jae@whuxlm.UUCP (Jae Chung) (01/02/86)
I want to purchase a quiet space heater for my bedroom and I was wondering if anyone could recommend one. My primary concern is that it be VERY QUIET (ie. no fans). Thnaks in advance. --Jae (..!ihnp4!whuxlm!jae)
dave@cylixd.UUCP (Dave Kirby) (01/03/86)
In article <894@whuxlm.UUCP> jae@whuxlm.UUCP (Jae Chung) writes: >I want to purchase a quiet space heater for my bedroom and >I was wondering if anyone could recommend one. My primary >concern is that it be VERY QUIET (ie. no fans)... My brother swears by the new oil-filed electric radiators. He and his wife and baby live in an old house that does not have central heat. He bought one of these radiators last year and intends on buying one for each room when he gets the financial wherewithal. I visited him last week, and I can vouch for the radiator's effectiveness. First, the thing is QUIET. It's not like those old steam radiators you used to have at school that made it impossible to hear the teacher when the thing banged on. It also does not have any fan to make noise. You can't even tell if it is on unless you look at a little light on the side that lights up when the thermostat kicks on. If you listen closely, there is a little click in the thermostat which has about the same decibel level as a microswitch. Second, the thing is very effective. I almost died from the heat. Both my brother and his wife like their rooms at 80+ degrees, and this little radiator at 1100+ watts would bring the room from a comfortable 70 degrees to a sweltering 85 degrees in a very short time. I put my hand near the radiator when it was on and could feel very little heat from it, because the 1100 watts of heat was evenly distributed throughout the surface area of the radiator. So the entire surface of the radiator was warm, but not hot. But it really does the job on a room. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Kirby ( ...!ihnp4!akgub!cylixd!dave)
smh@mhuxl.UUCP (henning) (01/05/86)
> I want to purchase a quiet space heater for my bedroom ...
I would not recommend baseboard electric unless it has a built-in
over temperature cutout. A friend had his house burn down when
someone left the covers lying on the heater and they caught fire.gdykes@lasspvax.UUCP (Gene Dykes) (01/06/86)
I have no quibble with the oil-filled radiators ability to heat up a
room - it seems to do as well as the forced air type, BUT...
Neither kind can keep a room at a constant temperature! Yes, they
claim to have thermostats, and sometimes the thermostats work, but in
general they will frequently screw up by up to 5 or 6 degrees.
I like the space heater to keep the baby's room warm during the night,
while the rest of the house is cooled, and it is really annoying to
find the temperature much different than it was the day before.
To be specific, after it is turned off, the thermostat seems to have no
idea what temperature it was maintaining the day before. It also seems
to work lousy if it goes from working lightly to maintain temperature
to working heavily.
If anybody knows of a space heater without brain-damaged thermostats,
please let me know. I've tried several.
--
Gene Dykes, 120 Rand Hall, Cornell U., Ithaca, NY 14853 (607)256-4880
{ihnp4,decvax,allegra,vax135}!cornell!lasspvax!gdykes gdykes@lasspvax.arpaedg@micropro.UUCP (Ed Greenberg) (01/06/86)
In article <894@whuxlm.UUCP> jae@whuxlm.UUCP (Jae Chung) writes: >I want to purchase a quiet space heater for my bedroom and >I was wondering if anyone could recommend one. My primary >concern is that it be VERY QUIET (ie. no fans). Thnaks in >advance. > --Jae > (..!ihnp4!whuxlm!jae) I want to second Dave Kirby's recommendation of an Oil Filled heater. This puppy looks like an old style radiator, but is silent (except for the relay clicking on and off.) I have a DeLonghi brand radiator. It has 600 and 900 watt switch settings, thus giving the choice of 600, 900 and 1500 watts. It cost me about $65 with a 24 hour timer. The timer has 15 minute granularity. The unit is 100% clean and generates nice even heat. My complaints: 1. I wish it had a thermostat calibrated in degrees rather than 1-10. 2. I wish that I could take the timer out of the circuit rather than having to reprogram the thing on the weekend. Most timer mechanisms allow the timing wheel to be pulled out (or pushed in) disconnecting the on/off triggers from the switch WITHOUT disturbing the set times. This unit is permanently obeying the timer settings. Note: Sears sells an oil filled heater. The metal pieces seem to be identical to the DeLonghi, but it has a different timer. As near as I can tell, you turn a dial calibrated from 12 to 1 and so many hours later, the thing turns off. Also it quoted a different wattage. QUESTION FOR THE NET: Does a typical house thermostat switch 110 VAC or can it be made to do so? If so, I'm going out and getting a nice setback thermostat and mounting it across the room from the heater. It can control the heater all day and the room will benefit. Eventually I can put the $65 heater to use elsewhere (or sell it) and get a $45 heater (no timer) to do the bedroom. -e -- Ed Greenberg | {hplabs,glacier}!well!micropro!edg MicroPro International Corp. | {ucbvax,decwrl}!dual!micropro!edg San Rafael, California | {lll-crg,ptsfa}!micropro!edg
smh@mhuxl.UUCP (henning) (01/07/86)
**** **** From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA mhuxl!smh > ... and sometimes the thermostats work, but in > general they will frequently screw up by up to 5 or 6 degrees. > To be specific, after it is turned off, the thermostat seems to have no > idea what temperature it was maintaining the day before. It also seems > to work lousy if it goes from working lightly to working heavily. > If anybody knows of a space heater without brain-damaged thermostats, > please let me know. I've tried several. I had a similar problem and solved it for $10. You buy an electric heat thermostat, a duplex outlet, a double box, and a length of 15 amp heater cord. You wire the cord to the power leads of the thermostat and the duplex outlet to the load leads of the thermostat. Mount this in the box with the correct cord strain reliefs; hang it on the wall at the height you want held at the right temperature and viola (or whatever one is supposed to say?) and you can make any electric heater work like a champ. WARNING, if you are not qualified to do home wiring, then have a friend who is help you do a safe job. PS One advantage is that you can shut off the heater and never touch the thermostat. Of course, you have to turn the heater thermostat up to some higher temperature and it acts as a failsafe.
