Best Space heater?

[sxtasy]

Its starting to get a little chilly, and heating a huge house is way to expensive. What do you guys recommend for a good heater, something that can easily heat a 400sq ft room.

I have had nothing but bad luck with the heaters I have bought from Walmart

[Vagabond142]

A tower computer running a modern video card should heat any space nicely (I know my room stays toasty during winter :P)

In all seriousness, I've heard good things about convection style heaters if you want to heat a large area, with brands like Lasko and Honeywell coming to the front of my mind immediately. I used to have a mini heater for my bedroom from DeLonghi, and that worked well too, but it was a directional heater to keep me warm without turning hte room into a sauna.

[barmanjay]

I have a 2' tall, 3ft wide electric radiator style heater that works very well, and has been for years. (has a small fan to move the air out from the bottom too)

I bought it about 5 years ago and I believe was a rona brand (stickers gone)

On a side note, My Plasma keeps my living room about 5 degrees warmer than any other room in the house- dual purpose, watch tv and keep the living room heated

[JordanEG6]

may be a little on the industrial side, but there might be something on CCI Thermal for commercial/residential heating.

[sputnik]

I think you will be hard pressed to find something small that will "easily" heat a 400 sq ft room.

400 sq ft is the size of a double garage. Not exactly a "room" for the average house.

Have you considered just getting in-floor or baseboard heat installed in the room?

[Supa Dexta]

From back in my basement apartment days, I never had a oil/radiator style heater to do what I wanted it to.. I'd rather have a ceramic type that you can set up to blow in your general direction.. As mentioned 400sq feet is a large space, So you wouldn't be saving money running a small heater non stop, trying to heat the space.

http://www.besthealthpersonalcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/lasko-754200-ceramic-heater-with-adjustable-thermostat.jpg

[Zero102]

Electric heat is 1/3 as efficient as gas heat, if you are heating 400sq. ft. using electricity you might as well pay to heat 1200sq. ft. using gas, it would cost the same. I don't know much about the size of your house, but IMO just turn the furnace on. 400 square feet is a lot.

If you just want a little heater for sitting on the couch or at a computer or desk, you don't need to heat the whole room. A small space heater should work just fine if it is aimed at you.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Zero102
Electric heat is 1/3 as efficient as gas heat

Electric heat is as efficient as heater being used.

You can get 90+ percent efficiency electric furnaces.

[sxtasy]

I am essentially looking for a portable heater, that i can move room to room. I currently have an oil filled/radiator type but its a pos.

We don't have natural gas on the island, our house is heated with kerosene and it is very expensive.

Any makes or models that are superior? I am guessing the oil/radiator type are most efficient?

[AndyL]

I use an old oil filled heater - greatest thing ever... But if you're looking for instant heat - don't bother...

I have one out in the attached/unheated double car garage - takes about 2 days to heat up; but once it's got the slab up to temp - it hardly draws any power...

[Old Snake]

Originally posted by Vagabond142
A tower computer running a modern video card should heat any space nicely (I know my room stays toasty during winter :P)


:werd:

Our PC increases the room temperature significantly. That is with a single card. Some guys have dual or triple video cards which really cranks up the temperature in a room.

[FiveFreshFish]

http://reviews.canadiantire.ca/9045/0435850P/reviews.htm

Parabolic heaters are great.

[Zero102]

Originally posted by sxtasy
I am essentially looking for a portable heater, that i can move room to room. I currently have an oil filled/radiator type but its a pos.

We don't have natural gas on the island, our house is heated with kerosene and it is very expensive.

Any makes or models that are superior? I am guessing the oil/radiator type are most efficient?

Ah, if your house is heated with kerosene then you are probably right about electric being cheaper. For those of us in Alberta with natural gas available, it is roughly 1/3 the cost to use gas to heat a space as compared to electricity.

The problem is it really depends on what you are looking for. There are electric radiant heaters with a parabolic reflector, they will generate quite a bit of heat over a small area and they do not need to sit right beside you to keep you warm, but I wouldn't count on it keeping more than one person comfortable at a time. They are typically $20-$50 depending on style and power.

There are small ceramic element space heaters (little square boxes with a fan in them), they work amazingly well at producing gobs of heat, but typically have very crude temperature control and don't keep you very comfortable. The up side to these is they are typically $20 or less, but sometimes the fans are quite noisy.


There are tower style heaters with multiple fans and better temperature control. Some have ceramic elements, some have carbon fiber elements, some have things I've never heard of. I have no experience with these heaters as they typically range from $60-$150+, but they have very good temperature control, are very quiet and often pivot to help keep a couple people comfortable at a time.

All of these are portable electric heaters. Without much more information its hard to make more accurate suggestions.

I would suggest, go to home depot, rona, any home store basically, and poke around. Typically in the fall/winter they will have a couple set up on display running and you can play around with them and decide what you want.

[bubbley]

Econo Heat (http://econo-heat.ca/)

Thank me later, the canadian dealer is here in calgary. You could probably pick it up straight from there house in the NW. Nice people and this heater is amazing.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I second the recommendation for an oil filled heater, they are dead silent, and they can turn off while the oil keeps the heat so they are efficient. I've been extremely happy with mine for several years, keeps the same temperature all the time. It's radiant heat though, so if there is a ceiling fan or something in the room, that helps.

[Pollywog]

Originally posted by sputnik


Electric heat is as efficient as heater being used.

You can get 90+ percent efficiency electric furnaces.

Keep in mind the difference in cost between electricity and gas.

[codetrap]

Why not look into something like a pellet stove? Then you can use it to heat the whole house. My dad installed one in his 2100sq ranch style, with a full walkout basement for a total of 4200sq feet, and he calculated that running that stove at full bore all winter (which is way overkill) will cost him in the neighborhood of around $500.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Pollywog


Keep in mind the difference in cost between electricity and gas.

Efficiency and monthly cost are two VERY different variables.

Natural gas is currently around the $3 mark, but it wasn't that long ago where it was up over $12.

That said. It didn't make the heat source any more or less efficient.

[bituerbo]

Do you have the ability to dig a 300ft well?
Go GeoThermal? Kill nat-gas and electric in terms of efficiency. All you're doing is running a small waterpump.

[Phil_McGraw]

Oil filled/radiator FTW, my room has zero insulation so it drops to like 8 degrees some days. My honeywell is silent and keeps me warm, I only need the very lowest setting.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by bituerbo
Do you have the ability to dig a 300ft well?
Go GeoThermal? Kill nat-gas and electric in terms of efficiency. All you're doing is running a small waterpump.

LOL

He is looking for a space heater, not a $20-30k replacement of his current heating system.