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Advertisements On Electric Heaters Using the Same Energy as Coffeemakers Are Misleading Many of you have probably read or heard about the claims that some manufacturers and salespeople are making stating that their brand of portable electric heater uses about the same amount of electricity as a coffeemaker. Once again the advertising claims for these heaters is misleading. FEC checked four different brands of residential coffeemakers to determine how many watts they used while brewing their respective cups of java. The watts used by the coffeemakers ranged from 950 to 1,050. Portable electric heaters all use 1,500 watts of electricity. The coffeemakers use 33 percent less power than a portable electric heater. One other thing to note about the coffeemaker comparison. The actual time the coffeemaker is in operation to brew the coffee is about 8 minutes. If you really wanted to compare usage between the two appliances, it is the overall time of operation. You have 8 minutes to make the coffee and the time the coffeemaker is used to keep the coffee warm versus the number of hours the portable electric heaters are used to warm just a part of a residence. Let’s say the coffeemaker runs an hour a day, while the portable electric heater runs 10 hours a day. During its one hour of operation the coffeemaker (1,000-watt model) uses exactly one kilowatt hour, or about 9-cents. The portable electric heater (1,500 watts) over 10 hours of operation uses 15 kilowatt hours or about $1.35. Nine cents a day compared to $1.35 a day... $2.70 a month for the coffeemaker compared to $40.50 a month for the portable electric heater. The claims from the advertisements and the people who sell these portable electric heaters are misleading and they are done under the pretense of offering false hope to homeowners and renters who are led to believe they can save money by using these inefficient heating units. “Electric furnaces are 100 percent efficient and they are a wonderful heat source, but they are considered very expensive to operate,” said Steve Shoot, Manager of Member Services for FEC. “Portable electric heaters are also 100 percent efficient, just like electric furnaces, yet they are advertised as heating systems that will save you money on your heating bills. It just doesn’t make sense.” FEC members are encouraged to contact the cooperative’s member services department if they have questions on different heating and cooling systems. Unfortunately, a number of people in the area have chosen to believe advertisements and sales pitches regarding these heating units. Remember, the old adage, if it’s too good to be true, it usually is. |
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