odell@dciem.UUCP (Patricia Odell) (01/07/86)
. . In article <769@lasspvax.UUCP> gdykes@lasspvax.UUCP (Gene Dykes) writes: > ........ >I like the space heater to keep the baby's room warm during the night, >while the rest of the house is cooled, and it is really annoying to >find the temperature much different than it was the day before. > I would never leave a space heater in a room, unless I was present and awake. They are a common cause of house fires. A faulty space heater was the cause of a fire in a house which my friends were renting; they lost their baby. The babysitter had left the space heater unattended in another room. Please be careful.
levy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) (01/08/86)
In article <432@mhuxl.UUCP>, smh@mhuxl.UUCP (henning) writes: >From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA mhuxl!smh > >> If anybody knows of a space heater without brain-damaged thermostats, >> please let me know. I've tried several. > >I had a similar problem and solved it for $10. You buy an electric heat >thermostat, a duplex outlet, a double box, and a length of 15 amp heater >cord. You wire the cord to the power leads of the thermostat and the >duplex outlet to the load leads of the thermostat. Mount this in the >box with the correct cord strain reliefs; hang it on the wall at the >height you want held at the right temperature and viola (or whatever one >is supposed to say?) and you can make any electric heater work like >a champ. WARNING, if you are not qualified to do home wiring, then have >a friend who is help you do a safe job. Warning 2: Be sure the contacts of the thermostat are rated both for the voltage and the current involved (read the rating sticker or plate on the heater). The household circuit involved should be protected by a fuse of no higher rating than the max current carrying capacity of the thermostat contacts. The 24 volt low current type thermostats just won't do and will burn up. Perhaps consider using a relay or triac control circuit if necessary to handle the current. -- ------------------------------- Disclaimer: The views contained herein are | dan levy | yvel nad | my own and are not at all those of my em- | an engihacker @ | ployer or the administrator of any computer | at&t computer systems division | upon which I may hack. | skokie, illinois | -------------------------------- Path: ..!ihnp4!ttrdc!levy
smh@mhuxl.UUCP (henning) (01/08/86)
From the keys of Steve Henning, AT&T Bell Labs, Reading, PA mhuxl!smh > >I had a similar problem and solved it for $10. You buy an electric heat > >thermostat, a duplex outlet, a double box, and a length of 15 amp heater > >cord. > > Warning 2: Be sure the contacts of the thermostat are rated both for the > voltage and the current involved (read the rating sticker > or plate on the heater). The 24 volt low current type thermostats just won't do and will burn up. The electric heat thermostat I mentioned is a 110/220v "In-line" Thermostat that is used to control all the electric heat in a room: typically 220v and 4000w. Your department store heaters are restricted to 120v and 1500w.
george@sysvis (01/09/86)
> I want to purchase a quiet space heater for my bedroom and > I was wondering if anyone could recommend one. My primary > concern is that it be VERY QUIET (ie. no fans). Thnaks in > advance. Consumer Reports magazine ran a very interesting article on "space heaters" in their (Oct-Dec '85) issue. (Sorry, I don't have it at hand now). They explained their own modus of evaluating the heaters and gave a significant amount of evaluative material on 25-30 heaters of all types (fan, radiant, convection, etc.). I suggest that you go to your local public library and read the article before buying any heater product. Some manufacturers had one model rated at the top of a list and another model rated at the bottom. I purchased a space heater based on their data and have been VERY pleased with its performance for my own situation. ...!ihnp4!sys1!sysvis!ger
msc@saber.UUCP (Mark Callow) (01/10/86)
> I would never leave a space heater in a room, unless I was present > and awake. They are a common cause of house fires. A faulty space > heater was the cause of a fire in a house which my friends were renting; > they lost their baby. The babysitter had left the space heater > unattended in another room. > > Please be careful. This is much too general a statement. After all a space heater is, by definition, simply a machine for heating space. There are many types including central heating systems such as forced air and hot water systems. I doubt many people would consider leaving such systems on unattended a fire hazard. As far as portable single room space heaters go, there are several types. Let's look at them. Oil filled electric radiators: these do not get hot enough to be a fire hazard. The only potential fire hazard from these is clapped out wiring. Incidentally these are not new; they've been available in other countries for at least 25 years. Convection Heaters: these are similar to a large hair dryer. The heating elements are so far inside that it would be very hard for something inflammable to touch them. They are more of a fire risk than oil filled radiators but not a lot provided they are not covered up or something equally dumb. Radiant heaters: these could be electric or paraffin. Because of the exposed heating element these present the greatest fire risk. Even with the proper guards in place it is fairly easy for inflammable materials to touch the element. There are also heaters which are combination radiant and convection heaters. These have the same fire risk as radiant heaters. I would not want to leave a radiant heater unattended for more than a few minutes. Any heating system (and lighting system) can become a fire hazard if the wiring is clapped out. Wiring can be a fire hazard too if you lay the wire in a nice neat coil (unless the wire can carry a current sveral times that of the load) because you have built yourself an induction coil. The eddy currents can overheat the wire severely. -- From the TARDIS of Mark Callow msc@saber.uucp, sun!saber!msc@decwrl.dec.com ...{ihnp4,sun}!saber!msc "Boards are long and hard and made of wood"