Thinking about space heaters?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been living in my apartment for a very long time. It has two heating units measuring about 8"x17". The one in my bedroom is just fine for that small space, but the one in my living room has to heat the entire rest of it, which makes it quite inefficient and energy sucking. Without heat, the place has been known to get colder than 50 degrees in winter, which isn’t ideal.

One solution I’ve been thinking of to save energy and not risk the 15+ year old units busting is a space heater. Anyone have any experience with them who can give me tips for looking while they’re not in heavy demand, or else have other ideas?

Thanks in advance!

2

Whatever you do, make sure it has a tip switch on it, meaning if it tips over it will shut off automatically. Also, having one that is thermostatically controlled rather than just high, medium low etc. is a nice bonus.

3

Do you rent? Because if you do, I’d be talking to the landlord about the crappy heater. That’s just insufficient.

4

I agree.

Oil filled space heaters don’t become hot enough to start fires.

5

Um, I have two. There are no “tips” for looking - I went to Home Depot, spent maybe twenty bucks, and got one for my office. Now that I work at home, it’s up in my bedroom. We also got one from Menard’s - same appx. cost - for the downstairs. it heats the downstairs very nicely.

You can buy them online, or with winter right around the corner, they should also be available at any home improvement store. Walmart and Target too, probably.

Maybe I’m missing something - sorry if I’ve missed the point of what you’re asking. My only “tip” is go buy one. They work great.

6

I got mine at Target for like $40 or so. You can set it to oscillate or not. It has the thing where if you knock it over it turns off. You can set it to a specific temperature. I’ve had it for 3 years now. It works great.

I would mention to your landlord about the inefficiency of the installed units, though. He should know.

7

Ditto. I have a small one that I used for a couple of years, and still use to warm up the bathroom so I don’t freeze when i get out of the shower in the dead of winter. It’s electric and shuts off when it hits a particular temperature. Also has the anti-tip-over measure.

8

And let him know if the space heaters blow the circuit breakers. Aged or insufficient wiring can be a problem in older places…

9

Check your lease first. Some leases, most commonly in older buildings, forbid the use of space heaters of any kind.

10

We use a kerosene heater. Theres no open flame. It has a wick that absorbs the kerosene and heats the cylinder. Theres a safety mechanism that extinguishes the wick if the heater is bumped hard or knocked over.
It’s a radiant heat source. A lot cheaper to use than an electric space heater. No danger of bad wiring tripping breakers or causing fires.
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11

If you have a dog or cat, cat especially, forget it. They will sit directly in front of it continually and hog all the heat from it :slight_smile:

12

Decide if you want a radiant or convection space heater. Convention heaters heats the air (overall more comfy IMHO) Radiant heaters heats objects including people (instant heat, one that I use in my bathroom for midnight runs). Radiant heaters will glow orange.
As mentioned above Kerosene heaters, yes they put out a great deal of heat, much more then electric, and are efficient into turning fuel into energy and cheaper, they do have serious drawbacks, such as smelly fuel, spills indoors, refuling, and most particularly products of combustion and depleted oxygen environment inside. Also they most likely would be prohibited on a lease. Yes they work, but not for everyone.

13

In general all space heaters is such a waste of money. Especially electric ones.

14

I should have mentioned that the type of kerosene makes a difference. The basic stuff at the hardware store is not as pure. It will be smelly in a heater.

They do sell highly refined kerosene for heaters. practically odorless. But it does cost more. We’ve used both.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_335477-78-GKKH99991___?productId=3637782&pl=1&Ntt=kerosene

Do you enjoy shivering and being cold? We have an addition on our house. It would literally cost thousands to run duct and buy a bigger central heat furnace just to heat that room.

15

This is so true!

16

that glowing orange heaters are oxygen killers! As I understand its not allowed use in unventilated space

17

Every home should have a Plug-In Carbon Monoxide Detector

No excuses. spend the $16 and stay alive. Even a central natural gas furnace can malfunction and emit Carbon Monoxide. The technicians check for that in their yearly inspection. But a CO2 monitor is still important.

18

how about hydronic heaters? http://www.canarsee.com/heating/radiators-convectors/kickspace-heaters/beacon-morris-k42-twin-flo-iii don’t eat all your oxygen and get you off a lot of heat

19

Carbon Monoxide is not our cause all electric/kerosene space heaters destroying the negative ions of oxygen, resulting in weakness and drowsiness.:cool:

20

KaleMan, space heaters are typically the most economical means of heating, because you can use them to heat only those portions of the house you’re actually using at any given moment. And whether a space heater “kills oxygen” depends entirely on whether it’s fuel-burning or electric, not at all on whether it’s radiative or convective. Even then, a fuel-burning space heater isn’t a problem if your house is well ventilated. Space heaters shouldn’t be used in completely unventilated spaces, but humans shouldn’t be in completely unventilated spaces at all, for exactly the same reason.

I don’t know what your source of information is on space heaters, but it’s clearly not reliable.

EDIT: Ah, I get it, your purpose is to promote one specific model of space heater by claiming that it’s not a space heater, and vilifying all the rest of them. Unfortunately (or fortunately) this board has rules about promoting products. Reported.