What heats a person in a garage better? $100 Costco Parabolic heater $100 Costco Ceramic Space heater
An old friend of mine is cleaning up his tools and he has the cars out of the garage which is very airy (because it's a garage) and hence very cold.
He wants heat. I want to give him a gift.
Which heat is better? Parabolic Ceramic (resistance, with fan)
One "throws" the heat, as I understand it. The other "fans" the heat, as I understand it.
I'm worried that he's so old he'll hurt himself on the "hot" to the touch parabolic - but on the other hand I'm worried the ceramic "fan" heater won't throw enough heat to matter (since a garage is airy by design).
I'd vote for clothing. I used to wear jeans, a t shirt, hooded sweat shirt, stocking cap, insulated jacket and then insulated coveralls. Add insulated work boots and the old fashioned four or five buckle overshoes. There are various gloves for cold weather. It's more money but one isn't limited to a closed space like a garage.
The first two can be electric or fuel (CH4, LP, Kerosene).
Forced air will raise the temperature of the air directly, while infrared will warm the surfaces and objects in the room which will then transfer heat to the air.
Personally, I prefer forced air in the shop; something like:
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For a typical two car garage, you'll need about 44,000BTU; depending on outside temperature/climate.
First thing I noticed, this is called a Costco heater but it's for sale at Amazon. I'm confused.
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Too many aticles here for me to summarize them right off. Maybe I'll post more after I read them.
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One google except says "Parabolic heaters can run at an 80 percent efficiency rating, meaning that they utilize 80 percent of the energy they take in to turn back into heat, wasting less energy than other heaters.Nov 11, 2010" What happens to the other 20%, does it disappear? Get sent back to the electric company? Same question about non-parabolic.
Are ceramic heaters better than other heaters? Ceramic heaters are easily portable and give off a great deal of heat from a small box. These heaters tend to be more energy efficient and safer than many heaters, so even though they heat up quickly, their plastic casings stay cool -- I guess you knew this already.
How old is this guy? If he has enough energy to clean the garage, isn't he still smart enough to not touch the hot parts of the heater?
This must be one of the two you mean:
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Only 1000 Watts Actually the more watts, the more heat. What does the other one use? " parabolic reflector to focus heat...You feel three times the heat of
1500-watt heaters," That assumes he stays in one place, where the heater points. Convenient carry handle. but I don't see it in the picture.
Amazon has almlost the same thing,
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for almost 8 dollars more. I went there because Amazaon usually has great pictures. This time it has 2, one more than the costco itself, but doesn't show the back or the handle. This one is only 800 watts, not 1000 like the costco version
A comment that echos what I said "This went into my garage in for the winter to replace one that died. While it gives off heat well my feeling is that the distribution is more focused than I am use to so I have to find where it's output best suits my working needs." The alternative, oscillation, with fans I don't llike that but with heaters I have no experience.
Eventually any heater will heat the air too, but most people don't turn the heater on until they start and turn it off when they leave.
It was hard to find the ceramic one at 100. I only found one at 90
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!! Smart? What do you need those for? And it doens't give the wattage, though it would on the box if you were there.
I've always wondered what the purpose of t hose very tall fans and heaters is when there are smaller ones. Actually, the room I rented this past april and may had no heating other than heaters like this, and my roomates had 3 of them, all tall. No wifi, no smart, but it did have a timer and thermostat. It was a tiny room and I was either at a desk or sleeping, and it worked fine.
I can't speak from experience - Lee Valley gives a bit of a description for the radiant heater - I bought one years ago but it's still in the box .. in the garage where I intended to use it ..
In some cases the wood stove would not be allowed. Definitely if he puts the cars in the garage. Solid fuel heaters should not be used where flammable liquids are stored.
I would not pay the $ 100 for either one. Electric heat is the same for the same amount of wattage. Depending on how much power he has in the garage he may be better off with 2 or 3 of some $ 25 bathroom type heaters.
Yes, indeed. That why I made the side comment I did.
At
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says "Parabolic heaters can run at an 80 percent efficiency rating, meaning that they utilize 80 percent of the energy they take in to turn back into heat, wasting less energy than other heaters. Nov 11, 2010" You see statements like this frequently. Well, what happens to the other 20%, does it disappear? Get sent back to the electric company? Do you get billed for it anyhow? Same question about non-parabolic.
