Home Ownership It's -20°C outside and suddenly the electricity goes off. What now?

If you have a wood stove or a fireplace, you can light a fire. For those who don't own a wood-burning heater, warmth during a mid-winter power failure can come from one of two sources: plenty of blankets or a kerosene heater.

You may have heard that proper use is the key to safe kerosene heater operation. Or maybe you've heard that these heaters emit harmful pollutants, and bring with them the dangers of fire and contact burns.

Kerosene heaters are appropriate only for emergency or temporary heating. If you want to reduce your winter heating bill, an electric heater is a safer, cheaper alternative. Kerosene heaters are practical only if you live in an area prone to power failures, or if you have no electricity at all (at a cottage, for example).

To make an objective comparison, consider the initial investment, operating costs, safety and convenience of operation of each. First, you have to buy the heater. Kerosene heaters range from about $150 to $340, whereas portable electric baseboard heaters are priced from about $30 to $55.

Operating costs for either appliance vary across Canada, depending on the local cost per kilowatt hour (kW h) of electricity and the price per litre (L) of kerosene. Consequently, in some provinces kerosene heaters may be less expensive to operate than electric heaters; while in other provinces the reverse will be true.




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December 4, 2008