Electricity Usage Of An Oil Filled Heater
Many of the space heaters use resistive elements to generate electricity and oil-filled heaters are one of them. The best thing here is they are economical than other exposed element heaters.
They are economical because the energy that is generated by the heater goes to the oil rather than getting spread or radiated throughout the room. Although the oil radiates heat it does this at a slow rate. The energy in the heating part is as strong as any resistive heater, but the oil heating sink is not always there. In the long term, however, an oil heater consumes less energy than an exposed part heater normally does.
Oil Heater
It is very important to know the basics of any device before jumping into the details. A typical oil heater is a very simple-to-use device and also to understand.
An oil heater has got a closed coil system that is filled with oil which is most probably designed in such a way that it looks like a radiator. Along with this it also has a heating element, a thermostat, and a control panel. The work of the thermostat is to monitor the temperature of the oil and it has nothing to do with the temperature of the room and it also provides the signal to the machine to switch the power off if the oil reaches the temperature which is set or the target temperature.
It also switches the power on as soon as the temperature of the oil falls below the target temperature (cut-in temperature) the oil that is present inside is usually commercial oil, mineral oil, or vegetable oil and not motor oil. The attributes of the oil influence the performance of the heater, as certain oils have greater heat potential than others. The longer the heating factor can stay away the more heat the oil can store.
Today we are going to learn everything about Oil Heaters and mainly we will look at the electricity usage of an Oil filled heater and the cost that is incurred. If you are looking for the electricity usage of an oil-filled heater then you are at the very right place. Read this article fully and you will be equipped with a good amount of knowledge on the topic.
How Much Power Does An Oil-Filled Heater Consume?
We have learned the basics about oil-filled heaters and also saw how they operate and what parts they have. It is now time to know and determine the total amount of energy that is consumed by your oil-filled heating device at your home.
This will help you to know how much this oil field heater will cost you. If you are looking to install an oil-filled heater at your place then you should first take a look at both the minimum and the maximum power range that heater is going to consume or we can say it is capable of consuming.
This factor is very important to be understood as the amount of power that the heater is going to use or consume to run will directly affect the electricity bill. This will provide you with a determination on how much money you are going to fork out over the bills later. Often keep in mind the added expense of taxes and other additional penalties, which will vary from spot to point on a global basis and which may be piled on top of your daily heating bill.
How to determine the amount of energy consumed by an Oil Filled heater?
Before you start messing with your brain and start using a calculator to calculate the ascertain future bills you are going to get you must have a look at the universal principle of heater wattage.
The electrical devices that you are using at your place have two different wattage ratings and these ratings are set by default. The first rating is about the power that is consumed to run your device while the second one caters to the heating capacity of your unit. This simple concept goes with oil-filled heaters too since it also uses electricity to operate optimally. All wattage ratings can generally be placed in an owner guide or mini manual, which you get at the time of purchasing your space heater or which can be printed on your device’s back or hand.
Now you need to look at the label which is stamped at the back of your device. If you do not find any label on the back you can also look for it on the bottom. Normally the electrical ratings will be printed very clearly and precisely. These figures will either be denoted as Amperage, Voltage, or Watts.
After getting the figures you can use this formula which is listed below for getting the wattage of your device.
Watts (W) = Volts (V) x Amps (A) x Power Factor.
For the power factor which is mentioned in the formula, the universally coined unit is 1 however other devices don’t fall under this rule.
As of now, you will be ready with the exact amount of watts consumed by your oil-filled heating system now the next thing that you need to do is to determine the overall efficiency.
The formula for determining overall efficiency is
x 100 = %
The power input that your oil filled heater uses can be easily derived by the above-mentioned formula.
For instance, a space heater probably runs in 120 V to 240 V this certainly is based on the model that you have.
