Blog Phase 5

H, A. (2013) The Reason Why Electric Fireplaces Should Be Used To Heat Your Home. Best Appliances To Buy. Retrieved 3/26/2013 from http://www.bestappliancestobuy.net/the-reasons-why-electric-fireplaces-should-be-used-to-heat-your-home/

This article argues the idea that electric fireplaces and electric space heaters are generally a better form of heating than traditional wood or gas heating. It argues that electric heaters are more economical to buy and to run than gas heat, and that they require a lot less effort than a traditional woodstove or wood fireplace. On top of that, these electric fireplaces and heaters don’t require expensive and uneconomical installation (ductwork, chimneys, etc) like woodstoves and gas furnaces both do. Finally, this article stresses the idea that these electric heaters do not require a professional to install them. They simply can be plugged in to a receptacle in the wall and placed in any room of the house.

What interested me most about this article was the idea of electric heating installation requires much less parts and labor, which in turn requires less money at the time of the initial installation. One thing that this article stressed that I never really considered much was the idea that not only are the electrical installations cheaper than gas installations, but the extensiveness and complication of the installation is minor. When installing a gas furnace, it requires connection with the gas company to attach a gas line to the building, installing ductwork and vents to blow the air throughout the building, and also vent pipes or a chimney. This is a lot of effort when considering the idea of just plugging a space heater into a wall. Since installation costs are a large portion of my research, this segment of the article was very helpful and taught me something useful. Although costs weren’t mentioned specifically, it is obvious that it would be cheaper to install an electric fireplace or heater because it requires no more money than to buy the unit itself. This is something that I could take into consideration when continuing my research.

This article also raises more questions about what would need to be included with a gas furnace, including ductwork and vent piping/chimney. This raised questions such as, “what goes into ductwork installation?” and “what scenarios could make ductwork and vent pipe installation a significant challenge?” After looking into it a little more, the process of installing ductwork can be a lot more complicated than what I had initially realized. Some smaller homes or one story homes would require extremely difficult and extensive installation, which would in turn mean more money due at installation. This issue will be factored into my research now, since it was not something I had thought of before.

Progressive Heating and Air (2013). Benefits of Gas Heating. Progressive Heating and Air. Retrieved 3/26/2013 from http://progressiveac.wordpress.com/2013/01/24/benefits-of-gas-heating/

This article fights for the overall idea that gas heat is a better way to go than other forms of heat (electric heat is mentioned specifically). Something I noticed about this article is that it says, specifically, that the cost of owning and operating a gas furnace is lower than owning an electric furnace or large heater. This, however, is the exact opposite of what is mentioned in the first article where it states that owning a gas furnace is much more expensive than other forms of heat, such as gas and wood. This is an obvious and significant disagreement between two very differently focused sources.

This disagreement is important and significant because both of these articles argue different ways that the form of heat they are defending is superior to other forms. With both sources saying specifically that it is more economical to own that specific type of heat without going into much detail, this means that different sources of the same type will have to be found to get more information. Potentially finding another source or more about each type of heat or finding more detailed sources strictly about prices will provide a better idea about the exact cost of each specific aspect of each type of heating and installation. From an earlier source I found, I learned that gas heat typically is more expensive to install but cheaper in the long haul, while electric on the other hand is the exact opposite. These findings, however, should also be confirmed with another source. These two articles say that each type of heat they are discussing is overall more economical but does not give quite enough detail to break it down into specific unit and installation costs. This disagreement is something that is very significant to my research, and locating more sources to get a little better idea about these types of heat will be very important when writing my final paper.