Portable electric heaters

Forums › Off topic › Portable electric heaters

Technofreak

6656 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3474

Trusted

#116308 24-Apr-2013 21:15

Currently we have a portable gas heater (unflued) a Rinnai RCE 329H, which according to the specs is good for up to 3.6 Kw. It was in the house when we bought it and we used it last winter, it did a reasonable job of providing heat. However unflued gas heaters produce a lot of water as a by product of combustion and must be use in a ventilated room, so you lose some of the heat. We are still deciding on either a heat pump or a flued gas heater as our main source of heat. I want the heat pump the wife wants a gas heater.

I don't want to use the portable gas heater this year and am thinking about a portable electric heater as an interim measure preferably one with a fan.

Has anyone on here got any recommendations on electric heaters?

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

1 | 2

115 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

#805188 24-Apr-2013 22:23

If you want instant heat like when you have just come home to a cold house,yes a fan heater is a good way to go.The are available from small shoe box size to upright cabinets that sometimes have elements with a convector function as well. One thing with fan heaters is that the small ones are normally very noisey.If you want to relax with a book or listen to music etc,they can be anoying.
If you want to leave a heater on for long periods with not the need for a quick warmup period,the oil column heaters give a good background heat.
All portable heaters with a flex and plug have a max kw rating of 2.4kw so bare in mind you won't be getting the same amout of heat that the 3.6kw gas heater gave you. Best go to Bricoes,M10,Bunning etc and have a good look at what is available. Find a plug in the shop and try out there shop display models for noise and heat output etc. Also try out a good radiandt heater. The sort with elements that glow red and that you sit in front of. Very comfortable type of heat but they tend to take longer to bring a room up to a comfortable temperature than a fan heater.
For the most econimical running costs,turn on heater and bring room temperature up to desired level then turn stat down till it clicks off,then leave it to cycle at that level.
Hope that may be of some help.

Stan

929 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 183
Inactive user

#805190 24-Apr-2013 22:26

Out of curiosity was it running on natural gas or LPG?

Plug in heaters will only go upto 2.4kw.
How high is your ceiling height? What size is the room?

nickb800

2735 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 829

Trusted

#805194 24-Apr-2013 22:32

I find oil column heaters are pretty good if you have the time to let them warm up before you use the room.

Definately get rid of the unflued gas asap, they are bloody terrible spewing all sorts of nasties (nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide, dihydrogen monoxide) into your air

Technofreak

6656 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3474

Trusted

#805553 25-Apr-2013 19:00

Stan: Out of curiosity was it running on natural gas or LPG?

Plug in heaters will only go upto 2.4kw.
How high is your ceiling height? What size is the room?

It was running natural gas.

Yep realise plug in heaters only go to 2.4 Kw and we'd probably need two probably three to do the job properly. Cathedral ceilings so more volume which I realise is also a problem. Open plan area of about 64 squares. The gas heater of 3.6 Kw did an OK job lat year.

By my calculations we need a heat pump of about 8Kw heating capacity.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

Technofreak

6656 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3474

Trusted

#805557 25-Apr-2013 19:07

Camden and NickB800

Thanks for the info. I'm thinking probably a oil column heater may be the way to go assisted by a fan heater.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

nickb800

2735 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 829

Trusted

#805559 25-Apr-2013 19:20

I was half expecting Niel to chime in about his oil column heaters with computer fans on the top to circulate the heat - there's one idea for recirculating the heat. But if you do need more than 2.4kw worth of heat then your idea of a fan heater assisting sounds like a winner.

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

scuwp

3927 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2510

#805561 25-Apr-2013 19:22

I am also a fan of oil heaters just for general background warmth. Cheap as chips now.

Having had both flued gas and now heat pump...I am definitely in the heat pump camp.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Stan

929 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 183
Inactive user

#805567 25-Apr-2013 19:31

Technofreak:
Stan: Out of curiosity was it running on natural gas or LPG?

Plug in heaters will only go upto 2.4kw.
How high is your ceiling height? What size is the room?

It was running natural gas.

Yep realise plug in heaters only go to 2.4 Kw and we'd probably need two probably three to do the job properly. Cathedral ceilings so more volume which I realise is also a problem. Open plan area of about 64 squares. The gas heater of 3.6 Kw did an OK job lat year.

By my calculations we need a heat pump of about 8Kw heating capacity.

64m2 with cathedral ceilings is a large volume to heat. If you are using NG I would not rule out a modern energy saving power flued heater it should heat the room up faster than a heat pump.

Whereabouts in nz are you? What is the insulation like in your house?

I might go for more of a radiant style of heater with ceilings that high.

Technofreak

6656 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3474

Trusted

#805568 25-Apr-2013 19:35

scuwp
Having had both flued gas and now heat pump...I am definitely in the heat pump camp.

