need second opinion- safe elec. heater install

CodeOne · Jan 7, 2009

frostnip said:
to the guy who asked "why do you even need an opinion on this"

which is why I was asking for a solution here. It's about 50 degrees in my house at the moment and I was really hoping that this would work.
It's going to drop down into the single digits next week so it would have been nice to have a 25k BTU heater around.
Back to the drawing board.

Understand completely, I know the temps are not as cold here as your talking about. However my wife and I use about 3 to 4 ceramic heaters in stratigic locations in our house (which at the moment has non insulated walls, built in 63) they do a good job keeping our main areas quite comfortable even when the temp outside is down to 28 degrees at night. Some of the oil fired radiator types are good if you already have the room up to a fair degree.

I know this is not a perfect solution but they help our electric bill is not over about $80 to $90 a month. We havent had our gas turned on this year, last year we never used over the min charge for gas $12 any month and cannot afford the expense this year to my wife not working.

These type heaters are quite inexpensive also. This might get you by until you can aquire something more adaquate.

frostnip · Jan 7, 2009

codeone said:
Understand completely, I know the temps are not as cold here as your talking about. However my wife and I use about 3 to 4 ceramic heaters in stratigic locations in our house (which at the moment has non insulated walls, built in 63) they do a good job keeping our main areas quite comfortable even when the temp outside is down to 28 degrees at night. Some of the oil fired radiator types are good if you already have the room up to a fair degree.

I know this is not a perfect solution but they help our electric bill is not over about $80 to $90 a month. We havent had our gas turned on this year, last year we never used over the min charge for gas $12 any month and cannot afford the expense this year to my wife not working.

These type heaters are quite inexpensive also. This might get you by until you can aquire something more adaquate.

pretty similar situation here, older home with non-insulated walls. I have a couple small 110 heaters that get me by but the house is good sized. I had been using LP this season but I can't afford the 600 dollar minimum orders and I am sick of watching the tank run out before I can get it filled.

I am beginning to think that this heater not working out may be a blessing in disguise. I can only imagine the first month's power bill.

I am no electrician but I do have a solid grasp of man's age old friend, fire. I have a friend who uses a wood stove/heat exchanger that is tied into his furnace ducting. He uses a gas furnace as back up but he claims it never runs as long as he has a fire going. I think that is the direction I should go.

Trees are renewable and cheap. Sure lugging wood around sucks but I need the work out.

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CodeOne · Jan 7, 2009

Wood is a good source is a lot of work though, We also have a fireplace similar situation would have to be lined. Yes plain electric heat is expensive. our house is only about 1200 sq ft. just my wife and I we only heat the areas we use. Wished I had installed a heat pump instead of gas they work quite well here due to not having that many days below 38 degrees.

I hope you have sucess with your venture.

Cookie · Jan 7, 2009

Don't forget about using a sleeping bag on those really cold nights. My house is old & drafty and my son tosses his sleeping bag on his bed some nights. Before I got a new furnace I bought a small electric heater for his room at HD. One which if tipped over would automatically shut off, and it cycled itself.

frostnip · Jan 7, 2009

Cookie said:
Don't forget about using a sleeping bag on those really cold nights. My house is old & drafty and my son tosses his sleeping bag on his bed some nights. Before I got a new furnace I bought a small electric heater for his room at HD. One which if tipped over would automatically shut off, and it cycled itself.

not a bad idea on the sleeping bags, I have a couple around here somewhere.

Well, all I can hope is that someone else can use the 208v beast and I can invest the $ into a new chimney lining.

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/mat/984556043.html

Thanks guys. Sometimes it is not easy to make the right choice.

Cookie · Jan 7, 2009

What matters is you made the right choice, and I bet, the stuff will sell like crazy.

I am really sorry it could not work out for you, but honestly, you made the right decision.

Scuba_Dave · Jan 8, 2009

Heating is expensive, cost of oil is down right now - but that won't last
My bathroom does not have a radiator in there, so I installed radiant floor heat. Its used mostly when we give our son a bath

I also supplement heat with wood. We have a fireplace & I installed a grate heater that is supposed to put out 60,000 BTU. It keeps the main area on the 1st floor warm - up to 74. The bedrooms fall to maybe around 68. We kick the heat on briefly before we put our son to bed to heat up the bedrooms

Basement used to dip to 45 due to bad door, single "pain" windows
I replaced the door & windows, insulated the sill plate
With the heat on the basement stays around 60-63. I've also replaced the windows/doors in the house. We have gone from 3 tanks of heating oil a year to (1) to 1 1/4 tanks of oil - big savings

frostnip · Jan 8, 2009

thanks for the tips Scuba Dave, I really think that wood heat is the answer here for this old place. I could use to weather-proof my basement too, we had double pane glass put in everywhere but the basement.

For the record, the heater maker contacted me back by email today stating that they do not recommend switching the internals of the heater to parts of different voltages. They stated any such modifications will void the warranty and release them from any liability. I guess converting it over would be bad practice too since the unit would still be labeled 208v.

Hopefully someone else can use it and I can get my wood-burner hooked back up ASAP.

jamiedolan · Jan 8, 2009

frostnip said:
thanks for the tips Scuba Dave, I really think that wood heat is the answer here for this old place. I could use to weather-proof my basement too, we had double pane glass put in everywhere but the basement.

For the record, the heater maker contacted me back by email today stating that they do not recommend switching the internals of the heater to parts of different voltages. They stated any such modifications will void the warranty and release them from any liability. I guess converting it over would be bad practice too since the unit would still be labeled 208v.

Hopefully someone else can use it and I can get my wood-burner hooked back up ASAP.

Glad to hear you checked with them, I was hoping there would be a conversion. They (manufacture) specifically said some models were able to be converted from 208 to 240 and some where not. Unfortunately you found out yours was not. I am really glad to hear you checked, too many people listen to a friends advise and we see unnecessary fires and loss of life.

Good work making a smart decision and keeping your family safe.

Best of luck;
Jamie

need second opinion- safe elec. heater install

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