[gh02t]

They basically do that internally already, there's not much point.

The power usage is offset if you're primarily using them during the winter in that the energy used is all converted to heat. It's not gonna be as efficient as a heat pump so there is some loss, but the heat added is heat your HVAC doesn't have to provide so it's not exactly wasted. I haven't actually run the numbers to calculate the effective power used (how much energy it uses to generate the same amount of heat versus if a more efficient heat pump did it), but my hunch is that it ends up being quite a bit more competitive than it might first appear.

[analog31]

Ah, good point. The real cost difference is the difference between heating your house with electricity or gas (or your landlord's gas). I think of that when I run my oven in the winter too.