For those living in South East Queensland, the need to keep cool in Summer often seems much more important than keeping warm in Winter. As a result, people may forgo installing a reverse cycle air conditioner, thinking it’s easier and cheaper to just use a heater instead during Winter.
In case you missed our last article, to recap, a reverse cycle air conditioner is far superior to an electric bar heater in terms of:
Air conditioning really has it all over gas heaters.
Don’t just take our word for it though, this report from ABC News categorically proves that “consumers can save money by making the switch from gas heating to using reverse cycle air conditioners.”
In fact, the author of the report himself claimed that he cut his own heating costs by 70% by switching to air conditioners…and he is from chilly Melbourne, so the savings would have been substantial!
As with electric heaters, air conditioning is around 3-4 times more efficient – and therefore cheaper –than gas. For example, 1kW of gas burnt = 1kW of heat (slightly less actually, but let’s round it up).
For air conditioning on the other hand, 1kW of electricity = 3-4kW of heat. Do the math!
Little wonder gas consumption in Australia is falling and the use of air conditioning continues to rise year after year.
Oil heaters run on electricity, so once again it’s going to be a similar story to the bar heater, but not quite.
Oil heaters – also known as oil-filled radiators – use less energy than a bar heater and if you’ve ever used one, you’ll know why.
They are notoriously slow to heat and not good for heating large spaces.
They are generally more expensive to purchase too compared to a bar heater, so if you’re going to spend any sort of money on an oil-filled heater, we strongly suggest you reconsider and invest in a reverse cycle air conditioner instead.
With reverse cycle air conditioner prices starting from $1200 fully installed, why would you waste your hard-earned on an inferior heating system?
On top of that, you won’t have to pack it away when the warmer weather reappears… in fact, you will no doubt get more use out of your air con in Summer than Winter.
For more information and advice on reverse cycle air conditioners, talk to the home air conditioning experts at Acer Services. Simply click here to contact us.
