dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
4686

rfhar
The World Sport, Played In Every Country
Premium Member
join:2001-03-26
Buicktown,Mi

rfhar

Premium Member

[Appliances] What type of small space heater is most efficient and safe.


I been goggling and notice there are ceramic, oil filled and Quartz small heaters. We have a small cheap 1500 watt wire element heater we keep just for emergencies like this weekend when the furnace fan quit but I am looking for something better.
I have a fireplace in my living with a 5 by 6 foot opening where I would put it likely on top of my wood stove as my wife is a bit of a worry-wart.

SparkChaser
Premium Member
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA

1 edit

SparkChaser

Premium Member

1500 watts is 5118 BTU regardless of what is heating.

edit: for safe, probably the oil. It doesn't get as hot.

A fan helps distribute it more. A radiant heats you up. I have a glow type parabolic that we like. Have had it for years
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt to rfhar

Member

to rfhar
said by rfhar:

I been goggling and notice there are ceramic, oil filled and Quartz small heaters.

I prefer ceramic because they have low thermal inertia and produce little or no radiant heat. The internal fan distributes the heat. Before ceramic heaters became available I had a oil filled heater. Unfortunately they depend on convection to distribute the heat they produce. I placed a fan in front of mine otherwise it kept the ceiling warm. When shut off they continue to radiate heat until the oil cooled off. That was not to helpful in South Florida, at times, when heat was needed at night and cooling was required during the day. I stayed away from quartz heaters because of the amount of radiant heat they produced made them a fire hazard.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya to rfhar

MVM

to rfhar
A good old cheap forced air over element heater is probably your best bet. No oil to leak and very simple (and cheap). The fan circulates the heat better.
When considering resistance electric heat, no version is more efficient than another. All types of resistance heat is just a controlled short circuit.

Sly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

Sly to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
Click for full size
I've been really happy with these: »www.homedepot.com/p/Econ ··· 02882716

I picked some up from Woot.com a year or so ago when they were on sale for $59.99. You can paint them to match your wall and they blend in quite nicely. I keep several around the house to use in case the heat pump quits. I have a whole house generator that is not powerful enough for the heat pump but it will power these heaters just fine.

I would say that they are more efficient that many other types of electric resistance heater. They operate by convection only which means that you get pretty good head distribution without needing a fan. They are also completely silent.

shdesigns
Powered By Infinite Improbabilty Drive
Premium Member
join:2000-12-01
Stone Mountain, GA
(Software) pfSense
ARRIS SB6121

shdesigns to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
I like ceramic heaters. Have had several over the years. One was a clone of the original Pollinex heaters. Worked well but after 10 years one of the elements opened up so it was a 600 watt heater. The fan is like a big PC fan so it was a bit noisy.

I have a tall Lasco one that has a sqirrel-cage fan ind it is near silent.

In my RV I got a ebay-special 1500 watt ceramic. Works well and is not very loud.

If noise is an issue, I'd get an oil filled. Take a while to heat up though.
lutful
... of ideas
Premium Member
join:2005-06-16
Ottawa, ON

lutful to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
said by rfhar:

We have a small cheap 1500 watt wire element heater we keep just for emergencies like this weekend when the furnace fan quit but I am looking for something better.

There are a few 120V nichrome heaters with metal box, metal fan and higher temperature electrical cord. Check using keywords like garage or shop heaters.

Msradell
Premium Member
join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY

Msradell to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
As Nunya said they all actually produce the same amount of heat. It's just how they use that heat that makes a difference. If you just want to keep yourself warm while you're in one place a radiant (quartz) heater is better at transferring heat to a surface but not as good at warming the air and in some cases they are a fire hazard. Ceramic and conventional wire heaters respond faster when turning on and off and the oil filled ones are just the opposite. It all depends on what you want the system to do.
prairiesky
join:2008-12-08
canada

prairiesky to rfhar

Member

to rfhar
buy bitcoin machines and plug them in. The portable heater that pays you!.... we'll costs you less to operate

Sly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

Sly

Premium Member

That's actually not a bad idea...
Quattrohead
Premium Member
join:2005-02-09

Quattrohead to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
Infra-red heating lamp, 250w of toasty heaven on those cold winter days.
Wyngs
join:2010-02-20
Coos Bay, OR

1 edit

Wyngs

Member

I stuck an infrared in the pole lamp by my wife's chair. 250W also. She loves the instant warmth.

