# Heating advice needed
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 16, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482 "2013-12-16T18:18:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482/1 "2013-12-16T18:18:42Z")
I have a home with baseboard heating in the basement. Last year, a pipe burst, but since we didn’t use the basement much, we sealed it off rather than fix it immediately at the time.
Now, we have turned the basement into a permanent room for my oldest daughter and a playroom. It’s winter now, and there needs to be heat. A plumber quoted us a price of $600 to fix the baseboard heating system (it’s not just the burst pipes that needs replacing, but also a re-circulator). But maybe we’d be fine with a simple room heater in those rooms, but I know that using electricity for heat is very power-intensive, maybe that will eliminate any savings? On top of that, there are a bunch of different types of room heaters, I really have no idea which type would be most advisable to buy, from an energy-efficiency standpoint.
Can any experts here weigh in on the matter?
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### Author:  [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482/2 "2013-12-16T18:26:33Z")
If you are going to repair it sooner or later then I would repair it sooner rather than later.
All the time you are using electricity to heat you are losing money.
If it was a long term thing then I would use a heat pump but using space heaters is a lousy way to heat a room.
On the other hand it is extremely cheap to buy a space heater and see how much power you need to heat that space. It will depend on the size and insulation but be ready to run a couple space heaters non-stop. The space heaters will cost nothing in comparison with the energy used.
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### Author:  [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482/3 "2013-12-16T20:42:31Z")
You could save a lot of money repairing it yourself.
Safety concerns are an issue with electric room heaters:
[http://www.air-n-water.com/space-heater-safety.htm](http://www.air-n-water.com/space-heater-safety.htm)
Electric room heaters are all 100% efficient, so energy efficiency is not a consideration in choosing between them.
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### Author:  [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482/4 "2013-12-16T22:39:38Z")
I used to live in a very small apartment (about 550 sq. ft.) in the New York City area, and the heating system sucked big time. The heater was a window unit heat pump for AC and heat. It was loud and blew out lukewarm air, which was not comfortable on a cold night. And if it got really cold, it could not keep up very well.
[I finally invested in something like this.](http://www.amazon.com/DeLonghi-EW7707CM-Safeheat-ComforTemp-Oil-Filled/dp/B000TGDGLU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1387233292&sr=8-1&keywords=electric+radiator) It looks like a small radiator, but it is electric. It heats some sort of oil which circulates around the thing, and it throws out a good bit of heat. I liked that it was a very consistent heat with no blowing of air. I had tried a few of the typical space heaters, and they did not do a good job.
The apartment was usually heated well with just the one electric radiator, and I didn’t notice an increase in my utility bill.
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### Author:  [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482/5 "2013-12-16T22:43:06Z")
If the basement is really below ground level, then that ought to insulate it very well.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482/6 "2013-12-16T22:55:25Z")
basements are earth temperature, which vary with season and depth, and the basement material and the earth are a big gigantic enormous huge heatsink.
if you want a comfortable heated basement at an affordable cost then it is best insulated.
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### Author:  [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482/7 "2013-12-16T23:06:07Z")
It’s not really below ground. It’s below sidewalk level, at the bottom of our driveway, the main house has about 8 steps up from the sidewalk to get to the entrance.
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### Author:  [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)
#### Post date: [December 17, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heating-advice-needed/676482/8 "2013-12-17T05:14:00Z")
Keep safety in mind.
If a heater with a fan in it tips over, gets put too close to something that can burn, or a piece of clothing gets dropped on it, there can a fire.
The oil bath heaters have a thermostat in them. If a coat is dropped on top of them the heater will not get hot enough to cause a fire. They also have a tip switch.