The less rooms you heat, the more you save. In these difficult economic times, many people are turning to a smart, new home heating strategy in order to save money. Contrary to some people's beliefs, indoor electrical heating is efficient and inexpensive compared to heating your entire home with oil, wood, or natural gas. By turning down the main home thermostat and using small, high efficiency electric room heaters to heat the rooms in use, you can save energy and money!

The best way to save money and stay comfortable is to reduce the square footage that you heat. Turning your home thermostat from 70 degrees to 60 degrees can save you 30 percent or more from your heating bill.

This money saving strategy is a precise form of heating zone control. If you're not using certain rooms, why waste money on heating them? If you use small room heaters to heat the rooms you use most, you'll save energy and money this winter!

Room Heater Comparison

Fan Heaters are the standard portable space heater. Fan heaters convert electricity to heat at almost 100% efficiency. They use a small amount of electricity to power the fan that speeds up the natural convection process (when warm air rises to the ceiling and cooler air falls to the floor). Fan heaters are great to use when you plan on being in a room for a short period of time and you want it to be a comfortable temperature. One of the best and most inexpensive fan heaters around would be the Holmes Heater Fan with Comfort-Control Thermostat. At only $20, this fan will heat up an entire room, and will even shut off automatically if knocked over, making it safer for you and your family.

Convection Heaters. These space heaters save a small amount of energy by avoiding the use of a fan. They rely on the natural convection process caused by heaters. The rising warm air and the sinking cool air create a circular movement of air that eventually distributes the heat from a convection heater throughout the room. (This is how normal baseboard heaters work, which is why a room with baseboard or radiator heating is not only warm around the baseboard). This Sunbeam Convection Heater is quiet, extremely efficient, and has an energy saving option.

Oil-filled convection heaters resemble standard home radiators and are the most efficient and popular convection room heaters. At the factory, these heaters are filled with a special heat conducting, energy efficient oil. If you are looking for a steady room heating source and don't need near-instant heat, an oil-filled heater is an economical choice.

Radiant Heaters & Infrared Heaters. Radiant and infrared heaters are the most targeted models available. Instead of heating the air inside the room, radiant and infrared heaters directly warm objects and people in a room by focusing infrared energy on them. This does not heat the air, but directly heats the object in the path of the heater. Some models use a parabolic dish (a parabola-shaped reflective device used to collect or distribute energy) to focus the heat even more. The Soleus Air Oscillating Radiant Heater is a great choice for families because it has a low surface temperature, reducing the risk of burns. It also does not kick up dust like some other heaters, so it is perfect for people with allergies.

Like the Soleus Heater, most of these parabolic infrared heater models offer an oscillating option to spread the heat around the room. Radiant and infrared heaters are specially suited for outdoor areas like patios and garages, or workshops that have little to no insulation. You have to be careful not to be too close to these heaters as most can be too hot to touch!

Solar Thermal

Solar thermal heating options fall into two main categories, active and passive.