With summer drawing to a close and winter on the horizon, it’s only natural to start thinking about taking the chill off your home and keeping it at a comfortable temperature. This is why a room heater of some kind can be found in homes all over the country – but how do you decide between electric and gas heaters? Both have their advantages and disadvantages, which we have outlined below for your convenience:

Gas Heaters

This option primarily provides the home with radiant heating, which means it will heat objects and people rather than the air itself. It’s an excellent choice if your home has access to natural gas or if you’re willing to use bottled LPG. It’s actually fairly popular amongst homeowners because it’s generally much cheaper than electricity, plus is more environmentally friendly. This means that you can run the heater with fewer concerns for your wallet or the environment.

There are, however, some things that you need to think about when installing a gas heater in your home. Firstly, you need to have access to gas. If you can’t get it, this type of heating is unsuitable – there’s nothing more to it. Secondly, these systems need to be vented to the exterior of the home to ensure that potentially dangerous combustion fumes are removed. If the system is unvented, you will need to ensure that the room has adequate ventilation.

Electric Heaters

These types of room heaters are incredibly popular for the simple reason that they can be used in any home – all you need is a power supply. They also come in a wide array of sizes and types, from small fan and oil units through to ducted and reverse cycle systems. Homeowners also have the freedom to choose to heat just the room or the whole house. This heating runs very cleanly inside the home, and they don’t produce any fumes that need to be vented outside.

There are, however, some things that you need to think about when installing an electric room heater in your home. Firstly, they run off electricity – so if the power goes out, so does your heat. These systems can also be very expensive to run, making up a large portion of your electricity bill during the winter (reverse cycle air conditioning tends to be the most efficient, and therefore the cheapest, option). Plus, the process of producing and transporting electricity is not clean.

But what does all of this information mean? Which of these heaters should you choose to install in your home?

At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong choice when it comes to room heaters – both options will be quite successful at keeping your home warm and cosy when it’s cold outside. As such, it generally comes down to a matter of personal preference. Ensure that you have weighed up each of the advantages and disadvantages that we have outlined above to ensure that your choice of electric or gas heater is the right one.