Energy Smart Homes - Home Heating - Heaters and the Environment

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Image of a technician checking electricity consumption on a switch board

All heaters burn some sort of fuel - either in your house or at a power station.

In WA, almost all our electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels such as coal and gas, which in turn produce carbon dioxide. For every 1 unit of electricity produced, around 3 units of fuel must be burnt at the power station and as a result, around 1kg of carbon dioxide is produced.

Gas heaters burn fuel directly to make heat without the intermediate step of generating electricity, a far more efficient process. For every unit of gas burnt about 0.25 kg of carbon dioxide is released and this provides around 0.7 - 0.9 units of heat depending on the efficiency of the heater. All up, gas produces about a quarter to a third of the greenhouse gas emissions of electric heating.

One exception to these rules is the reverse-cycle air-conditioner. These heaters typically provide 2 to 3 times the heat output of other electric heaters for the same electricity consumption. One unit of heat produced by a reverse cycle air-conditioner results in the emission of about 0.40 kg of carbon dioxide - not quite as low as gas, but better than all other electric heaters.

In general, portable heaters use less energy and produce less carbon dioxide than space heaters and central heaters, largely due to the way in which they are used. Portables are often used to heat small areas for short periods and so consume relatively little energy and produce relatively little carbon dioxide. However, if portables, and in particular electric portables, are used for a long time or to heat large areas, they will use a lot of electricity or fuel. For portable electric heaters this is very expensive and will produce larger amounts of greenhouse gases.

If you're a Western Power customer connected to the electricity grid in the south west, you can purchase Green Power - electricity generated from renewable energy sources, including solar, wind and biomass. By choosing to run your electric heater using Green Power, you will not be contributing to the production of greenhouse gases.