Heating adjacent rooms

[ckarotka]

Long story short, I bought my house for the location and potential not current condition or design. I have over 15 years exp in building and remodeling. My garage was converted to a bedroom (mine and the wifes) prior to my purchase. There is no door to the rest of the house, you have to go thru an unheated sunroom to access the bedroom, I have plans to add french doors to open the bedroom up to the living area but it's a load baring wall and I know what that entails. Right now I'm on "A low budget"...

Until I get those doors my room gets 0 heat from either of my two stoves, furnace only. I've tried insulated duct work didn't work And refuse to pay the gas co. any more than I have too.

Any safe economical space heaters out there for about 130sqft?? My wife found this add (broken link removed to http://www.toptenimports.com/ih1000b-iheater-advanced-infrared-heating-unit-one-day-only-sale-279-free-shipping.html) I'm not big on any electrical heat for fire reasons. Can anyone ease my pain or confirm my fears?

Funny I feel safer running two fires in the house than I do plugging something in?!?!?

 

[Slow1]

That is one expensive electric heater! I don't know what your cost/kwhr is but it really doesn't matter - hopefully electric heat is only a temporary thing for that room until you get it all remodeled and properly heated.

Key feature I'd look for in the electric heater you put in there is a built-in thermostat so that you can set it and not have the simplistic "hi/med/low" settings. This way you can also have it set lower when you leave for the day and not waste energy keeping the room warmer than necessary.

As to safety - like any heating appliance it is user error generally that leads to problems. I don't think that electric heaters are inherently more dangerous, but overloaded circuits are one hazard you really need to be aware of and given that your room there was converted, you may find it was converted by the prior owners who may or may not have done the wiring correctly. I'd check carefully to be sure wherever you plug in that heater can handle the draw If the previous owner was a DIY "I can save $50 by not adding a breaker and just wire it into this higher amp circuit so it won't trip even though the wire isn't rated for it" type there could be trouble. Since you have experience in building and remodeling you likely know what to look for there.

 

[ckarotka]

I should say that that's not the only heater I'm considering. And yes I would run a dedicated line to the heater from the panel. I'm also looking into through the wall fans, about 6in, one for intake and one for out to keep air flowing.

The stoves backs the wall to my room.

I put a 6in insulated pipe in the ceiling to try and capture the heat trapped up their and funnel it to my room but I'm not sure if its a temp problem or a volume prob. The run is about 12ft with the fan in the middle of the duct. I'm thinking this can be solved with a series of small fans, it's the cosmetics of it that is driving me nuts.

I've already added insulation to the ceiling in my room and foamed all gaps and such. I even blocked out the windows with foam board for the winter with the white side facing out so the neighbors don't go crazy. Makes for a dark room, I guess that's where kid three came from. ;-P

Wow after thinking about it this house needs so much work!!

 

[buckdog]

Those heaters are a rip-off. You can get the same heat out of a $50 hearter at a big box store. Watts are watts, look at how many watts are being used. Far every watt your using its $$$. Not for me, but I camp so I use elec heaters for my camper.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

One of our neighbors got 2 of the Eden Pure (spelling?) heaters last year and claim it was cheaper to heat their house with those than with LP. You might check them.

(I think I got the name right. It is the ones that Paul Harvey advertised.)

 

[raven]

i have heard good things about eden pure units from people that have them

 

[BrowningBAR]

Long story short, I bought my house for the location and potential not current condition or design. I have over 15 years exp in building and remodeling. My garage was converted to a bedroom (mine and the wifes) prior to my purchase. There is no door to the rest of the house, you have to go thru an unheated sunroom to access the bedroom, I have plans to add french doors to open the bedroom up to the living area but it's a load baring wall and I know what that entails. Right now I'm on "A low budget"...

Until I get those doors my room gets 0 heat from either of my two stoves, furnace only. I've tried insulated duct work didn't work And refuse to pay the gas co. any more than I have too.

Any safe economical space heaters out there for about 130sqft?? My wife found this add (broken link removed to http://www.toptenimports.com/ih1000b-iheater-advanced-infrared-heating-unit-one-day-only-sale-279-free-shipping.html) I'm not big on any electrical heat for fire reasons. Can anyone ease my pain or confirm my fears?

Funny I feel safer running two fires in the house than I do plugging something in?!?!?

The electric heater is going to KILL your electric bill. I am in Southeastern PA and I am at about 14-15 cents per kwhr. It would be far cheaper to use your furnace whether you are Natural Gas or Oil, especially Natural Gas.

Our furnace died on us during last years cold spell and I brought in electric heaters. It raised out electric bill by $250 for a 17 day period. And these weren't big heaters and they were all 'energy star' rated.

Maybe your experience will be different, but I have my doubts.

 

[begreen]

One of our neighbors got 2 of the Eden Pure (spelling?) heaters last year and claim it was cheaper to heat their house with those than with LP. You might check them.

(I think I got the name right. It is the ones that Paul Harvey advertised.)

I think those things are total marketing gimmicks as well. A simple resistance heater will work just as well. Waste of money in my book. Get a portable oil filled heater with a timer or install a 220v baseboard heater on a thermostat.