Can I Decentralize Using Alternative Heating/Cooling products?
Decentralize is the proven, cost-effective way to save on your residential heating and cooling bills. The way to implement Decentralization is by creating logical living Zones and conditioning only the zones that you occupy. NRG SVRS recommends Mini-Split ductless heat pumps to provide the heating and cooling for each independent zone. This note looks at alternative heating and cooling methods for the zones.
What about space heaters?
Space heaters are relatively small sources of heat. Though there are gas and kerosene versions, and even some that use wood as a fuel, most commonly they run on electricity. Several types of electric heaters are available: convection types that heat the nearby air, which rises and transfers its heat to the rest of the room; and radiation types, which emit infrared light directly to people and furnishings in the room. Ceramic convection heaters are said to be safer than coil or bar heaters because the temperature of the ceramic heating elements is below the burning point of paper and are unlikely to cause fires.
Most space heaters come in the range of 1000 Watts to 1500 Watts. Typically, heaters of this size can adequately heat rooms up to 180 square feet. However, they are relatively expensive to run. (At typical electricity rates, a 1000 Watt heater can cost $70 per month to operate – equivalent to $560 per month for a 1000 square foot house). Another consideration is that a heater of this size requires about 10 amps, so plugging more than one into a standard 15 amp house circuit could cause a dangerous overload of that circuit.
What about window air conditioners?
Window air conditioners are small heat pumps in a compact package that sit in the bottom portion of a window. They take air out of a room, pass the air across cooling coils, and push the air back into the room. The heat soaked up by the cooling coils, and the condensed water extracted from the cooled air, is dumped outside. These units run on electricity and come in a variety of sizes. A 5,000 BTU unit is capable of cooling a 150 square foot room with an energy cost of about $40 per year (equivalent to $320 per month for a 1000 square foot house).
In addition to the cost, window air conditioners:
- are drafty
- block the view through the window
- make a lot of noise
- may be too big or too small for the room size
- costly to purchase
- require frequent changing or washing of filters
- do not work in windows with vertical sashes
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Disclaimer: The information presented herein is provided for informational purposes only. Technical descriptions, specifications, details, requirements, and limitations expressed do not constitute an endorsement, approval, or acceptance of the subject matter by NRG SVRS. There are no warranties, either expressed or implied, regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information. Full reproduction is not permitted. ©2011,NRG SVRS, LLC.