Little space heaters of more then about 750 watts, plugged into a wall socket, will cause some kind of a fire, sooner or later. Oregon law limits them to 1500 watts, but that's still too much.

If you have the outlets where the wires are plugged into the back side - instead of being screwed down tightly to it, I wouldn't use a space heater, period. Those outlets ought to be outlawed. I've had 3-4 fires with them over the years. Luckily, all were caught early.

rfhar
The World Sport, Played In Every Country
Premium Member
join:2001-03-26
Buicktown,Mi

rfhar

Premium Member

OK guys, thanks very much. I thought that I would get better info here. People's experiences are very helpful.

Boooost
@151.190.40.x

Boooost to rfhar

Anon

to rfhar
1500 Watts is 1500 Watts regardless of the type of heater. They all produce the exact same amount of heat. A $60 heater won't make you any warmer than a $20 heater.

Buy the cheapest one you can live with. You probably want one with a thermostat. I prefer one with a fan blowing over the heating elements to distribute the heat throughout the room. I picked up two of these at Target when our furnace crapped out one night a couple years ago:
»www.holmesproducts.com/h ··· -UM.html
(The price at Target was cheaper than the price shown here)

Sly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

Sly

Premium Member

The fan consumes some electricity. While 1500 watts is 1500 watts, efficiency also depends upon how that heat is created and distributed.

If you have a 1500 watt heater that runs fans and never turns off trying to heat a big room, you will use more electricity than a 1500 watt infra-red heater that only heats the immediate area and cycles on and off...

If you can reach the temperature desired without fans and actually have the unit cycle on and off, you will save money.
nonymous (banned)
join:2003-09-08
Glendale, AZ

nonymous (banned) to Boooost

Member

to Boooost
Unless end of year clearance the cheaper heater may be using less quality components or skipping safety features, especially if an unknown brand.

Salty_Peaks
@173.255.181.x

Salty_Peaks to rfhar

Anon

to rfhar
My thoughts:

I really like the oil filled convection heaters, especially around children. They won't scald you unless you're intent on being burnt, are fairly quiet, produce a consistent heat, and are quiet aside from the thermostat clicking on. Downside is they take a while to warm up and I guess if you drop kick them they could leak mineral oil. Could put a towel over it and it wouldn't present an obvious flammability hazard.

I don't like the quartz heaters. They are uneven heating and focused heating with a fan blower. Great for bathrooms but also a burn and flammability hazard.

IR heaters -- DO NOT LIKE. It's like focused sunburn or being in a strong RF field. Gives me a headache and it's a weird psychological feeling. Feels like being under a strongly focused heat lamp but not able to see the visible light spectrum.

My personal preference -- oil filled radiant heater.

Boooost
@24.190.186.x

Boooost to nonymous

Anon

to nonymous
said by nonymous:

Unless end of year clearance the cheaper heater may be using less quality components or skipping safety features, especially if an unknown brand.

They're all cheap Chinese-made pieces of crap. You just have to take your chances. You can probably improve your odds by not shopping at Walmart.

Look at the CPSC site and you'll see electric heater recalls by brands that have been around for over 40 years. So the brand name means nothing. You can also find recalls for oil-filled heaters that ruptured, spewing hot oil on people. So much for the safety of oil-filled heaters.

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
Hm. I have read this thread with some interest... sounds like for me, I might want to try IR. Sounds like that'll give me a focused heat I can stick under my desk to warm my feet if they're available in a small enough form factor.

Any recs for outside use? My dad takes a heater fan outside with him when it gets cold.

mackey
Premium Member
join:2007-08-20

mackey to Sly

Premium Member

to Sly
said by Sly:

The fan consumes some electricity. While 1500 watts is 1500 watts, efficiency also depends upon how that heat is created and distributed.

