ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area 1200W 120v plug-in heaters

Space heaters have their role .... and they are frequently abused .... but let's look at another part of the questioon: component ratings.

Let me begin with a colorful example, using footwear. Shoes are shoes, and all are rated for 'walking.' Yet, I wouldn't wear my metatarsal / steel toe boots for dancing, or hike the Applacian trail in heels.

Sounds silly, doesn't it? Yet, we assume all receptacles are equivalent just because they're UL listed. Ditto with switches. Wel, UL has some pretty thorough testing, but you can be sure they don't cycle them on and off of full load for nine months. There are many, many items that wimply won't last very long when pushed to the limit. I mean, ever look inside a power strip, and see just how flimsy those are?

Switches require special attention. Did you realize that the 'usual' light switch has only a 10 amp rating? Look at the markings on the strap.

Receptacles run from 50 cents to 15 dollars .... one would be foolish to assume that all were equally stout.

A separate reply for a separate topic.

Efficient space heating? The advertising is truly shameless. I especially like the ones that imply some sort of magical Amish connection. They ought to fell ashamed.

Others who ought to feel ashamed are the parents and teachers who do such a poor job of educating that folks can reach adulthood and believe this crap. Whether the topic is space heating, 'saving the environment,' or any of a number of public policy topics, the blather that passes for profound thinking is truly frightening. You can't be that stupid on your own; you have to learn it!

Less obvious, but IMO completely scandalous, is the way we quite happily create, or pass on, bad situations to the next guy. "Not my problem" has to be posted on the gates of Hell. Let's be honest here: folks often use space heaters because the heating, insulation, and controls were NEVER adequate. (I'm thinking in particular of apartment buildings where the entire building is controlled by one thermostat in the boiler room).

It's a safe bet that these inadequate designs didn't 'beef up' the electric to allow for the anticipated use of space heaters! No- let's build it as cheap as we can, and pass the consequences of our poor design on to the tenants. Then we can chat with our slumlord friends about how the 'animals' trash the place.

So ... when you see space heaters used, the chances are you r 'problem' goes beyond a toasted receptacle.

The "space heaters are more efficient" fairy tale won't go away as long as unscrupulous vendors and even "electricians" keep claiming that electric heat is 100% efficient because electricity is always fully converted to heat! Heck, even power companies used to market electric heating heavily in Europe, particularly night storage heat in order to level out the load on the grid!

Of course the debate completely ignores the fact that (from an economic point of view) day rate electricity is often more expensive than primary fuels (gas, oil, wood, pellets,..) per kWh and (from an environmental point of view) the losses are simply moved somewhere else, i.e. to the power plant where the electricity is generated and to the transmission lines (heat losses). But hey, juice comes out of the wall, doesn't it?

I live in a place where heat is a minor part of our utility bill so resistive electric heat has been the normal thing. Nobody here has a real "furnace". They just have toaster heater strips in the A/C air handler. Usually it just runs in heat mode less than 100 hours a year. The actual "on" time will be less than that. It is hard to justify a lot of extra expense for another system with that small a usage.

I usally start with a quick leason in ohms law, and ene with would you plug a window a/c unit in that receptacle? Cause this here heater uses 2x the electric. Some get it soe don't. I believe the effenciencies(sp) come when you turn the main house heat down to 60 and use the space heater in an isolated room.LOL that said" just met with a customer who's heat pump quit and was running on the aux elctric heat for over a month. $900. electric bill. So till it could be replaced she was trying to use space heaters. $800. bill house was cold and she had me there to replace the burned outlet. I told her to turn the heat on and be comfortable. She said but these are energy effciant.lol
She is a nurse and her husband is a doc. 3000sqft plus home.

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