11-30-2009, 09:32 PM
Either one of those heater types will use the same amount of energy (a lot) since they simply transform current into heated air and heat via conduction/convection alone. The only way to reduce energy use with electric is to use a radiant or combo heater (i.e. one of those that has a glowing red element and reflector. That type will use less energy because it won't (much) heat the air, but will instead heat the objects that the radiant energy shines towards.
That said, if it were me I'd fix the heating system before taking the expensive brute force approach of adding an electric heater. The first things to check are:
1) Are the ducts are leaking? How old is your duct system? There was a period of time during which standard cloth duct tape was used to attach duct segments and registers. However, it was later discovered that the adhesive in cloth duct tape fails after a few years so many houses with ducts installed during those periods (i.e. roughly the 60s through mid-90s) have duct systems that are falling apart.
2) Are the system dampers properly balanced? The system balance is controlled by dampers in the duct system, NOT by opening/closing vents. If the dampers are not set right then fiddling with the vent will not help at all.
3) If the ducts are OK and dampers balanced, the other problem might be that there is insufficient air return in the bedroom area (if the cold air can't get out of the room then there is no way that hot air can get in to the room). That could be because of poor system design (insufficient return ducting) or because the bedroom door seals too tightly (can be fixed by cutting off the bottom of the door or by installing a vent between room and hallway).
Several of these things you can check yourself, but you might want to pay for a couple of hours time by an HVAC/energy efficiency expert to check this stuff out. It would probably be far cheaper and more satisfying than having to run a wasteful and expensive electric heater all the time.
That said, if it were me I'd fix the heating system before taking the expensive brute force approach of adding an electric heater. The first things to check are:
1) Are the ducts are leaking? How old is your duct system? There was a period of time during which standard cloth duct tape was used to attach duct segments and registers. However, it was later discovered that the adhesive in cloth duct tape fails after a few years so many houses with ducts installed during those periods (i.e. roughly the 60s through mid-90s) have duct systems that are falling apart.
2) Are the system dampers properly balanced? The system balance is controlled by dampers in the duct system, NOT by opening/closing vents. If the dampers are not set right then fiddling with the vent will not help at all.
3) If the ducts are OK and dampers balanced, the other problem might be that there is insufficient air return in the bedroom area (if the cold air can't get out of the room then there is no way that hot air can get in to the room). That could be because of poor system design (insufficient return ducting) or because the bedroom door seals too tightly (can be fixed by cutting off the bottom of the door or by installing a vent between room and hallway).
Several of these things you can check yourself, but you might want to pay for a couple of hours time by an HVAC/energy efficiency expert to check this stuff out. It would probably be far cheaper and more satisfying than having to run a wasteful and expensive electric heater all the time.