If the fan consumes 50w and is on a 1500w heating element, the total heat output of that heater is..........1550w. As those types of heaters directly turn electricity into heat, all power used by the fan is simply added to the heat output and doesn't effect efficiency at all. Similarly, "how that heat is created" doesn't effect efficiency either - all electric heaters are always 100% efficient. Technically how the heat is distributed doesn't effect efficiency either, but it does use less power to heat less area.

/M

Sly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

Sly

Premium Member

"How the heat is created" determines how the system cycles. The point of a heater is to heat the occupants. Once that condition is met, then the heater can cycle off.

If your goal is to heat the space, then BTU/hr is going to be the same no matter what 100% efficient system you use. Use any heater you like...

But if your goal is to heat your feet, then a small infrared heater placed in direct line of sight will work more efficiently than an air powered unit trying to heat the air from across the room. Even if both heaters consume the same wattage and generate the same BTU, the close proximity infrared heater will cycle which will consume less electricity.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO

2 recommendations

nunya

MVM

Which weighs more: A pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

Salty_Peaks
@173.255.181.x

Salty_Peaks

Anon

said by nunya:

Which weighs more: A pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

The one with the most mass?

Sly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

2 edits

Sly to nunya

Premium Member

to nunya
said by nunya:

Which weighs more: A pound of feathers or a pound of lead?

Which falls to Earth faster: a pound of feathers or a pound of lead? A pound is a pound right?

Apparently this is going over some people's heads... Let's use a laser analogy. Take a 1 watt laser and a 1 watt light bulb. Assume that the entire watt is used to create light and none of it is wasted as heat. Now your job is to illuminate a piece of paper across the room. You can either use the light bulb with light radiating in all directions or you can use the laser with a focused beam directly on the target. Which will light the paper more efficiently?

Now take time into account. You want to illuminate the paper at 50 LUX seconds. Both the laser and the light bulb can do it. But for the same wattage, the laser can do it faster. Once the paper is illuminated properly, the laser can be turned off while the light bulb will have to be left on longer in order to reach full exposure.

A watt is a watt when dealing with BTU. All sources of electric heat will heat the room, atmosphere and everyone in it at the same rate if at 100% efficiency. However if you don't care how warm the walls are across the room and the air around you is and you just want to feel warmer where you sit, then a direct radiant heat source will be cheaper to operate because the energy is focused on heating the intended target, you.

missingit
@69.118.94.x

missingit

Anon

IDK about you but, I worry more about pipes, paint, etc than um I feel warm and the house is frozen...

You still made the SAME btu... all you did was keep the room at 30f and yourself at 70f...

Don't know how we got onto paper and light bulbs, in an emergency, I'd like a bulb, not a laser pointer...

sorry 100% efficient at turning power into heat. They all are.

This is going over your head...

In an emergency, I'd care about keeping my pipes liquid, not keeping my feet warm.

Again just me...
edale
join:2012-01-21
Seattle, WA

edale to Wyngs

Member

to Wyngs
said by Wyngs:

If you have the outlets where the wires are plugged into the back side - instead of being screwed down tightly to it, I wouldn't use a space heater, period. Those outlets ought to be outlawed. I've had 3-4 fires with them over the years. Luckily, all were caught early.

Otherwise known as backstabbed outlets. I too, have seen burnt backstabbed outlets that were feeding 1500W space heaters.

nightdesigns
Gone missing, back soon
Premium Member
join:2002-05-31
AZ

nightdesigns to rfhar

Premium Member

to rfhar
Regardless of which one you get, make sure it has a tip sensor and a timer. Don't want to leave the house with that running.

Boooost
@24.190.186.x

Boooost to Sly

Anon

to Sly
I think I'll feel warmer if I'm sleeping in a 70 degree bed instead of a 45 degree bed. So I'd want to heat the room, too.

If you want targeted heat, use microwaves! (NO, don't do this!)

Cho Baka
MVM
join:2000-11-23
there

2 recommendations

Cho Baka

MVM

said by Boooost :

I think I'll feel warmer if I'm sleeping in a 70 degree bed instead of a 45 degree bed.

I don't keep my bed on an angle.

Sly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

1 recommendation

Sly

Premium Member

Boooost must be a bat.