I definitely need a space heater for my bedroom. The question is, how does the Sunbeam compare to something like this oscillating one from Lowe's for $37?

http://www.lowes.com/pd_81525-33454-DCH5090EL_0__?productId=3262237

jdpman wrote:Did you guys seriously not get mattdiem's overtly obvious sarcasm or do we desire quality posts so much that we'll answer any question no matter what it is?

YES!

(I am answering this question in hopes of getting a quality post.)

This will be great to keep my beer drinking & dart throwing room nice and toasty! Just got to remember not to spill beer on it while bending over to remove the stuck dart out of the front!

jdpman wrote:Did you guys seriously not get mattdiem's overtly obvious sarcasm or do we desire quality posts so much that we'll answer any question no matter what it is?

I'll answer your question even though I'm not actually trying for quality points.

People camp in tents in their back yards with their kids. They live in tents in friends' back yards when they're out of money. They put heaters in their tents. They put cookstoves, electric and fuel-burning, in their tents.

Pat yourself on the back for never coming across people who do these things, letting you spot the overtly obvious sarcasm.

Oh, you don’t have a law book? Yet you feel confident enough to tell me that I’m breaking the law? How strange. How very strange.

The wife is going to be hearing this a lot in the near future.

I have to wonder, what could have gone wrong with a heater like this to necessitate refurbishing?

If you're wondering if this will save you money on heating the answer is most likely no, unless you get electricity really cheap. If you have an old furnace, you may want to save up money to get a new one (natural gas furnaces get more efficient every few years). This item is a luxury for the most part although I can see a lot of reasons to have one.

----------
Cost if you have residential service from DTE in Michigan (a deregulated state) for the upcoming year (starting 2011 Nov 01):

30.12 cents/hour (first 17 kWh/day)
33.15 cents/hour (after 17 kWh each day)
(plus $9/mo for having service)

Most residential consumers with a family consume more than 17kWh/day so they would use the 33.15 cent/hr rate.
Examples:
8 hrs = $2.65
24 hrs = $7.96
24/7 = $55.69/wk

If you want to know about what it takes to reach 17 kWh/day, write down the wattage of everything you use in your house (most things say it in watts so you need to divide by 1000 to get kW). [If all that's listed is amps (A) and volts (V), then multiply the two and divide by 1000 to get watts]. Multiply each by an estimate of how many hours you use each thing and add all of them together.

If what you calculated is over 17 then the total per day is:
.3012 x 17 + .3315 x (total-17) [dollars]
If under 17:
.3012 x total [dollars]

tuggas wrote:Get Married

funny, funny, FUNNY!

just to be clear. ok to leave this on running overnight during sleep hours? Have 12 year old sleeps on third floor little drafty up there.

bluejester wrote:Is this compatible with heating up my Big Mac?

Gotta work the ol' mac question in somehow...

I gotta say that I havent laughed that hard in a while!

Oh and P.S. Im sure its obvious because its written allover the box and common sence. but dont use these with a standard extention cord......

ivanivanovich, I appreciate you trying to look after the safety of stupid people, but mattdiem said he tried building a fire inside the tent. INSIDE THE TENT. Please tell me that at least you realized it was a joke when you read that.



But anyway, I'm still wondering how this is shipped. There's no mention if its ground or smartpost. Why can't someone answer that question for me?

zephalis wrote:If you're wondering if this will save you money on heating the answer is most likely no, unless you get electricity really cheap. If you have an old furnace, you may want to save up money to get a new one (natural gas furnaces get more efficient every few years). This item is a luxury for the most part although I can see a lot of reasons to have one.

----------
Cost if you have residential service from DTE in Michigan (a deregulated state) for the upcoming year (starting 2011 Nov 01):

30.12 cents/hour (first 17 kWh/day)
33.15 cents/hour (after 17 kWh each day)
(plus $9/mo for having service)

Most residential consumers with a family consume more than 17kWh/day so they would use the 33.15 cent/hr rate.
Examples:
8 hrs = $2.65
24 hrs = $7.96
24/7 = $55.69/wk

If you want to know about what it takes to reach 17 kWh/day, write down the wattage of everything you use in your house (most things say it in watts so you need to divide by 1000 to get kW). [If all that's listed is amps (A) and volts (V), then multiply the two and divide by 1000 to get watts]. Multiply each by an estimate of how many hours you use each thing and add all of them together.

If what you calculated is over 17 then the total per day is:
.3012 x 17 + .3315 x (total-17) [dollars]
If under 17:
.3012 x total [dollars]

Forget power over-load, I think my brain just shut down.

SimpilotMN wrote:How is infrared different from other types of heaters? Doesn't IR heat the contents of a room or something?

Let me put on my Physics teacher hat. It's here somewhere. Oh, there it is!

