I'm really not sure about that question, but moving doing something is better than doing nothing. I have heard that it can be harder on the knees, so if your knees start hurting, stop and go for a walk outside instead...
I stared by jogging in place for 20 minutes 3 times a week. I wore a heart monitor and made sure my heart rate got up to at least 70% for those 20 minutes. IMHO as long as your heart is beating that fast, anything you do will give you cardio benefits and definitely help with weight loss.
sweet_talker: No disrespect taken. Yes, it's hella cold here (-17°C but feels like -28°), and after gaining back 20lbs and generally feeling 'out of shape' again, I'm having a bit of a self-esteem issue in terms of getting back to the gym.
According to fitday, you burn the same calories jogging in place as you do with general jogging. You could plug in the differing speeds of running and see where it falls.