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War on coal
| December 3rd, 2016 at 10:51:00 AM permalink | |
| AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 137 Posts: 21195 |
I'm not suggesting it for most individual homes, too inefficient for smaller units. Too long to heat up and too hard to regulate. Though I have wondered about rocket mass heaters, you can heat them up with your junk mail and the provide a good base heat for a long time, so I have heard so far. But for electricity, coal is great. Might even keep finding more uses for the by-products. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength |
| December 3rd, 2016 at 11:30:37 AM permalink | |
| pew Member since: Jan 8, 2013 Threads: 4 Posts: 1232 | It''''''s funny that back in the seventies (under Pres. Carter ah-hem) Popular Science magazine had articles every month about efficient or cleaner coal, solar, wind and all kinds of different and innovative technologies that would continually improve and by the next century....... Well it''''''s 2016 and no flying cars and solar panel efficiency still stinks and still costs way too much. Oh well, maybe next century. |
| December 3rd, 2016 at 12:00:49 PM permalink | |
| AZDuffman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 137 Posts: 21195 |
On YouTube there is the 1978 AFC Championship Game with full commercials. One for solar power says it is decades away. For large scale still is. STRATFOR suggests current solar tech is a youthful fling and it will be practical only when we figure out Tessa's (guy not car) theory of transmitting power thru the atmosphere. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength |
| December 3rd, 2016 at 12:36:16 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
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| December 3rd, 2016 at 12:45:12 PM permalink | |
| Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 148 Posts: 25978 |
I have the temp at 62 in the winter. I spend most of the time in my office, so I use an oil heater and keep it about 70 in here. Small room, easy to do. Upstairs it's warmer because heat rises. It's 62 downstairs and about 72 upstairs. I don't mind the rest of the house at 62 because I'm always dressed and moving in those areas, it's comfortable. This is what I use in the office, best space heater there is. The oil inside heats up and stays hot with very little power. I keep it on almost the lowest setting there is and it stays 70 in here. This room has no heat, the vent is closed. If I turn the heater off and forget to turn it on for overnight, and it's 0 degree's out, it will be 40 in here. So keeping it at 70 when it's 0 outside is quite a feat, considering it's on almost the lowest setting.  If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
| December 3rd, 2016 at 2:36:21 PM permalink | |
| kenarman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 14 Posts: 4530 |
There is nothing wrong with your oil filled electric heater EB but it is not significantly more efficient. All electric heaters are 100% efficient at converting electricity into heat. What additional efficiency there might be in your heater is because the oil evens out the temperature swings between heat on and heat off which usually is a little more efficient. The same reason a better thermostat on central heating can be more efficient. Despite all the hype by various manufacturers and their products electric heaters are all within a percentage or 2 in efficiency, its called physics. If it plugs into a regular wall outlet a heaters maximum output is 1500 watts. "but if you make yourselves sheep, the wolves will eat you." Benjamin Franklin |
| December 3rd, 2016 at 3:00:29 PM permalink | |
| Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 148 Posts: 25978 |
I've used all kinds of heaters and the oil heater is more efficient because it keeps giving off heat when the it clicks off. Other electric heaters stop giving off heat immediately. The oil heater is always working whether it's on or off. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
| December 3rd, 2016 at 3:16:00 PM permalink | |
| kenarman Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 14 Posts: 4530 |
The residual heat in the oil didn't come from nothing it came from the electricity when it was on. The heat from a normal radiant heater heats the furniture and other things in the room. They radiate this heat back into the room as they cool when the heater is off. As a said in my original post its physics can't get something from nothing. "but if you make yourselves sheep, the wolves will eat you." Benjamin Franklin |
| December 3rd, 2016 at 3:53:17 PM permalink | |
| Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 148 Posts: 25978 |
What kind of radiant heater are you using, I never had one that heated squat, except air right around it. When it shut off the room started to cool immediately. With the oil heater it cools much slower because the hot oil keeps pumping out heat long after it shuts off. "Where radiant heaters struggle is any place where you want to move around comfortably in the same area. Because their heat is so focused, radiant heaters can't warm anything outside their field of view and because electromagnetic waves spread out as they travel from their source, you have to be physically close to the heater in order to feel its heat. All of which makes them an excellent way to heat one or two individuals, but very bad at heating rooms. Their heat's just too confined. Convection heaters (oil) heat enclosed spaces very well, allowing you to move about without feeling cold or chilly. They take longer to warm you up, but they're what you need if you want a constant, long-term heating solution." If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
| December 3rd, 2016 at 5:30:20 PM permalink | |
| Pacomartin Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 1068 Posts: 12569 |
I have always regarded the oil heaters as more cost effective simply because they had 600W, 900W, 1500W settings, and you could opt to run them on a lower setting. They may not be more efficient in a true heat exchange equation, but sometimes you feel warmer on a 600W setting if it is a foot away. Also with oil heaters you are not as easily burned. Older traditional space heaters only had one setting (1500 Watts) and you relied on the thermostat to shut them down. So even if you put them near your chair, they still don't shut down until the air in the room reaches a certain temperature. But newer ceramic heaters have a high setting (1500W) and a lower wattage setting (exact wattage not specified). |