Cheap electric heater tweaking

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GeneW

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Jan 20, 2013
Messages
1,236
Reaction score
2,040
Location
OKC
Costco has an electric heater with the parabola (I think it's called) dish. A friend bought one last year and highly recommeded it, so I bought one too. They put out a lot of heat from a 110-volt wall out, I'd say they do a heckuva good job. They are back in the Costco again, I think they are $79 right now, but I got mine on sale for $69.
 

thor447

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Sep 1, 2012
Messages
5,310
Reaction score
13,549
Location
Newcastle
Costco has an electric heater with the parabola (I think it's called) dish. A friend bought one last year and highly recommeded it, so I bought one too. They put out a lot of heat from a 110-volt wall out, I'd say they do a heckuva good job. They are back in the Costco again, I think they are $79 right now, but I got mine on sale for $69.
I got one of those as well. They are great.
 

BillM

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
May 18, 2020
Messages
3,370
Reaction score
4,653
Location
Del City, OK
I too use the 110v heaters to take the chill off in the garage if I am going to be working there, but I don't trust them unattended. One of the possible failure modes is the points may stick and overheat. Still, they are better than the old charcoal bucket, which is a CO hazard.
Also, any 110v heater or similar device is inherently less efficient then using a properly made 220v device. That's why all the high-current home devices (electric furnace, water heater, electric oven, clothes dryer, AC) are 220v.
Not actually true about the efficiency, at least for resistance heaters. They are actually 100% efficient. An electrical device that is 80% efficient only turns 20% of the power applied to it into heat. If all the electricity going into the device comes out as heat, and that is it's intended purpose, it is 100% efficient, regardless of applied voltage. What a 220V heater can do is put out way more heat than a 110V heater in a given amount of time, because it can handle more input power.

Most household wiring is 110VAC, 15amp circuits. Some circuits, like the one(s) in the kitchen and laundry room may be 110VAC, 20amp circuits. Power(in Watts) is Voltage time Current. 120V time 15A is 1800 Watts. 120Vx20A=2400 Watts. That is the maximum current draw at maximum voltage. Most houses, you don't really get 120V. Mine runs about 110-115, which will change the maximum current I can draw. For 220V circuits, common wiring can be from 20 to 50 amps of current. 220Vx20A=4400 Watts. 220Ax30A=6600W, and 220Vx50A=11000W.

As you can see, more power can give you more heat. You're also going to get heating in the wires in your house, so you really don't want to run maximum current through your wiring all the time. Most equipment will not draw as much power as the circuit is supposed to be able to provide. If you try to run the coffee maker, the microwave, and the dishwasher all at once, and they're on the same circuit, you'll find out what that does. None of them draws the maximum power the circuit can provide, which for a kitchen circuit should be 110V 20A, but the more equipment you run, the closer you get. When you exceed that current, the circuit breaker is supposed to trip, and drop power to the circuit. If it doesn't work, or work fast enough, the wiring in the walls gets hotter, and hotter, and eventually the insulation on the wires melts, and then you'll probably get a short circuit that throws sparks and molten metal inside your wall. A fire is the usual result of that. Watch the news this winter, and you'll see several stories about houses burning, and folks dying because of an electrical fire. Try not to be one of them.

Bill
 

MacFromOK

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
May 11, 2016
Messages
13,759
Reaction score
14,762
Location
Southern Oklahoma
Not actually true about the efficiency, at least for resistance heaters. They are actually 100% efficient. An electrical device that is 80% efficient only turns 20% of the power applied to it into heat. If all the electricity going into the device comes out as heat, and that is it's intended purpose, it is 100% efficient, regardless of applied voltage.
No... 80% efficient would turn 80% of the applied power into heat, not 20%. Your own 100% example shows this.

Most household wiring is 110VAC, 15amp circuits. Some circuits, like the one(s) in the kitchen and laundry room may be 110VAC, 20amp circuits.
Not sure where you're getting this info...

Our house (Farmers Home Administration code, built in '76) has 12ga wiring and 20A breakers. Voltage (last time I checked) runs a little over 120V (room outlets) and a little over 240V (water heater, dryer, etc.).
:drunk2:
___
 
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
13,566
Reaction score
22,288
Location
yukon ok

Transmission and Power Loss​

The rated voltage input in each cable the power company feeds to a service panel is 120 volts plus or minus five percent due to fluctuations in transmission loss in the power lines. This means that the power at the panel can be as low as 114 volts. As the electricity encounters resistance in conductors and does work while passing through electrical devices along its path, its voltage drops still lower. In a house with extensive circuitry, it is not unusual to get a 110 volt reading or less at receptacles far from the panel.
 

trekrok

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Mar 6, 2009
Messages
4,166
Reaction score
7,169
Location
Yukon, OK
Deviation, but anyone see outdoor wood fired boiler? Circulates hot water back into the house to heat by radiant or forced air. I had never seen one but saw an ad in a magazine and got me to looking. It wouldn't be that great for me anyway since I'd probably spend more on wood than gas. But pretty cool concept.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom