Heaters...

[Redskins8588]

Hey, I was looking into buying a room heater for my house, mainly because my little girls bedroom does not have a heat run to it. And it does stay kinda warm but I need to put something in there for at night. Being that my daughters are 3 and 1 I cant expect to put something in the room that gets hot and nor can I expect them just to leave it alone. So I need a heater that is safe for kids. My Dad had suggested that I buy an oil filled radiator and put a frame around it to keep them from touching it.

This idea is ok but recently I have been seeing ads for this "Edenpure" heater. It claims that it will cut your heating cost and not have much affect on your electric bill. Does anyone have one of these heaters? Also, it claims that it is safe for kids, it claims that the surface of the heater doesnt get hot, it goes on to say that pets are drawn to it and showed cats sleeping on it.

It has 2 models one that heats up to 500 sq.ft for $297 and another that heats up to 1,000sq.ft for $397. My dad wants one but he is old school and wants to know more about them from people that have one before he dishes out the cash... However, he told me that he would go half on one for me to be his lab rat...

Just looking for information...

[saden1]

From the looks of it EdenPURE Heaters aren't so go.

[724Skinsfan]

I bought a DeLonghi Flat Panel Microthermic Heater from Lowes and mounted it 5 feet up on my wall so that my 18 month old couldn't touch it. My basement is very, very cold and it seems to work pretty well after about an hour.

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by 724Skinsfan

I bought a DeLonghi Flat Panel Microthermic Heater from Lowes and mounted it 5 feet up on my wall so that my 18 month old couldn't touch it. My basement is very, very cold and it seems to work pretty well after about an hour.

It runs off of electric, I am assumeing? Also, how did it affect your electric bill? And how big is your basement, area?

[724Skinsfan]

Just put it in a couple of weeks ago so I haven't checked how it affects my electric bill. The room is 16' x 32' and is in the basement which is not efficiently sealed. We don't go down there too often on a weekly basis so I'm not sure if we'll see a noticeable difference, though.

[firstdown]

Is there a reason why you cannot run heating into that room from the main heat?

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by firstdown

Is there a reason why you cannot run heating into that room from the main heat?

Yeah, it is an old house and was not laid out for forced air heat runs. At one time its main source of heat was fire places, I have one in my one living room and in the basement it was set up for a wood/coal burner. The house was built around 1925 - 1930 in that era.

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by 724Skinsfan

Just put it in a couple of weeks ago so I haven't checked how it affects my electric bill. The room is 16' x 32' and is in the basement which is not efficiently sealed. We don't go down there too often on a weekly basis so I'm not sure if we'll see a noticeable difference, though.

That heater looks interesting, I am looking into it. I dont need the heater as a primary source of heat it would be mostly used at night in my daughters room and at that price I may get another one for in my main living room.

[Schneed10]

Space heaters in general are a much less efficient source of heat than burning a fossil fuel. It takes a lot of electricity to generate meaningful heat.

No matter what, you're going to see a sizeable uptick in your electric bill if you're using one of these things. But if it's only to be used at night, then you likely only need to heat the room just a couple degrees, so the additional electric bill might not be too terrible.

[GhettoDogAllStars]

This is from the site that saden posted:
"After much research I have found that one watt of electricity makes 3.41 BTUs of heat, no matter how it's done... with resistance wires, with quartz, with oil filled radiators, with electric blankets, toasters, ranges, heat lamps... you name it..."

I don't know if it's true, but it makes sense. Work is work, no matter how you look at it. Climbing stairs or walking up a ramp of equal height requires the same amount of work to be performed -- it's the same idea.

I guess the only thing you have to worry about (other than safety) is an ineffecient heater -- one that doesn't produce 3.41 BTUs from a single watt.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Redskins8588

Yeah, it is an old house and was not laid out for forced air heat runs. At one time its main source of heat was fire places, I have one in my one living room and in the basement it was set up for a wood/coal burner. The house was built around 1925 - 1930 in that era.

So how do you heat the rest of the house?

[724Skinsfan]

Originally Posted by Redskins8588

That heater looks interesting, I am looking into it. I dont need the heater as a primary source of heat it would be mostly used at night in my daughters room and at that price I may get another one for in my main living room.

As with any piece of equipment that draws a lot of current, make sure you don't overload that particular circuit.

[Redskins8588]

Originally Posted by firstdown

So how do you heat the rest of the house?

My first floor has heat runs to each room some rooms have more than one heat run in it all from the main heat run. But then my living rooms about 10 foot tall cellings and there is only one heat run to the upstairs and that is in the hallway.

[Monkeydad]

Originally Posted by firstdown

So how do you heat the rest of the house?

They make woodstoves with blowers on them. They can warm up an entire floor pretty well.

[Monkeydad]

Another option for the girls' room could be a small electric fireplace with a blower on it. You can get a small one with glass on it so there's no way they can burn themselves and it will distribute the heat throughout the room.

They have really small ones for about $200 at Lowes or Home Depot and they're safe and efficient. They won't use much current and will do the job. Then, you can always move it to another part of the house if they go off to college or run away with a boyfriend at age 16.

The Home Depot