Yep, just have to convince the other half now. I think one of these would be pretty good and minimise any draughts for the heat pump. Fujitsu ABTF24LAT

http://www.airconspecialists.co.nz/heat-pumps/fujitsu-floor-consoles-range/#

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

JimmyH

2898 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1554

#805588 25-Apr-2013 20:02

I believe you can get more than 2KW out of an electric heater (max 6KW springs to mind for somewhere in my memory). However, the heaters themselves aren't common and are hard to find. Also, they need to be on a 30 amp circuit, the same as an electric stove and which a sparkie can custom install, as they will just overload a standard 10 amp circuit and blow the breakers.

Technofreak

6656 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3474

Trusted

#805600 25-Apr-2013 20:16

Stan:
64m2 with cathedral ceilings is a large volume to heat. If you are using NG I would not rule out a modern energy saving power flued heater it should heat the room up faster than a heat pump.

Whereabouts in nz are you? What is the insulation like in your house?

I might go for more of a radiant style of heater with ceilings that high.

Yes, you're right it is a big volume to heat and the insulation is another issue, especially with cathedral ceilings, without spending a bucket load of money. We don't see ourselves staying in this property long term and spending money on insulation probably doesn't stack up and won't add enough value to the house IMO. We can buy a lot of electricity or gas for that amount of money.

Gas will probably heat things up quicker but the heat pump wins hands down on cost efficiency over all other heating types. Also I see the heat pump being viewed as a selling point.

We are in Hamilton, the house used to have a flued gas heater that was removed by the previous owner and replaced by the portable gas heater. We don't know why but guess the original heater developed a fault and the owner didn't want to pay for a new flued heater. The previous owner was a cheapskate when you look at a few other things around the house.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

Technofreak

6656 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3474

Trusted

#805601 25-Apr-2013 20:17

JimmyH: I believe you can get more than 2KW out of an electric heater (max 6KW springs to mind for somewhere in my memory). However, the heaters themselves aren't common and are hard to find. Also, they need to be on a 30 amp circuit, the same as an electric stove and which a sparkie can custom install, as they will just overload a standard 10 amp circuit and blow the breakers.

Yes, you can, but I was asking about portable heaters and they are limited to 2.4 kw.

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

Stan

929 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 183
Inactive user

#805606 25-Apr-2013 20:39

Technofreak:
Stan:
64m2 with cathedral ceilings is a large volume to heat. If you are using NG I would not rule out a modern energy saving power flued heater it should heat the room up faster than a heat pump.

Whereabouts in nz are you? What is the insulation like in your house?

I might go for more of a radiant style of heater with ceilings that high.

Yes, you're right it is a big volume to heat and the insulation is another issue, especially with cathedral ceilings, without spending a bucket load of money. We don't see ourselves staying in this property long term and spending money on insulation probably doesn't stack up and won't add enough value to the house IMO. We can buy a lot of electricity or gas for that amount of money.

Gas will probably heat things up quicker but the heat pump wins hands down on cost efficiency over all other heating types. Also I see the heat pump being viewed as a selling point.

We are in Hamilton, the house used to have a flued gas heater that was removed by the previous owner and replaced by the portable gas heater. We don't know why but guess the original heater developed a fault and the owner didn't want to pay for a new flued heater. The previous owner was a cheapskate when you look at a few other things around the house.

If you want a quote on getting that Fujitsu installed I will see what I can do. As a floor console it will be more expensive that a high wall unit, the nocria would not be a bad choice either because if forces the air downwards.

You are right the heat pump is the cheapest way to heat that area unless you can find cheap firewood.

LennonNZ

2459 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 411

ID Verified

Trusted

#805612 25-Apr-2013 20:47

LPG gas heaters are just too expensive these days to run.. To fill a standard LPG cylinder 10 years ago was like $15. It seems to go up every year. I think a fill now is like $30. Yes Petrol has gone up this much as well over this time so I guess it makes sense in the cost.

Technofreak

6656 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 3474

Trusted

#805624 25-Apr-2013 21:20

Stan:
If you want a quote on getting that Fujitsu installed I will see what I can do. As a floor console it will be more expensive that a high wall unit, the nocria would not be a bad choice either because if forces the air downwards.

You are right the heat pump is the cheapest way to heat that area unless you can find cheap firewood.

Yes, Please PM me a quote, though I don't know when or even if we'll be going the heat pump way as there's still some "Selling" to do at this end.

The Nocria unit looks good too and would consider something like that though I fear the draught from a wall mounted one may not meet with SWMBO's approval.

Is it just the unit price that's more expensive for the floor console or the installation as well?

Sony Xperia XA2 running Sailfish OS. https://sailfishos.org The true independent open source mobile OS
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
Dell Inspiron 14z i5

1 | 2