One of the top items potential buyers look for in a home is a fireplace. It seems no one can deny the appeal of a glowing fireplace that adds ambiance and warmth to a home. Of course, not everyone is confident in their fire-starting abilities and instead might consider an electric fireplace. One big question that comes up in the electric fireplace discussion is cost. If you’ve been thinking about getting an electric fireplace but aren’t sure about operating costs, don’t worry. We’ll help answer the question, “Will an electric fireplace make my energy costs go up?”
Calculating the Cost of Usage
As you research electric fireplaces, you not only want to know how much the unit itself costs, but also how much it will financially impact your monthly electric bill. Thankfully, there’s an easy way to calculate your estimated cost per month or even annually.
The majority of electric fireplaces use about 1,500 watts of electricity. This is enough to easily heat about 400 square feet, or an average size living room.
The national average kilowatt-hour rate is approximately thirteen cents. Based on this number, it would cost about twenty cents per hour to operate an electric fireplace on higher settings. This cost per hour would of course decrease if lower settings were used.
You can even determine how much your monthly cost would be by multiplying twenty cents by the number of hours you use it. For example, if you typically run your electric fireplace for three hours per day, your cost per month would be eighteen dollars — even less if you don’t use it every day or for that length of time.
Efficiency
Electric fireplaces are beautiful and come in a variety of styles that appeal to many preferences. But choosing an electric fireplace doesn’t mean you’ll be choosing style over substance.
In fact, an electric fireplace is one of the most energy efficient ways to heat your home. It will only lose about one percent of the heat it produces. This keeps your living room cozy and warm all evening!
Benefits of Electric Fireplaces
Energy efficiency and low cost of operation are just two of the reasons why an electric fireplace is a great option to heat your home. If you need a little more convincing, check out these additional benefits of an electric fireplace.
- Low maintenance. No need for cleanup or chimney maintenance to keep it running properly.
- Smoke-free. Your living room will never fill with smoke when you use an electric fireplace.
- Ease of use. Not everyone has their fire starter badge and that’s okay! With an electric fireplace, you won’t need to gather kindling and firewood. You can simply turn it on!
- Safer if you have pets or little ones at home. You’ll never have to worry about little hands or furry friends getting too close to an open flame thanks to the enclosed structure of an electric fireplace.
An electric fireplace can add many things to your home, but high energy costs won’t be one of them! If you’re ready to add an electric fireplace to your home, contact IHT Hot Tubs & Fireplaces! We’ve proudly served the Denver, Colorado area since 1978. We offer a wide variety of styles and designs of electric, gas, and wood-burning fireplace options, including Kozy Heat. Give us a call at 303-296-7727 to learn about our range of fireplaces and ask for a free quote!
