Heating only bedrooms at night in Winter?

[pcdunlop]

Hi everyone,

this is going to be my 3rd winter in Canada and my 2nd one since I live in a townhouse and pay my own gas prices for heating up the house.

As everyone else, my gas consumption (and consequently Enbridge bills) in Winter is way higher than other months.

I was wondering if we can save $ buying small electric heaters for our 3 bedroom and keep the rest of the house colder setting the thermostat with a lower temperature only for the night when we are sleeping.

I think: what's the point to keep the whole house heated during the night, if we just stay in our bedrooms? Isn't it a waste of energy?

Has anyone had the same thought and tried heating only the bedrooms at night with small portable heaters? Any savings or/and recommendations of models?

[legendofxix]

You probably won't save much if anything.
Space heaters are terribly inefficient.

Also, what do you do when you wake up? Throw on some more layers then turn the heat back up into the house?
You will burn more(or about the same) fuel to heat the rest of the area back to comfortable temperature during the day that it would be to keep it constant.

[teoconca]

Hi everyone,

this is going to be my 3rd winter in Canada and my 2nd one since I live in a townhouse and pay my own gas prices for heating up the house.

As everyone else, my gas consumption (and consequently Enbridge bills) in Winter is way higher than other months.

I was wondering if we can save $ buying small electric heaters for our 3 bedroom and keep the rest of the house colder setting the thermostat with a lower temperature only for the night when we are sleeping.

I think: what's the point to keep the whole house heated during the night, if we just stay in our bedrooms? Isn't it a waste of energy?

Has anyone had the same thought and tried heating only the bedrooms at night with small portable heaters? Any savings or/and recommendations of models?
I think it is more expensive using electric heaters running all night. The humidity level in the bedroom will be very dry and it will cause health problems. It is best for you to close all the register vents where you don't need and only open the vents in the bedrooms. I also recommend to open the window curtains in the winter so the house will be heated by the sun during the day. At night close all the window curtains to keep the cold out. You should invest in the insulated, darken curtains and warm comforters. This will keep the heat inside and healthy at the same time.

[TrevorK]

If all you're worried about is your comfort level while sleeping, why not just throw on a blanket (or three) and keep the door closed?

[mcplar]

get a programable thermostat, and turn down the heat in the entire HOUSE to around 16c.

I have ours set to turn off at around 2100 and turn back on at 0530 (I get up at 0600).

[pcdunlop]

I think it is more expensive using electric heaters running all night. The humidity level in the bedroom will be very dry and it will cause health problems. It is best for you to close all the register vents where you don't need and only open the vents in the bedrooms. I also recommend to open the window curtains in the winter so the house will be heated by the sun during the day. At night close all the window curtains to keep the cold out. You should invest in the insulated, darken curtains and warm comforters. This will keep the heat inside and healthy at the same time.

You guys are right, I completely forgot about the humidity level in the bedroom. I have installed a central humidifier last winter and I felt a big difference. I will invest in the insulated curtains and warm comforters!

Thanks for your reply and suggestions.

[pshch]

Hi everyone,

this is going to be my 3rd winter in Canada and my 2nd one since I live in a townhouse and pay my own gas prices for heating up the house.

As everyone else, my gas consumption (and consequently Enbridge bills) in Winter is way higher than other months.

I was wondering if we can save $ buying small electric heaters for our 3 bedroom and keep the rest of the house colder setting the thermostat with a lower temperature only for the night when we are sleeping.

I think: what's the point to keep the whole house heated during the night, if we just stay in our bedrooms? Isn't it a waste of energy?

Has anyone had the same thought and tried heating only the bedrooms at night with small portable heaters? Any savings or/and recommendations of models?

Did this for last 5 years. Works well with setback thermostat and no problems with humidity (and cannot be unless you keep window crack open and allow outside cold air in and wet inside air out). I also put heater on the timer so it starts working ~3am when room cools down and stops it ~30 minutes before programmable thermostat turns on heat in the morning.

