Room Heater or Hot AC: What Is an Ideal Room Heating Solution for Winters?

Most people prefer using a room heater over AC with heat pump (Hot AC) for their room heating requirements. They do so for several reasons. Some of those reasons are correct and others are not so correct. Let’s look at these beliefs one by one.

Room Heaters are portable but Air Conditioners are not.

This is absolutely correct. If your primary requirement is portability, then you are definitely correct in choosing a room heater over an AC. While we have portable ACs in the market now, they are not as portable as a fan blower heater that you can keep inside your quilt! Most other type of room heaters are also more portable than an air conditioner. So, portability is definitely one feature that goes in favour of electric room heaters.

Room Heaters consume less electricity than ACs.

This is not correct and many people won’t belief this but its true that air conditioners in heat mode consume less electricity than electric room heaters. In fact, operating AC in heat mode requires just around 30% to 40% of the total energy that is consumed by an electric heater!

Lavanay from ECD India says that “if you pay approximately Rs.70/- per month over energy consumption by using an electric heater, then it simply means that you will spend approximately Rs.25/- only per month if you use HVAC instead of an electric heater. “

Room Heaters are affordable but Air Conditioners are costly.

While its true that room heaters cost much less (upfront) than air conditioners, but if you consider that an Air Conditioner with heat pump can be used all year long for cooling, heating, and de-humidifying needs, plus the energy savings that it brings for heating requirements, then over all it’s a great deal and actually saves you money.

Other Reasons for Choosing Air ConditionerOver an Electric Heater

• Temperature Control: Not all room heaters come with a thermostat. This is a problem as it can result in overheating of room. If you use reverse cycle air conditioner instead, the thermostat of your ac will automatically turn off the AC when the set temperature is reached. That is another way you can cut the cost over energy consumption.

• Heat Distribution: In some electric heaters like rod heaters, you’ll notice that heat is felt only if you keep close to it. The farther you are from it, the colder you feel. This is not the case if you use your AC which evenly distributes hot air in your room.

• Safety Issues: Electric heater also poses safety issues, especially if you have kids or pets. If somehow there is something nearby that may catch fire, then you have a risk of a fire incident. Heaters may even cause circuit overloading incidence.

• Feature Rich: HVAC offers features like WiFi, timers, sleep mode, etc allowing for greater control over its function.

• Versatile: Electric heaters are only heaters, while air conditioners cool and dehumidify as well. So, it’s a 3-in-1 machine that you can use in almost every season.

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