Question:
I guess my question is this: What are the best type of portable
electric heaters?
Answer:
The most efficient electric heater would be a heat pump. The only portable
heat pump I've seen is
http://www.susitnaenergy.com/heating/toyotomi_airconditioner.htm
the Toyotomi 1800. It doubles as an air conditioner in the summer . . .
All the other electric heaters work by "resistance heat," the same way your
toaster, hair dryer, electric iron, incandescant light bulbs, and stove top
work. A cheap $10 electric heater will produce the same amount of heat per
unit of electricity used as a fancy $100 unit will.
So, ya, if you want to save some $$$ on your electric bill, you're gonna
have to spend big bucks on a portable heat pump. I doubt you'll save
enough to make it worth your while, but the option is there.
I tried using a portable oil heater once. Got rid of it, though, because
despite what the package said, it gave off too much carbon monoxide that
gave me terrible headaches. If you could figure out how to vent one, you
could consider that . . .
I dunno about closing off a few rooms and shutting the heat vents . . . when
the guys installed my new heat pump, they told me not to do that, because
reducing the air flow decreases some sort of heat transfer efficiency, and
ends up costing more $$$ in the long run. Dunno if that's true or not, but
that's what they told me.
So . . . what you might could do is buy a couple of electric blankets (mine
work great, they're real cheap to operate. And buy blankets and shawls
for around the place. If all else fails, you could always move south
