Heater

The frost of the winter months will keep you and your family huddled indoors, comfortably bundled up and heated - but at what cost? The harsh snow and storms of the season can tax on your heaters and make you spend more on electricity, and eat you out of house and home if you aren't careful to turn your equipment into an efficient, energy saving heater.

Like refrigerators, heaters take up energy to maintain a temperature - and like refrigerators, they can be costly to purchase and keep. Before buying heaters - be they to heat water or the home - make sure that you look for the Energy Star label.

A water heater can come in the form of a small, handy set of coils that can be plugged and then dipped into a basin of water; or it can be a large machine designed to carry heated water through pipes which snake through the house. The handy type is hardly an energy saving heater: it consumes a lot of electricity, so use it sparingly, and unplug it when you are done.

Large water heaters are sensitive to location, so if you are building a new home and wish to install an energy saving heater, then make sure that you place your appliance close to the laundry room, bathroom, and kitchen. Heat is dissipated and lost as it travels through the long pipes, so the closer your energy saving heater is to the rooms, the more electricity - and money - you save.

If your water is always hot at all times of the day, then you may have set your hot water thermostat too high, turning your energy saving heater into an energy eating appliance. Before the winter months come, set your thermostat between 43-49 degrees celsius (110-120 degrees fahrenheit).

To maintain your energy saving heater, check it regularly. If its surface is hot or warm, some of the energy being used to heat your water is being dissipated as heat - a sign that your heater may be old, and a definite signal that you are using up a lot of electricity. Wrap your heater in an insulating blanket if this happens. The wrapping will keep the heat in, and will lower your energy consumption.

Heating up the home is not an easy job for an energy saving heater, and is an even harder task for the money saving spender. If you wish to save money by buying a fireplace or furnace, install thermostats to help you control room temperatures.

If you use a wood-burning fireplace, use wood split into 10-15 cm, or 4-6 inches wide pieces. If a larger surface area is exposed to the flame, your wood will burn cleanly, and more heat will be produced.

If you wish to use a furnace, on the other hand, make sure that you check its filter monthly. Dirty furnace filters can keep heat from traveling through your house, and can increase your energy consumption. Replace old furnaces with new, energy efficient, Energy Star-labeled ones. Turning your furnace into an energy saving heater can save you up to 30% on heating costs.

The biggest energy saving heater is still a well-built, well-insulated home, so design - or remodel - your home in such a way that it can keep the heat in and the cold out during the long, dreary winter months. However, avoid heating areas such as crawlspaces, attics, storage sheds, and garages. These areas are not insulated, and any heat applied to them will be dissipated easily.

An energy saving heater will have no use in an uninsulated house. Seal any openings through which heat may escape. These include doors, windows, and electrical outlets. Rugs can also reduce heat dissipation, so throw down some and keep your floor, and room, warm.

Energy saving heaters will work best only when heating vents are well maintained. Clean your heating vents regularly, and make sure that openings are not blocked by heavy furniture or curtains.

Much money is spent on keeping houses warm and fuzzy in the cold months of the year, and an energy saving heater, though expensive at the outset, will prove to be a money saving investment.

However, if an energy saving heater is not enough, then throw on a sweater and be your house's ultimate energy saving heater. The insulation, after all, will lower your body temperature by two degrees celsius - and save you as much as 4% on your heating bill as well.