donnie_do_dad asked:
Such as a electric quartz radiant heater verses other types of electric heaters. Perhaps someone can provide a web site for me. Thanks.
Such as a electric quartz radiant heater verses other types of electric heaters. Perhaps someone can provide a web site for me. Thanks.
January 30th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Yes, it depends on the type of heater. I will provide a link.
A Convection Heater is an appliance that can warm your room quickly and evenly. They include electric-element, liquid filled and ceramic types. They are recommended for a large bedroom or a small living area. This also depends on the climate that you live in and how well your house is insulated. They use various heating elements to heat the air. As the air rises, it is replaced by cooler air below the element. Once the cool air heats up, the cycle then continues. A convection heater is very quiet because they don’t use a fan to push hot air into the room.
A Radiant Heater is the second type of technology where heat is emitted from infrared radiation. Radiant heaters encompass metal-rod and quartz units. The surface can range from a glowing panel of a gas heater, a concrete slab, a bar radiator, or an open fire. This heat directly warms people and objects in the room, rather than warming the air. Radiant heaters are not recommended for a large space. They are also ideal for basements and garages since they are good at spot heating.
An Oil Filled Heater doesn’t actually burn oil. Instead, it uses electricity to heat the oil that is sealed inside the columns or fins. Once the oil is heated, it is then transferred to the casing and to the air circulating the fins. Oil filled heaters take longer to heat a room because they rely on natural convection. If there is not much air movement in the room, heat will not be distributed all over and horizontal temperature layers may form. This is a good choice for long periods of time or if left unattended. They are very safe heaters and there is a very low chance of getting burned.
Ceramic Heaters are compact and safe. They use a fan to draw air through a special conducting ceramic element and distribute it around the room. Ceramic heaters are very safe because they cannot get hot enough to start a fire.
Quartz Heaters use electric elements packed inside a quartz glass tube that radiates heat to warm people and objects. These are best used for spot heating. Sometimes they can be a fire hazard because they are fragile and easily broken.
There are a few other types of heaters you may come across. A Fan Heater is great at providing heat instantaneously, but this is usually only effective in a fairly small area, such as the actual space around your or in a small room. There is a small amount of noise accompanied with a fan heater, and they are not recommended to be left alone for a long period of time.
A Micathermic Heater uses 80% reflective/radiant heating and 20% convection heating. This unit works without a fan which means it is very quiet. It is ideally used in a bedroom, and has an adjustable thermostat, which allows you to have constant temperature. You can set it to turn on automatically when your room temperature drops below a certain temperature. The advantage of this is that it allows you to prevent pipes from freezing. This unit allows heat to disperse from its top and from both sides. The convection heat rises from the top of the unit which warms the air. Then the radiant heat disperses from both sides to warm people and objects in the room. This unit has a large heater surface which ensures that the whole room is filled with the maximum amount of heat each time.
I have added a link for a nice write-up by someone on Ebay as well.
February 2nd, 2010 at 11:28 am
Space heater are good for small spaces and small rooms, they are not good for very large rooms no matter what they are made from. Having Electric Quarts will not keep you any warmer if the heater is in a large loom, especially of its the only source of heat you have on a freezing cold day. Hope this helps.
Around the horn,
The True Side
February 3rd, 2010 at 10:33 am
If you consider efficiency as the amount of energy put out compared to the electrical energy used, the various types are all close to 100% efficient. A small amount of energy is used to transport the electricity to the point of use.
Speaking just of portable space heaters, I favor those that use a fan to distribute the heat. I results in more even heating, no matter how large or small the space.
February 5th, 2010 at 4:41 am
There are three forms of heat, radiant, convective and conductive. They are absolutely equivalent because, regardless of its form, heat is always measured in calories (metric), or BTU’s (English). Electric space heaters can be radiant, or convective, or some combination of both. (They are conductive only when you touch the hot element and burn yourself!) Regardless of type, the amount of heat generated is always exactly proportional to the amount of electrical power the device consumes. I don’t imagine you wish a long monologue and deep mathematical proof, so I’ll just tell you that all electrical heaters are exactly 100% efficient. They all provide exactly the same number of calories for a given quantity of electrical energy. The only difference between various space heaters is the form of heat they produce. Remember, temperature is NOT a measure of heat, it’s a measure of kinetic energy. Your subjective experience (warmer-colder) has no bearing whatsoever on the efficiency of the various types of space heaters. It is comforting to know that you’ll always get (calories) exactly what you pay for (kilowatt-hours) with an electric heater.
Unfortunately, electricity is the most expensive way to heat because electricity is by far the most expensive form of energy you can buy.
After I read your question I conducted a web search to see what I could find for you. Now I understand your confusion. Every website I found was just some giant offshore corporation’s dishonest sales propaganda. They all “massage” the truth and some outright lie! As scientist by philosophy and an engineer by profession, I think it’s dispicable that the US government allows businesses to blatantly lie to the public. I guess that illustrates the difference between science and politics.