Cost and safety are big space heater considerations

Space heaters are great for a little extra warming in hard-to-heat spaces, as long as you keep safety and cost in mind. Never use an extension cord with a space heater, and keep it far away from combustibles. Space heaters ideally should never be run unattended, and this includes overnight when possible.

In addition to the heightened safety precautions a space heater will also raise your electric costs. A 1,500-watt space heater running on high will use 1.5 KWH per hour, which costs about 20 cents. That might not seem like much, but just multiply 20 cents by 24 hours. That’s $5 per day, or nearly $150/month! Add to that the increased electrical costs we see every winter from using additional lights to brighten the dark evenings and the power used to run the furnace blower each time the heat kicks on, and for some residents winter heating bills can surpass the cooling costs in summer.

It’s very important to stay on top of paying your bill, even if you have LIHEAP. If you are on budget billing, keep an eye on the budget billing balance, and if it is rising, give us a call so we can see if it needs to be adjusted.

For questions about your bill or usage, call the IMU Customer Service Center at (515) 961-9444, Option 2, or stop by the office at 210 W 2nd Avenue during regular business hours.