There's actually a simple calculation that will help you determine how much heat or wattage you need from a heater to keep it at a comfy temperature.
The information you will need on hand is all available to you.
-You'll need to know the cubic footage of the area you'd like to heat or provide supplimental …show more content…
The term "wattage" is used mostly in electric heating applications. For gas heat, the amount of heat produced by a heater is refered to in terms of BTU. There is also a simple calculation for converting your earlier answers to BTU. To convert watts to BTU, multiply the wattage needed by 3.4129. So if your wattage requirement was 1296 watts, your BTU requirement would be: 4,423 BTU/hr.
The above calculations are also mostly used for fan forced heating. Radiant heating allows for less wattage, normally around 4-7 watts per square foot. The maximum amount of heat required for the same room that we used above; 12 x 12 = 144, 144 x 7 = 1008
All of the calculations above are based on the theory that the room you are to heat will be well insulated when you complete the project. Without proper insulation, heat loss, through walls, greatly increases. All heaters should be controlled by some type of thermostat, be it a unit mounted, installed heater or a separate wall thermostat. Small portable space heaters that are used as supplimental heat should never be left