Heater?

[bunnymendelbaum]

Our rental house has a room added on the back. I'm pretty sure it originally was an enclosed porch with jalousie windows, but now it has real windows and walls, except it isn't connected the house's HVAC. Room is about 11x11 and open to the rest of the house with a double door sized opening (no door tho). We are going to move our office into it, so I want to get a small heater.

My parents love their infrared, and target has a black friday deal for a normal ugly one:
$65
Issues: it seems to be a "to target only" special and doesn't have a thermostat. I'd love a thermostat, but those models are like +$100.


I was looking around and saw this one at kohls. How cute is it!? It is not infrared, it is ceramic, but outside is supposed to be cool to the touch. List is $89, but I could get it for $53 with coupons. It is made of steel, has 2 heat settings and one non-heat glow. I'm leaning toward this one because it is cute, and I think we would use it in the future as a fake kitchy fireplace, and perhaps some evenings outside to take the chill off? It doesn't put off as much heat as ugly one above.



WDYT?

[AmyRI]

Ceramic heaters suck electricity. I wouldn't run one a lot, at least the first month, until you know how bad of an energy hog it is. Our little ceramic heater run for an hour will pull as much electricity as a couple of days of a window air conditioner.

We have one of these:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BZFQB8/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687402&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000FT1XZW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=11AJQZDB56T79V25G7EF
That is god awful ugly, but it works well and is not an energy hog. It's in our basement or garage, though, so I can see why you'd want something like the IR or ceramic one you posted.

[Deleted]

The second one is definitely more attractive. I have had a couple of those fake fireplaces, a small one and a larger one that was more like furniture. The problem I had with both was that you pretty much had to be right up next to it to feel the heat. Up close the heat was great but I don't recall that it did much to warm the room. Maybe there are better models out there than the two I had, but that was my overall experience with them.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Nov 13, 2014 10:34:09 GMT -5 AmyRI said:

Ceramic heaters suck electricity. I wouldn't run one a lot, at least the first month, until you know how bad of an energy hog it is. Our little ceramic heater run for an hour will pull as much electricity as a couple of days of a window air conditioner.

We have one of these:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BZFQB8/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687402&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000FT1XZW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=11AJQZDB56T79V25G7EF
That is god awful ugly, but it works well and is not an energy hog. It's in our basement or garage, though, so I can see why you'd want something like the IR or ceramic one you posted.

We have a tiny ceramic one we run sometimes in the bathroom. I wondered how much heat they use. My parents swear the infrared doesn't use much, but IDK.
The one you posted gets hot to the touch right? My DD2 cannot be trusted.

[AmyRI]

Nov 13, 2014 10:37:44 GMT -5 bunnymendelbaum said:

Nov 13, 2014 10:34:09 GMT -5 AmyRI said:

Ceramic heaters suck electricity. I wouldn't run one a lot, at least the first month, until you know how bad of an energy hog it is. Our little ceramic heater run for an hour will pull as much electricity as a couple of days of a window air conditioner.

We have one of these:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BZFQB8/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_3?pf_rd_p=1944687402&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000FT1XZW&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=11AJQZDB56T79V25G7EF
That is god awful ugly, but it works well and is not an energy hog. It's in our basement or garage, though, so I can see why you'd want something like the IR or ceramic one you posted.

We have a tiny ceramic one we run sometimes in the bathroom. I wondered how much heat they use. My parents swear the infrared doesn't use much, but IDK.
The one you posted gets hot to the touch right? My DD2 cannot be trusted.

It definitely gets warm, but I'd have to turn it on high and try it out to see if actually gets hot enough to burn.
Is your rental an older home and you can make one of those old fashioned radiator covers with the pressed metal sides? This doesn't really work well with a modern vibe, though, and it makes a simple space heater into an unnecessary project.

[adhdfashion]

I would go with the ugly heater. We bought a pretty ceramic heater for the garage it broke after one year and sucked down the watts.

[Deleted]

We have an infrared and never use it because our electric bill sky rockets whenever we turn it on.

[sierramist03]

We've gone through tons of ceramic ones. They usually only last about a winter

[munkii]

We purchased an infrared heater last winter for our illegal room (also formerly a porch of some sort). It has the thermostat and a remote, and it works! That room is next to unbearable in the winter, and it actually kept us warm through polar vortex 1.0. Yes, it was more than $100, but it was well worth it.