For this, we will use an oil filled space heater with a label of 120V and 12.5 A. now we will use the formula listed above and calculate the power consumption:
120V x 12.5A x 1 = 1500 Watts
For deriving this value in kilowatts then all you need to do is to divide the previous value by 1000.
1500/1000= 1.5 kWh
Cost to operate the Oil Filled Heater
No one likes to get an electricity bill with a humongous amount and therefore everyone must know how much it will cost for running an oil-filled heater at your place.
You would need to calculate the heater power value next after deducting the exact amount of energy used by the filled heaters in your home. This will give you a general understanding of how long you will budget until your space heater is ready to run and how much your savings will be planned.
Most of the oil-filled heaters use 120V or 240V and all of them require a similar amount of energy so it won’t matter much as to what model you have the functions in electricity bills will be minimal.
To determine how costly a 1.5 kWh heater can be you need to calculate the cost by using the below-mentioned formula.
The number of watts used by the oil-filled heater x the total number of hours for which the heater is used.
- Let us take a quick situation and calculate the cost. Imagine that you are in your bedroom and you are watching your favorite movie on T.V but the one thing is that the room is very civil to the bone. Now for feeling warm you decide to turn on your oil-filled heater and keep it on for the next three hours.
Now to calculate the cost of running the heater for those three hours we need to use the formulas
No. of watts x number of hours used
I.e 1500W x 3 hours = 4500
Now you need to divide this number by 1000 and you will get 4.5
Now you need to look at the electricity bill and the utility charges that are determined, this will vary from place to place and therefore even if you use the same device but in a different area will cost you differently due to varying utility rate.
If you find out the utility rate you need to multiply it by 4.5 that you just found.
The average electrical charges in the US are $0.17
So the answer will be
4.5x$0.17= $0.765
$0.765 will be the cost to run the oil-filled heater for three hours and remember this will be without adding any additional cost. To get the cost for the whole month you need to multiply it by 30.
Do not forget! It does not contain any additional hidden expenses, such as extra rates or penalties, that the heating bills might be subject to.
The Cost Table for different Oil Filled Heater
We have assumed as all of the oil-filled heaters run on 1500W however there are exceptions like 700 W oil heaters and many more. In this, we can easily customize the power settings to reduce our electricity bills.
I have taken the average electricity bill of $0.12 and this simply means that running a 1000W device for one hour will cost you around $0.12
I have prepared a table that will help you understand the power usage and the cost of heaters that use different wattages and electricity. This will help you understand the cost per hour usage according to the wattage of your oil fiddle heater.
|
Wattage / Rate |
$0.08 |
$0.10 |
$0.12 |
$0.14 |
$0.16 |
$0.18 |
$0.20 |
|
500W |
$0.04 |
$0.05 |
$0.06 |
$0.07 |
$0.08 |
$0.09 |
$0.10 |
|
700W |
$0.056 |
$0.07 |
$0.84 |
$0.98 |
$0.112 |
$0.126 |
$0.14 |
|
900W |
$0.072 |
$0.09 |
$0.108 |
$0.126 |
$0.144 |
$0.162 |
$0.18 |
|
1100W |
$0.880 |
$0.1100 |
$0.132 |
$0.154 |
$0.1760 |
$0.198 |
$0.22 |
|
1300W |
$0.104 |
$0.13 |
$0.156 |
$0.182 |
$0.208 |
$0.234 |
$0.26 |
|
1500W |
$0.12 |
$0.15 |
$0.18 |
$0.21 |
$0.24 |
$0.27 |
$0.30 |
If you are unable to understand with the help of a table and you are a person who understands things by visual images then here is a chart that I have prepared for you.
Does Oil heater affect your utility bills? How?
People usually think or feel anxious about the electricity bills after installing their space heaters. Oil hectares can certainly affect your electricity bills in some way.
For some people, the electricity bill can go above $200 and even above $350. When people look at the increase in electricity bills they feel like oil heaters are just a waste of money. Nearly everybody ignores the fact that your central heating machine no longer has to generate the heat you produce from your room heater.