Okay, first: ALL electric heaters (except heat pumps) convert 100% of the power they use into heat in the room.

Second: how you PERCEIVE that heat can vary widely, because of how it's distributed.

Lastly (and the part you were waiting for): an IR heater does indeed heat the objects in the room, including walls, furniture, and you (presuming you're in the room). Those objects then re-radiate heat into the air to eventually warm the entire room.

What this means is that, almost immediately after you turn it on, you will feel warmth on any exposed skin facing the heater, if there's nothing between the heater and you, regardless of how cold the room (still) is. After a few minutes, you will feel the heat work its way through any clothes you're wearing on the side facing it.

It's also why people report it feels like the sun or a fireplace. If you stop to feel, you may realize that there's no warmth noticeable on the side facing away from the heater (or if there's an obstruction), but most people don't mind it.

IR heaters are ideal for heating, for example, a small area of a large room, or an outdoor space, where it's prohibitively expensive (or impossible) to heat the whole place: anyone in front of the heater will feel warmth (and most people -- including Yours Truly -- find it very pleasant). IR heaters are used on outdoor patios, loading docks, and tennis courts for this reason.

See, people? Physics is good.

paisleyfox wrote:Also bought this at Walmart. Have had mine about a year. No incidents, just great heat. The only thing I'd suggest is not running a hair dryer on the same breaker. I never learn.

But it's really great to come in and sit in front of this after a long, cold day.

I have basically the exact experience - great heater, hair dryer on same breaker = bad. I never learn either

versabox wrote:I definitely need a space heater for my bedroom. The question is, how does the Sunbeam compare to something like this oscillating one from Lowe's for $37?

http://www.lowes.com/pd_81525-33454-DCH5090EL_0__?productId=3262237

I have this Sunbeam that I bought from Walmart last year. Still working.

I also have several ceramic heaters similar to the one you linked at Lowes except mine don't oscillate.

To be honest, I don't find the Sunbeam to that much quieter than the ceramic heaters. From the verbage on the box, the Sunbeam is suppose to be.

By the way, Target had an oscillating one on sale for $29 either this week or last week, so $37 is on the high side.

B/c nothing says "Died tragically in a house fire." like a refurbished space heater. Really folks if you're gonna splurge anywhere you should probably do it on products that can maim or kill your family.

could this be used outside in patio?

hmmm... my office is habitually freezing during the winter. In for 1.

Could this be used on the ledge of my bathtub?

wonders if it roasts marshmellows?

jeffiekins wrote:Okay, first: ALL electric heaters (except heat pumps) convert 100% of the power they use into heat in the room.

Not 100%. If you can see the element glowing, a small percentage of the power is being converted to visible light.

Like another wooter I had said to myself "if woot! has a heater tomorrow I will buy it." and I am a cheapskate ebayer from way back.

I just had my second space heater die this week. no more $10 heaters for me.

NoSup4U wrote:Is this the kind of heater that makes popping noises all night as it heats up and cools down?

No. It just sounds like a fan is running. We have one and LOVE it! It warms up the room very quickly. The kids love to get dressed near it on the really cold winter monrings.

jeffiekins wrote:

Okay, first: ALL electric heaters (except heat pumps) convert 100% of the power they use into heat in the room.

What about light? They convert some of that power into visible light. What if there is a fan inside? They use some of that power to turn the fan.

I don't get it... few buyers in ID, ME, MT, ND, NY and WY, but plenty in GA, SC and TX.

This is a heater folks, not a swamp cooler ;)

cvargo1 wrote:how safe would this be to have with a wild puppy in the house.

How safe for you, or the puppy?

ntesta wrote:just to be clear. ok to leave this on running overnight during sleep hours? Have 12 year old sleeps on third floor little drafty up there.

Get a low EMF electric blanket. Much more effective (until you get out of bed).

Discord wrote:Not 100%. If you can see the element glowing, a small percentage of the power is being converted to visible light.

Yes, but in a closed room visible light decays into heat...

jeffiekins wrote:[SNIP] first: ALL electric heaters (except heat pumps) convert 100% of the power they use into heat in the room.

As a physics teacher you should know better than to declare anything 100%. For one, you have to consider what you are paying for as the 'used power' in a room. Power is lost to a room in several ways before becoming useful:
* direct IR out of a window [or more statistically correct...loss through all matter]
* magnetic fields which traverse the boundary of the "room" and dissipate via thermal energy outside of the room
* any opening, however temporary, will affect how the heat will leave:
(1) If the air is heated it will leave consistently except for the initial seconds if a door is opened
(2) If the energy is IR in nature it will leave in a relative instant if any IR transparent opening is available

What people pay for is the power provided by the electric company...up to the meter. All house wiring suffers form losses, not all of which are provided as usable heat.

