In message ,
"Jim Crow" wrote:

Anybody know anything about Quartz patio heaters ....... eg on the link
below

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...clickfrom=name

or something similar? Are they any good? Any problems etc? Spare "Tubes"
available?


I've never used this kind of thing outdoors, but experience of them
indoors (church halls) would lead me to avoid them at all costs. The
idea of radiant heat is that it warms you, not the surroundings. Problem
is that when you move around you move through un-warmed air and thus
feel cold. On-axis they can roast, off-axis they might as well not be
on. If you have one, stand underneath a 500W halogen floodlight to
feel the effect. Mind you, I've not found gas patio heaters much better
in this respect.

I once heard an equally daft proposition. This was totally serious, by
the way, and not by way of a joke: have a microwave waveguide into each
room. People, being mainly water and fat would warm quite easily while
no heat would be wasted warming the walls and the furniture. In order to
avoid the problem of sitting on a cold sofa it was suggested that such
items could have thin bags of water incorporated. Blowed if I can
remember where I heard the idea, it was *years* ago. Probably on Radio
4, "Science Now" or something.

Hwyl!

M.

--
Martin Angove: http://www.tridwr.demon.co.uk/
Two free issues: http://www.livtech.co.uk/ Living With Technology
.... Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a tagline writer.