Regarding efficiency it's arguable. Heating with electricity is usually more expensive. But how much more depends on electricity & natural gas price (1Gj is ~ 280kWh) and how much room you want to heat with electricity vs total house area. Right now gas price is cheap enough to making this a bad option (in my case I'll keep same temperature day or night if gas stays that cheap through the winter) but when gas was at 10+$/Gj it made perfect sense.

If all you're worried about is your comfort level while sleeping, why not just throw on a blanket (or three) and keep the door closed?
Not everybody likes to sleep under three blankets. Also you cannot cover your head all the time and not everybody feels comfortable with they head sticking to the cold room.

[pshch]

You guys are right, I completely forgot about the humidity level in the bedroom.
Unless you sleep with window open the humidity in your room want change regardless which way you heat it. You need humidifier in winter because part of warm air containing a lot of moister escapes from your house and is replaced with cold air with just a little of water in it. When you heat this air up it's relative humidity becomes very low. When you use area heater at nigh it just keeps temperature constant so relative humidity won't change (actually it will increase due to moisture you breath out). So do not worry about humidity, as long as you furnace has humidifier you will be ok.

[mbg]

Not everybody likes to sleep under three blankets. Also you cannot cover your head all the time and not everybody feels comfortable with they head sticking to the cold room.

And some people like to walk around the house in t-shirts in the winter. But this is the Green/Eco-friendly forum.

[bririp]

we often install a direct vent fireplace in bedrooms. If you have the room, one would probably heat your upper floor and would be set to a seperate thermostat.

[holygail44]

Space heaters are entirely not more efficient. They will make your electric bill rise quite a bit. I would have to agree with just lowering the heat at night and throwing an extra blanket on.

[gman]

Hi everyone,

this is going to be my 3rd winter in Canada and my 2nd one since I live in a townhouse and pay my own gas prices for heating up the house.

As everyone else, my gas consumption (and consequently Enbridge bills) in Winter is way higher than other months.

I was wondering if we can save $ buying small electric heaters for our 3 bedroom and keep the rest of the house colder setting the thermostat with a lower temperature only for the night when we are sleeping.

I think: what's the point to keep the whole house heated during the night, if we just stay in our bedrooms? Isn't it a waste of energy?

Has anyone had the same thought and tried heating only the bedrooms at night with small portable heaters? Any savings or/and recommendations of models?

We just set the thermostat to 17C after midnight.

[i6s1]

It is best for you to close all the register vents where you don't need and only open the vents in the bedrooms.

The thermostat is usually in a hallway, so if you only open vents in the bedrooms, the heat won't reach the thermostat. The furnace will run continuously, making the bedrooms very hot.


You will burn more(or about the same) fuel to heat the rest of the area back to comfortable temperature during the day that it would be to keep it constant.

This isn't true. Check Newton's law of cooling. The colder the house is, the less energy is lost. The longer it's at a lower temperature, the lower the energy bill. Reheating a house may take a long time, but it doesn't use as much energy as maintaining that heat.

[teoconca]

The thermostat is usually in a hallway, so if you only open vents in the bedrooms, the heat won't reach the thermostat. The furnace will run continuously, making the bedrooms very hot.

The thermostat usually is in the middle of the house and on the main floor. At least that where mine is.

[Kirtan]

There are several things you can do to make your home heating more efficient. You can start by sealing up all your drafts, getting a programmable thermostat and making sure your home in insulated properly.

Here are some other ideas. We can reduce emissions while saving on heating costs at the same time.

http://www.greenr.ca/2009/10/efficient-home-heating/

[i6s1]

The thermostat usually is in the middle of the house and on the main floor. At least that where mine is.

Yes, exactly. If the only vents open are in bedrooms, and the doors are closed, then the heat won't reach the thermostat to turn the furnace off. The furnace turns the bedrooms into saunas.

[Becks]

I think if u have a down comforter, u can avoid the burden of heavy blankets. Flannel sheets also help. If u have a microwavable rice/wheat bag, that can keep your feet warm under the covers!

[new_vr]

You probably won't save much if anything.
Space heaters are terribly inefficient.


I thought they were efficient.
The problem is the cost of the electricity vs gas.