Also electric fireplaces involve higher operational costs.
Does it cost alot to run a electric fireplace.
It s really inexpensive to run a gas fireplace or insert.
The operational cost will differ on each of these modes.
If you use it just for ambiance then the cost can range anywhere from 0 003 to 0 03 per hour.
The average electric fireplace uses nearly 1500 watts of power.
For instance the heat glo 6000 which is one of the most popular gas fireplaces of all time costs a mere 42 cents per hour to operate.
On average an electric fireplace uses 1 84 of electricity every eight hours.
Gas fireplaces use between 7 000 and 16 000 btus are between 70 and 90 efficient at converting energy to heat and cost around 60 a year to run.
Since they depend on a power source electric fireplaces won t light or heat your home in the event of a power outage or storm.
With a sample average computation the operational costs of electricity range from 8 to 23 cents per hour when you use an electric heater.
1 with heat 2 flames only or no heat.
What does that mean.
However if you use a heating unit as well the costs will go up to around 0 09 per hour for a medium setting and 0 18 per hour for the maximum setting.
So enjoying a fire for an entire evening can cost as little as 2.
Based on the national average kilowatt hour kwh rate of 12 cents a 1 500 watt electric fireplace will cost around 18 cents per hour with all settings at maximum.
For example if a fireplace has a btu rating of 32 000 and the cost of gas is 90 cents per therm which was the national average cost as of march 2015 use the formula 32 000 x 90 100 000.
I know i know that s a wide range but stick with me here.
Electric fireplaces have an output that is based on the electric current.
Multiply the fireplace s btu rating by the per therm cost of gas and divide the result by 100 000 to get the per hour cost of running the fireplace.
Most electric fireplace heaters can operate in two modes.
Costs fluctuate by geographic region and variations in electric utility costs.
Considering a combination of these settings it costs between 50 and 80 a year to use an electric fireplace considerably less than the annual cost for a gas fireplace with costs ranging between 200 and 500 annually.
How much does it cost to run an electric fireplace per hour.
A good average for cost of electricity is about 12 per kw and a standard electric fireplace will use 1 5 kw hour so 1 5kw x 12 18 hour.
Linear modern electric fireplaces have become very popular.