This means that what you pay for heating costs previously reduces, while your energy bill rises. You just change the prices. You aren’t paying much differently and you are just shifting the cost from your heating bill to your electricity bill. The only change that you are going to make with this is instead of using fuel you are going to use electricity.
Pros and Cons of Oil Filled Heaters
It is very crucial and important to take a look at the benefits and the drawbacks of a product before making a purchase decision.
Each item has its pros and cons and detailed knowledge about the advantages and disadvantages of a product will help you to make a sound decision. The efficiency of an oil filled heater is the most important thing about it and it is significantly more than any other type of space heaters. The inclusion of oil has provided them a good edge overheating and it provides good heat all over the surface.
One more good thing about oil filled heaters is that they can retain the heat for a long time even after they are turned off. It also has a temperature monitoring system that will automatically turn the machine on and off by determining the temperature. The electric resistors help to do this. When the temperature gets warm up to a certain level it shuts off the machine and it turns on when the temperature falls.
Let’s quickly look at the pros and cons of an oil-filled heater.
Pros
Radiant heating
In an oil-filled heater, there are no fans to generate the warmth and therefore it uses a radiant heating system which helps to provide good heating all over the place.
In radiant heating, the highly energized molecules of the warm objects (oil-filled fins) transfer the amount of heat to those objects that are cool which are less energized (room). The best thing about radiant heating is that it doesn’t promote any kind of allergies and germs into the air.
Noise-free
The best thing about oil-filled heaters is that they are free of noise and therefore they are very convenient for the users.
As there are no fans in an oil-filled heater it helps to reduce noise. Unlike other heaters that have fans and the blades make a lot of noise while rotating the oil-filled heaters are better which doesn’t disturb you while watching your favorite movie.
Safe
Oil-filled heaters are one of the safest options when we talk about heaters. They don’t even require much maintenance and this makes them the best option to buy.
The oils in the heaters are sealed properly so there isn’t any kind of spillage. They come in a single-piece design.
Strategical heating
It is possible to do strategic heating using an oil-filled heater. As they are available in several sizing options which makes it possible for you to select as per your requirement.
Most of the oil-filled heaters are portable and therefore you can easily manage and carry them. This helps you to strategically heat different rooms.
Durable
Oil-filled heaters are highly durable as they don’t require any kind of maintenance so once you have installed them you won’t have to worry about any kind of repairs.
No installation required
The fact of an oil filled heater and one of the best things is that they are very simple to use and also provide efficient heating all over the place. You can buy this type of heater and use it on the same day as there is no installation required for such kind of machines.
If you are thinking of getting a quick heating solution then an oil filled heater is the best option for you as you can save a lot of your time as there is no installation required. This is the thing that makes an oil filled heater different from other heaters that require a heavy installation process.
Cons
Slow heating
As these types of heaters don’t use a fan for heating the oil can only do something slowly. This makes the healing process very slow and therefore the room takes time to get warm.
The oil has a higher boiling point compared to water and the convection process is used to transfer the heat. This makes it very difficult to quickly make the room warm. This isn’t the only case as they also take a lot of time to cool down once you’ve switched them off.
Pricey option
We all know that the cost of maintenance is low for oil-filled heaters but when you look at the price of an oil-filled heater it is quite high.
The diathermic oil is used which is the main reason behind them being costly.
Not suitable for large uninsulated rooms
As the convection process is used for heating most of the space Heaters including oil-filled heaters are not good for large uninsulated rooms.
This is just because in a large uninsulated room there is a chance where the warm airs get away from the room to the outside temperature and the cool air comes in which makes it very difficult for the heater to maintain a warm temperature inside such rooms
Let’s just have a look at some of the Best Oil Filled Heaters
PELONIS Electric Oil Filled Radiator Heater
This heater offered by Pelonis is a very useful product that offers three different heating options for adding convenience for use to the products. Besides this, we also get 5 temperature settings.