Actually the average house efficiency is horrible and all electric company losses (power to the premises) are eventually added to the bill.

jeffiekins wrote:[SNIP] Lastly (and the part you were waiting for): an IR heater does indeed heat the objects in the room, including walls, furniture, and you (presuming you're in the room). Those objects then re-radiate heat into the air to eventually warm the entire room.

An IR heater heats different objects to different extents depending on how they react to IR radiation. Each object will re-radiate heat at a different (less than 100%) rate. As air moves much slower than light [including IR], heated air has a much harder time escaping a well insulated room.

Most common household objects do NOT absorb infrared to a degree that they could be considered storage reservoirs or radiators. Infrared heating relies mostly on the idea that living tissue (unlike clothing) absorbs a large quantity of infrared energy and turns in into thermal energy.

Convection heating works by air movement, and since heat rises, the temperature rises from the floor to the ceiling.

IR heating works because the IR energy bounces off (near the speed of light) of most non-living objects enough that the living objects are heated preferentially.

The overall improvement in total energy cost is dependent on the cost of each type of heating to the consumer and the amount of functional energy that is obtained:
*if living tissue is the target, then IR is more efficient provided adequate IR reflective insulation (try a space blanket some time)
*if non living objects in a room must remain heated (object dependent) then a gas furnace is more efficient (in general).

jeffiekins wrote:
What this means is that, almost immediately after you turn it on, you will feel warmth on any exposed skin facing the heater, if there's nothing between the heater and you, regardless of how cold the room (still) is. After a few minutes, you will feel the heat work its way through any clothes you're wearing on the side facing it.

[SNIP]

Exemplifies my point above.

jeffiekins wrote:
IR heaters are ideal for heating, for example, a small area of a large room, or an outdoor space, where it's prohibitively expensive (or impossible) to heat the whole place: anyone in front of the heater will feel warmth (and most people -- including Yours Truly -- find it very pleasant). IR heaters are used on outdoor patios, loading docks, and tennis courts for this reason.

Again I note...living things respond to these wavelengths of IR 'light'. In an outdoor lo cation (hospital entries is another), living beings are definitely better kept under an IR heater as the energy is direct-able to the body vs having to be transferred by conduction from the air which is dispersed readily outdoors.

jeffiekins wrote:
See, people? Physics is good.

Yes it is.

Did anyone see the front image out of the corner of their eye and think Banquet of Cupcakes?

stimpy wrote:But I wouldn't trade this giant bundle of love named Callaghan for the world. Or what's left of it after he gets done with it.

I so wish there was a "Like" button on the Woot forums!

MichXelle wrote:I call it a portable heater, not a space heater. Any difference?

No. But the issue is both the fire issue, and the fact that in an office, with something like this drawing between 12 and 15 amps, and the typical breaker being 20 amps; even one unit would leave little room on the breaker for other devices to be plugged in. Naturally, two heaters would kick the breaker.

woottoady wrote:I don't get it... few buyers in ID, ME, MT, ND, NY and WY, but plenty in GA, SC and TX.

This is a heater folks, not a swamp cooler ;)

Possibly because people in places where it gets cold in the winter generally already have whole house heating solutions? Just a guess...

I am cold. I've been cold for the last month and will remain cold until June of 2012. I don't know why I live in a place that's frakking freezing for 6 months out of the year. That said, I'm in for one. Maybe it will make my living room bearable.

ntesta wrote:just to be clear. ok to leave this on running overnight during sleep hours? Have 12 year old sleeps on third floor little drafty up there.

I'd look for a different unit for your need. I've seen a small black quartz heater, that has a fan behind it that might be a better choice. You would be heating the air that way, and there's no bright red light showing.
Just remember that any electric heater is expensive to run.

I stay away from this particular style of heater now. I was watching TV with this heater running. All of a sudden it caught fire. Scared the crap out of me.

Does this need it's own breaker/circuit, or can it be plugged in with (1) other electrical device?

Thanks woot, for selling a dad-gum space heater on my birthday...I am dissapoint

bubbachuck wrote:How much increase in my electricity bill would I be looking at assuming it gets a few hours of use every other day?

It says:
Wattage: 1500W (+5% - 10%)

Not sure what the number with +5%-10%? Does that mean 1500W is a minimum?

wattage is either 1000 or 1500, 1KW or 1.5KW
you pay electricty in KW hours. Running the unit for one hour at the 1kw setting (assuming it never cycled off) would use one unit of power. Times that with what your charge is in your area-10 to 20 cents per KW hour.
Dave

aaand

this brings me to 10 purchases on woot

One More Gimlet i just levelled \o/

bpeterson82 wrote:Thanks woot, for selling a dad-gum space heater on my birthday...I am dissapoint

Happy Birthday!! Today's my birthday too! Little disappointed at today's sale as well...