Save money by restricting the use of non-thermostat radiant heaters
Open fires and fireplaces warm people who are sitting directly in front of them. This is called radiant heat.
Electric radiant heaters operate on the same principle. They are useful when it comes to heating a person who is sitting in front of one, but they’re not good when it comes to heating a whole room.
If you use a radiant heater to heat a room, then you’ll waste money as the running cost will quickly outweigh its purchase cost.
If you are using radiant heaters, you should try and restrict their usage to after-hours when you want to keep an employee warm, but you don’t want to heat the whole room.
Radiant heaters are often cheap to buy but they can be expensive to run. Some of these heaters can use up to 2,400W, so if you are buying a radiant heater, it’s best to buy one that has multiple settings, eg 400W, 800W or 1,200W.
The lower the watt setting, the more money you’ll save.
How much can these heaters cost to use?
If your business is paying 25 cents per kWh, using a single heater for 20 hours a week could lead you to paying the following amounts:
| WATTAGE OF HEATER UNIT | WEEKLY (20 hours) |
MONTHLY | WINTER (3 months) |
| 2,400W | $12 | $52.00 | $156.00 |
| 1,800W | $9 | $39.00 | $117.00 |
| 1,200W | $6 | $26.00 | $78.00 |
| 800W | $4 | $17.33 | $52.00 |
| 400W | $2 | $8.67 | $26.00 |
| 75W (heat mat) | 38c | $1.64 | $4.92 |
If you have more than one of these radiant heaters in your business, the cost can really add up over the winter months.
When it comes to heating a room (and not just a single person), reverse-cycle air conditioners are more energy efficient.
As these units can both heat and cool, do remember to get a reverse-cycle air conditioner that has a high energy efficiency rating for both heating and cooling.
These units can be found at the Energy Rating website: EnergyCut.info/aircon-ratings.