These settings help you get proper control over the product. It has a timer to auto shut off the heater, it also has a programmable thermostat along with this you get four swivel caster wheels that are fully rotatable that makes the movement of the heater easier. There are many safety features included such as overheating protection. It also has an LCD panel on the front side.
This heater is a very stylish product. The auto shut-off features ensure that there is no kind of damage occurring as it shuts off the heater before overheating it.
Pros
- There are three heating options
- You also get 5 different temperature control
- A programmable thermostat is present
- It has an LCD screen on the front side making it very good looking
- You also get many safety features along with a builtin timer
Cons
- It is a little noisy if it gets heated
You can click here to check the price
https://www.amazon.com/PELONIS-NY1507-14A-Digital-Radiator-Control/dp/B01LEHPM7I/
NewAir Electric Oil-Filled Space Heater
This is a very attractive product that is nice looking that will add beauty to your room. This product will surely be a great buy. This will easily suit all your furniture as the design is very adjustable.
This device provides a more cost-effective way of saving electricity as it offers an ECO mode. This heater is filled with diathermic oil that uses a convection method of heating to radiate heat which helps the device to dissipate heat in all directions. You also get three heating modes that provide good control over the product and you can choose as per your preference. There is a 10-hour timer available that will auto turn off the machine after 10 hours if you want it to. You get a 5 degrees increment in the temperature.
Pros
- The design can easily blend in any kind of room
- It is very lightweight
- You get an ECO mode
- There are three heat settings available
- A programmable timer is present
Cons
- Not very durable
You can check its price here
https://www.amazon.com/NewAir-Electric-Oil-Filled-Personal-AH-450B/dp/B00NAY10KM/
COSTWAY Oil Filled Radiator Heater – 1500 W
This is a very powerful heater that comes with a power of 1500 watts and it’s such a promising product that will provide the value of every penny that you are going to pay. This hectare is going to be a very good buy and definitely a good investment.
You get three heat settings with this product that gives you the ability to choose according to your requirements. This will let you choose how warm you want the room to be and not only that this will also provide you to choose how much energy you’re willing to let it consume. You can change the radiator settings from 600 watts to the highest 1500 watts according to your needs. This flexibility provides great convenience to use the product.
The bottom part of this heater is equipped with 4 cats so the movement of this machine is very easy and you can easily shift it from your bedroom to your living rooms without much effort. The handles that are provided are very comfortable that ensure safety as you won’t be touching any heating elements if you are grabbing the handle. This unit is also equipped with an auto-shutdown feature which will shut the machine off in case there is any kind of unwanted problems arising such as overheating.
Pros
- There are three heat settings
- 4 caster wheels for better movement
- There is a handle
- It protects from overheating
- Temperature and radiator control as per preference
Cons
- There is no timer available
- Not very good with large sized rooms
Click here to check the current price
https://www.amazon.com/COSTWAY-Radiator-Portable-Adjustable-Thermostat/dp/B076JBWJ1M/
Conclusion
This article tells you about the electricity and power consumption of an Oil Filled heater. I have also explained how to calculate the cost and electricity usage of an oil-filled heater.
There is a table mentioned for different types of heaters with different types of settings and how much such cost they incur. I have also mentioned some of the best products in case you are looking for new and best oil-filled heaters and make things easier for you to choose. I hope you find this article useful and relevant and you are now able to calculate the cost and power consumption of your oil filled heater.
Oil filled heaters are good for the environment and they also do not promote any kind of allergies and they can be used efficiently for large rooms too. They do not have fans so there is no noise while they are working. You can think of keeping using an oil filled heater or install a new one as they are worth it.
Reference
https://qlabe.com/heaters/how-much-electricity-does-an-oil-filled-heater-use
https://heatertips.com/electricity-usage-of-oil-filled-heaters-the-ultimate-guide/