Space Heater Advice

First of all...I was tempted to put this in the Caging forum...move if so.

We are probably going to be moving to a house this summer and I would really like to find some ways to cut our energy bill. I am really thinking that using a space heater to heat up the snake room will help keep the heat bill down since we can keep it cool in the rest of the house. I know others around here have done this, but do you all have suggestions for the different types, brands or specific models that you like? We have a couple of room options, but the most promising one is only about 40 square feet, just enough to keep the snakes and stuff in.

Thanks for any advice,
Austin

I like the Delonghi oil filled radiator for ambient room heat...Its safe, pretty inexpensive to run and wont kill the humidity in your room...

Get one with analog controls (no digital display) and run it off of a ranco. Set the ranco at 83, leave the heater on and it will be perfect.

I am not sure of the brand I got it an radiator type too works great but it set to the lowest setting and it keeps the room about 85 degrees ( it clickingon and off all day long ) I will be turning it off about late may early june. I do know my entire reptile equipment does run the electric bill a little higher but not as bad as mom thinks.

I wish it had a small (pc sized) fan to help move the air a little it might run less lol

Oil filled is the way to go. My life got so much easier when I built the snake room. You will love it!

This time of year, if you shop around some, you can pick up a nice oil-filled for about $20 :gj: they are generally good for 4-5K square feet as that is considered a "typical" room size for some reason.

We have a short stack oil filled radiator hooked up to a ranco therm. Keeps it nice and steady.

How much did your electric bills go up when you all started using space heaters to keep your cool temps to the whole room. Also, did you cut some cost on your gas/heat bill by not lowering the temp for the rest of the house?

Is using a Ranco or other thermostat really the only way to go...as in, the on-unit thermostats/digital displays are crap and wont hold steady?

Also, where did you all buy your space heaters? I think I decided on the 70 dollar Delonghi model, but I can't find anywhere that stocks it.

I bought at least one heater from Amazon. Real cheap, brand new.

Never saw our bills go up to take notice, since we moved here in the late winter early spring time. I suppose I'll know more as summer comes around from this past winter to summer change. :/

Hmmm...

What wattage do you use Connie? The one I am looking at can do 700, 800 or both together for 1500. Just crunching the numbers...1500 watts x just under 8 cents per kwh is about 65 bucks a month to run it 24/7.

The only thing I can think of to disprove this is the actual mechanism that the oil heaters use...full power for a while, then keep it constant using a lot less power?

Also, is the ranco really necessary to keep the temps constant or would tweaking the on-board controls be doable?

Well, its not running 24/7. Once it's up to temp, it shuts off because of the Ranco.

I'd have to go look at it....

Sooo...you have yours set to max power, hooked to the ranco, using the ranco probe to set the ambient temp so that the thermostat/gauge on the unit is just completely ignored....I think?

It's a Kenwood, 1200 watt. Like I said, it's not running all the time. We have the windows covered in that plastic shrink film, fans running to circulate the heat back down, so it runs very minimally and stays steady around 82-83.

Yes exactly. It's turned ON (may be set on the unit itself to like 85 or so) and the ranco completely controls it.

And no noticeable jump in your electric huh? Nice, how about a decrease on your normal heat bill for not doing that room? Also, just to be clear. The only decent way to go is with a dedicated thermo to control it (as opposed to the one on the unit itself)

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Originally Posted by ThyTempest

And no noticeable jump in your electric huh? Nice, how about a decrease on your normal heat bill for not doing that room? Also, just to be clear. The only decent way to go is with a dedicated thermo to control it (as opposed to the one on the unit itself)

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Yea, I recommend having a high quality thermostat to control it. I've read one too many horror stories about lost collections.

And no, no noticeable jump. I mean, I always expect a jump in winter because, well, its winter and the furnace runs all the time.

We also have a programmable thermostat for our house, it keeps it at 63 during the day, so the room HAS to be heated and controlled seperately.

Nope, it seems our bills are all accounted for. But like I said, considerably more expensive in the winter, but that could be due to a crappy insulation job and other crappy things about this house in regards to heating.

Thanks Connie. We are thinking of doing pretty much the same. We are moving to a new place in June. If it does not have a programmable thermostat we are going to put one in.

All in all, you think it has saved you money to use the space heater? Or maybe the same amount but get the added bonus of having a good temp for the collection?

I mean, I wouldnt be spending the money if I didn't have snakes, so you kinda have to think about that. LOL. We didnt do it for money saving, but for environment purposes for the animals.