If it is cold outside, it is only natural to want to take the edge off the chill and warm up the home to a cosy, comfortable temperature. That’s why a heater of some type can be found in many Australian homes – especially those that really feel the winter chill! But how do you decide between gas and electric heating?  Both have their pros and cons and we outline them here. If you need any more info, don’t hesitate to talk to your local heating professional.

All about Gas Heating

Gas heating provides primarily radiant heating. That is, it heats objects and people rather than the air itself.  It is an excellent choice if you have access to natural gas or if you are willing to use bottled LPG gas.  Gas heaters come in a range of options including portable space heaters, fireplaces, and ducted heating.  Which one you choose will depend on the space that you need to heat.  Gas heating is popular as it is generally much cheaper than heating with electricity, and it is more environmentally friendly.  This means that you can run your gas heating with fewer concerns about the effect on your wallet or the environment.  Gas heaters also come with a star rating, alerting you to the efficiency of the heater.  Generally speaking, the more stars, the more efficient the heater is.

However, there are some things that you need to think about when it comes to gas heaters.  Firstly, you need to be able to have access to gas at your home. If you can’t get it, you can’t have gas heating – it is that simple.  Gas heaters also need to be vented to the outside of the home to remove the potentially dangerous combustion gases.  If it is unvented, you’ll need to ensure that there is sufficient ventilation to ensure that the combustion gases can escape – and this means opening a door or window.

All about Electric Heating

Electric heaters are incredibly popular simply because of the fact that they can be used in any home – all you need is a power supply.  Electric heaters also come in a mindboggling array of sizes and types, from small fan heaters through to oil heaters, bar heaters, reverse cycle air conditioners, and ducted heating.  You can choose if you want to heat just the room or the whole home.  Electric heaters are mainly convection type heaters, which means that they heat the actual air inside the room.  Electric heaters run very cleanly inside the home and they produce no fumes or gases that need to be vented to the outside.

However, there are some things that you need to be aware of with electric heaters.  Firstly, they run off electricity, so if the power goes out, so does your heat! Electric heaters can also be very expensive to run, making up large components of your electricity bill (reverse cycle air conditioners are the most efficient heaters, though, and thus are the cheapest electric option to run).  Also, even though the heaters themselves operate cleanly, the process of producing and transporting the electricity to run the heater is not very environmentally friendly.