How Much Electricity Does A Heater Use?

An electric heater can warm your bedroom or drawing room efficiently and bring comfort in winter or monsoon. But it has a significant impact on your electricity bill.  How much electricity does a heater use and why this much?

The majority of electric heaters in the market deliver 1500W or 1.5 kW power. You can just multiply the usage time to its capacity (like 1.5×10 = 15 units per day), and you’ll get the total consumption. Then you can calculate based on your area’s unit cost. Usually, a 1500W heater can use up to 12 units per day and 360 units per month.

However, the amount of electricity used by your heater and the cost of running also depends on your usaConsultsult your local power supplier to know more details.

How Much Power Do Electric Heaters use?

Mainly, the electric heaters are rated according to Watts or Kilowatts. It signifies how much power a heater can deliver. Suppose the label of an electric heater says 500 watts. That means it can provide 500-watt amounts of energy and sustain in this range while producing heat.

The most popular one is the 1500-watt electric heater in the market because of its massive amount of power. Suppose you use a 1500-watt electric heater regularly for 8 hours in your bedroom. If you multiply the using period with the heater’s capacity, you will get the total amount of power consumed in a day.

Therefore, 1500 × 8 = 12000/1000 = 12 units per day. 

As the electricity unit is calculated in kilowatts, the total amount is divided by 1000. So, you can see the total amount of electricity is entirely dependent on your usage and which type of heater you choose.

If you use a 750-watt electric heater, it will use less electricity than a 1500-watt heater. According to the same calculation: 750 × 8 = 6000/1000 = 6 units per day. 

If you reduce the usage period to 6 hours, your heater will use 750 × 6 = 4500/1000 = 4.5 units per day. 

So, the basic concept is that the more watts your heater uses, the excess will be the electricity bill.

How Much Heat Can an Electric Heater Produce?

Rather than the question about the amount of electricity, you also have to be concerned about the amount of heat it can produce. 

That’s because if your heater doesn’t produce desirable heat or can’t provide enough heat, you have to use the heater excessively. And that will increase the consumption of electricity and the electricity bill. 

However, it also depended on the type of heater. Usually, you will notice two types of electric heaters in the market – convection and infrared.

Convection Heater

The convection heater uses metal coils to heat the air. It uses the “10-watt per square foot” rule to heat the room. The rules signify that the heater will need 10-watt power to heat one square foot area of your room. 

So, if your room is 1200 square feet, your heater will use 12000 watts or 12 kilowatts to keep the room warm. Another way to say this is that a 1500-watt electric heater can warm 150 square feet of your room.

Infrared Heater

The infrared heater can warm people and objects through IR radiation. It doesn’t follow the 10-watt per square foot rule. As the heater points directly to objects, it can emit heat up to 3.5 meters from the source. Typically, the IR heaters use 1500-watt power, which is a lot.

Does the Heater Cost Too Much?

Experts and manufacturers recommend not to use the electric heater overnight. In ideal conditions, regular 8-hour usage of an electric heater is enough to keep the room warm. 

Let’s calculate the electricity bill considering 8-hour of average usage.

We’ll assume that you use a 1000-watt electric heater for your bedroom and keep it on for 8 hours. So, your power consumption per day is: 1000 × 8 = 8000/1000 = 8 units per day.

If the electricity cost in your area is $0.3, your per-day cost will be: 8 × 0.3 = $2.4. So, your monthly cost due to an electric heater is 2.4 × 30 = $72. 

Well, this kind of amount is not ignorable!

Why So Much?

This kind of enormous power consumption and excessive electricity bill may lead you to wonder why so much!

Honestly, if you want to keep your whole bedroom warm and hold the temperature for 6 to 8 hours, you will need a massive power source and a device to convert the power into heat. 

Suppose you live in a 1500 square feet bedroom. So, in winter, you will need a 1200 or 1500-watt electric heater to stay warm.

To put it the other way, this huge room needs a considerable amount of power to convert into heat. That’s why electric heaters are manufactured to sustain such massive power. This is also the reason why your electricity bills go higher when you use an electric heater.

Do Portable Heaters Consume As Much As Corded Ones?

Due to these high-power consumptions and electricity bills, some of us may use a portable heater because of a misleading concept. 

The flawed logic behind this concept is that portable heaters won’t use as much power as corded ones because you aren’t using direct electricity to produce heat.

Well, that’s a misconception because all portable heaters use or consume precisely the same amount of electricity and convert it to thermal energy. Therefore, it’s not a good option if you think you can reduce the power consumption with portable heaters.

However, you can use them if you want to heat some specific areas in your room. Another option to warm the room quickly is to use the fan heaters though it won’t be energy efficient.

Other Alternatives

You won’t find any alternatives if you want to replace the heater with another device. But some techniques may help you reduce the power consumption and keep you stress-free about electricity bills.

First, you need to buy an electric heater that has energy efficiency features like economy mode. In these features, a set point is fixed. When the temperature comes to the setpoint, the heater will automatically adjust the setting and reduce the power consumption.

And when the room temperature gets lower than the setpoint, it enables the higher settings. You can also set up the timer to ensure you don’t forget to turn off the heater. 

Another option is to use a digital thermostat which will be efficient enough to keep the room warm and reduce energy consumption.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bottom Line

Using electric heaters is a very efficient way to keep your room warm along with yourself. It’s an essential element in winter or when you are living in a cold region. But you would be astonished to see their electricity consumption and the bills you would get at the end of the month.

Don’t get too shocked by your bills if you use the heater excessively.  You should consider your needs and your room before starting to use the heater. Get smart and use your heater wisely to reduce your bills!