Normally, inefficiencies in electric, gasoline, steam, gas and any power using devices show up as wasted heat. But in a heater, heat is the goal. How can there be waste heat? How can they be less than 100% efficient?
I don't think that either would put out nearly enough BTU's to make a difference; even in a one car garage. You're going to need a propane heater, or otherwise.
Unless there is leaking fuel, I don't see an issue... So as long as fuel is properly stored. In my six car garage, the previous owners had a wood/coal stove. He did auto-body work in the garage. I dearly hope that he didn't use aerosol and oil based paints in the winter... not that it matters now. I plan to put a wood/coal pot belly stove back in, and keep cars and fuel good and well away from it.
Even the motors generate heat, so it is still 100 % efficent unless you count on the power dropped in the wiring in the house going to the heater. Fuel powered heaters that are vented to the outside will see some of the heat going out the exhaust pipe.
Good point, so let me make my quesiton specific and explicit. In an
*electric* heater, heat is the goal. How can there be waste heat? How can they be less than 99% efficient?
Even the cord to the heater doesn't get warm so waste heat in the 14 or
12 gauge wires going from the breaker box to the room will not be more than 1% of the power used, certainly nowhere near 20%. Why do heaters claim efficiency as low as 80%?
It is hopeless to try to heat an airy garage with ceramic heater. The air speed in front of a ceramic heater is extremely low because the ceramic heating element in front of the fan blocks most of the air flow. That means you cannot feel the hot air directly if you are farther than a few feet away.
The only heater that makes sense in an airy place is a parabolic heater which shines infrared radiation directly onto your face and body. Most of the commercial stores use parabolic heaters to keep their cashier personnel warm when the cash register is near the front door of the store with customers coming in and out to let in the cold draft all the time.
I have bought this parabolic heater from Amazon. It has a wide and heavy round base which definitely cannot be pushed over by a cat. The heavy round base is about 20 inches in diameter, and the whole unit can be extended to 6.9 feet from bottom to top. There is a pull-string switch to turn on one element, two elements, or all three elements (each element is 500W) to a configuration of 500W, 1000W, or 1500W.
DONYER POWER retractable Electric quartz Heater with Protection System Waterproof，Outdoor/Indoor 1500W，Garden Patio, Easy Assembly
It's true that it's the same amount of heat, but the results are very different. The parabolic transfers most of it as radiant heat, which does a good job of heating whatever it's focused on and not too far away. So if you're going to be standing in one place in the garage it will do an excellent job, you will be warmed in that area, the rest of the place won't get much heat. With a space heater with a blower, it warms by convection, the hot air being blown out into the space. The problem with a typical space heater in a garage is that it's designed for a 120V 15A circuit, garages are big and not well insulated. So neither is likely going to be of much use unless the person is going to be localized, in which case the parabolic is the winner.
To add to that, I have a parabolic heater and one of the drawbacks is that even if you are localized, it can be problematic to get the heat coverage right. Like laying on a sofa, you can't get it aimed to cover you. At least not the one I had, which is designed to sit on the floor, the angle is fixed. At best you can get it to heat part of you and the angle directs the focus upwards. If you had a radiant heater like that distributed above you on the sofa, it would work perfectly. Standing in a garage, it will probably only warm part of you, but that may be enough. If you're sitting, that might be the best application. At Costco they have the thing in an abnormal position, mounted high, pointed at people walking by, which is effective. I guess you could fiddle with putting on a table or stand, etc to try to get it where you want it, but that takes some special effort.
Marketing BS or measuring heat delivered to an object of choice as opposed to total heat produced. A good example of that is the recent hoopla about achieving net energy out from fusion, which was portrayed as a lot more than it really was. They achieved 50% more energy out. But, where was that measured, what did they use for energy input? Definitely not measured from the output of the mega lasers. Probably not even from the energy that strikes the metal pellet holding the deuterium. That pellet disintegrates generating x-rays that in turn strike the deuterium, my guess is that's probably the energy being used to calculate energy in. One thing I did find was that the energy produced was 1% of the energy taken from the grid, which does put it all in perspective. Plus no one has any idea how to actually make an apparatus of any scale to produce real power that could be used.
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