As per the second option, it's cute, but it will not keep you warm. At all. We looked at one prior to getting the infrared and realized it was designed for form not function.

[munkii]

I saw this in a Menard's ad today and thought of this post.

www.menards.com/main/p-2389158-c-5617.htm

[bunnymendelbaum]

Nov 23, 2014 15:12:53 GMT -5 munkii said:

I saw this in a Menard's ad today and thought of this post.

www.menards.com/main/p-2389158-c-5617.htm

Thanks! I saw that too and texted my sister who is going BF shopping to see if we can go to a store that has one on sale. Target has a deal on one too.

[TBM]

Tuesday Morning has one that is the same brand as the one at Menards. Maybe the same model. It is $10 more, but their sale started today.

[sierramist03]

Nov 23, 2014 15:58:20 GMT -5 bunnymendelbaum said:

Nov 23, 2014 15:12:53 GMT -5 munkii said:

I saw this in a Menard's ad today and thought of this post.

www.menards.com/main/p-2389158-c-5617.htm

Thanks! I saw that too and texted my sister who is going BF shopping to see if we can go to a store that has one on sale. Target has a deal on one too.

i just text my mom to have her check this one out I'm not sure I will make target for Black Friday

[msmerymac]

When I lived in CA we didn't have central heat, like most people. Just an ancient gas wall heater in the hallway near the bedrooms which heated... the hallway, really. We had a large living room and dining room in the front of the house, connected by a large archway, and we bought one of the radiator-type space heaters. www.amazon.com/DeLonghi-EW7707CM-Safeheat-ComforTemp-Oil-Filled/dp/B000TGDGLU/ref=sr_1_11?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1416841901&sr=1-11&keywords=space+heater

The living room and dining room were about half the space in our apartment (a bit under 400 sq ft) and it worked great for when we were out in the living room at night watching TV. We had it for probably 3-4 years. We left it at that apartment when we moved for the next tenant, so it was still working great. I also didn't notice a major increase in electric useage. Certainly nothing akin to the amount of electricity our window ACs would use in the summer. (1920s duplex, old wiring, not exactly air-tight, either.) Not the prettiest thing, I know, but I was very pleased with it.

[lmdbww]

Not an infrared, but we have this one (which was rated as a Best Buy in Shop Smart magazine 2 years in a row): www.target.com/p/holmes-hfh436wgl-tg-heater-fan-with-bathroom-safe-plug-white/-/A-14114751?ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001&AFID=google_pla_df&LNM=14114751&CPNG=Home+Improvement&kpid=14114751&LID=31pgs&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=14114751&kpid=14114751&gclid=CKOxrtDWk8ICFWNk7AodaWAASQ

We got it to heat our basement area (which is approx 350 sq ft) and it works wonderfully. Within 10 minutes it's nice and toasty. We only use it if we are sitting down there (which isn't often) and haven't noticed any issues with our electric bill (besides the obvious, since we have a heat pump). It has a manual setting and a timer setting to use w/the thermostat part.

This will be our third winter with it. DH also bought one to keep under his desk at work and loves it.

[downtoearth]

I think with 11x11, you will likely be warmed by either. I vote buy the second one that is cute and only $53. However, can someone explain how infrared works? It heats anything that can absorb the rays, right? So if the room is empty of people, what is being heated - wood and such? Anyway, just curious. I like to be really warm, so I think I'd like the ceramic which would heat your room a little less efficiently, but would continually keep the air circulating and warm, which is not exactly what an infrared does, right?

[munkii]

Nov 24, 2014 12:05:37 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

I think with 11x11, you will likely be warmed by either. I vote buy the second one that is cute and only $53. However, can someone explain how infrared works? It heats anything that can absorb the rays, right? So if the room is empty of people, what is being heated - wood and such? Anyway, just curious. I like to be really warm, so I think I'd like the ceramic which would heat your room a little less efficiently, but would continually keep the air circulating and warm, which is not exactly what an infrared does, right?

The good heaters have a heat conductor (which absorbs the rays) and a fan to circulate the heat throughout the room.