On Mon, 2 Nov 2009 20:26:20 -0800, the infamous "Lew Hodgett"
scrawled the following:


"Bill" wrote:

I just typed in "Convection electric heat" (google search), and this
product came up:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...il=&lpage=none

Looks appealing--even has a thermostat and auto-shutoff. I had been
under the impression that using electricity was a costly way to
create heat. I guess I can try the math: this thing is 1500W =
1.5kW, and it looks like I pay less than 10 cents per kWh, and that
would come out to 15 cents per hour.

The heater above is a cute little toy, would probably work well in a
desk cubby hole for an office.

Trying to heat an un-insulated, 2 car garage in central Indiana in the
middle of winter with a 1500W heater has about as much a chance of
doing the job as you have trying to smell an ameba fart from 100 ft
away in a hurricane.

Haven't run the numbers, but even 15,000W would probably be very
marginal at best.

Are you guys doing the math only on getting a room up to temp? What
about maintaining heat in a previously heated space? A small heater
will take awhile to heat a large space, but once heated, it will
maintain it easily. We're not talking 40x60' outbuildings here.

Insulated, a shop will stay warm with minimal input, but it's gotta be
well insulated. My gar^H^H^Hshop is attached to the house and gets
colder than the house due to leaks. I had an HVAC duct routed there
but it stays about 8 degrees cooler or hotter than the house. I use a
small (1500W) Patton fan/heater and it brings my shop to a toasty temp
in no time. A person working in a shop also adds plenty of BTUs.
http://fwd4.me/2ZJ Here's a $20 type which will do it for you if you
insulate and if you're not in Alaska/ND/Maine/BFE in the winter.

Bill, as I said, insulate that space and use a fan-blown electric
heater or two (on separate circuits, yeah?) to get the space heated so
you can work. I saw you link to a convection heater. Forget that.
Forced air is the only type of heat to have, period. I worked in a
shipping and receiving area in a warehouse in '75. It had radiant
heaters and we were always cold. I moved to Oregon and the house came
with 240v baseboard heaters (convection). When they were running, my
ankles were cold and when I stood up, my forehead instantly broke out
in a sweat. I immediately installed a nice Carrier HVAC. It's my first
air-conditioned home/shop and I love it. (For $6k, I'd better, huh?
But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm gas heated.)

Convected air stratifies, forced air blends. For comfort, go with
forced air.

---
Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight
very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands.
It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.
--John Wayne (1907 - 1979)