Heaters

Water Bed Heater Or Not

Many people swear by the water bed while others still believe that they disappeared with platform shoes. If you have a water bed, you may be wondering whether the water bed heater is truly optional. Sellers of water bed accessories wouldn’t dream of letting you sleep without one, of course, but do you really need it?

To Heat Or Not To Heat

If you have to ask, you may not need one. If your bedroom is usually warm, if your mattress has a good mattress pad, if you don’t mind a cool sleeping surface, then you may be fine. If, however, you are saving on your heating bills by turning down the thermostat, if you live in an area that receives a true winter, if you like to be warm and snuggly at night, then you may find that a water bed heater will pay off for you.

There are several types of water bed heater available. Do your homework to find the best one for your needs. The standard cap and bulb water bed heater use a copper wire filled with ethylene gas. The heater pad goes under the safety liner. The solid state water bed heater has no moving parts. It is a step above the cap and bulb system as it’s more accurate and provides a more efficient heating system because it incorporates a computer chip. You can find a water bed heater with the controls mounted on the side of the mattress or one that allows the controls to be kept under the mattress if you prefer the look.
Hardside and softside mattresses require different heater models. The softside mattress requires a water bed heater with a lower wattage. If your mattress has a soft side, be sure to choose the right heater for it.
You can turn off the water bed heater in the morning or you can buy a heater with a timer and a thermostat. Either way, the cost of the heater is low as long as it’s only used when needed. Efficiency is also boosted by insulating the mattress as much as possible with a good mattress pad and blankets. A water bed heater is better for use with a water bed than an electric blanket because it heats the area most in need of heating. A good electric blanket is, of course, just as safe with a water bed as with a conventional bed. A water bed heater can allow you to lower the nighttime temperature of your home and make heating more efficient.

The Efficiency Of The Infrared Heater

Boosting the efficiency of a central home heating system is a combination of two things: efficiently using the existing heater and adding an efficient heater where needed. Naturally, when heating costs rise the response is to check for drafts and boost the insulation. At the beginning of heating season, make sure that window caulking and storm windows are in good shape. Get thermostats in working order and install timers if necessary. If you still need to add a little more warmth to a part of the house, consider heating up just the area with a space heater.

Efficient Heat

If you want to add a space heater to a bedroom or hallway, do your homework. Most heaters use energy to warm up the entire area, wall to wall. People within the area are warmed by the air. There is a kind of heater that doesn’t heat up all of the air. It heats the objects in its path directly. People in the area are warmed by the heater itself not the air. All of the energy consumed goes to warming the desired objects (like people) instead of warming the air from floor to ceiling. This type of heater is the infrared heater. Heat is transferred by radiation instantly. You don’t have to turn the heater on a half hour or hour before you need warmth to pre-heat the room. You receive the warmth immediately.

Some types of infrared heater you are likely to find are metal-sheathed tubular heaters, quartz tubes, quartz lamps, gas fired catalytic, flat-faced panels and ceramic emitters. Typically, the heaters have a protective sheath to cover the heating elements. Often, there is a choice of sheathing material including metals such as aluminum, brass, copper, iron, stainless steel and so on. Available options vary from model to model. All home models offer safe, protected heating elements. Blowing curtains won’t become a fire hazard with an infrared heater.

Infrared heat is similar to solar heat. It doesn’t burn the oxygen in the room or dry it out because the air is not heated. You can find an infrared heater to fit your needs exactly. They are available for indoor or outdoor use, using electricity, propane or other types of fuel, to heat objects in a precisely directed area or in a wider room-sized area. If your goal is efficient heating, educate yourself. You may want to begin by learning more about the infrared heater.

Evenings With An Outdoor Patio Heater

How many of you will disagree that spending a cool evening outside in the patio during the transition of winter into summer (and the reverse) is a joyful experience? Many, if not most, since the scene lacks the real source of enjoyment and comfort-an outdoor patio heater that will not allow you chill or have Goosebumps in the lurking cold of the early spring. A wide variety in the size, design, and fuel sources has facilitated choosing an outdoor patio heater according to individual liking.

Fuel Sources Of Patio Heaters

Most commonly, an outdoor patio heater will run by any of the commonly used fuels: natural gas, propane, electricity, wood/wood substitutes, and Alcogel. How much space the heater keeps warm depends on the heater’s size. It might be a few feet or the whole of the outside yard.

Varieties Of Outdoor Patio Heaters

The selection of an outdoor patio heater depends on both the design and the fuel source of the heater. One of the most popular varieties is the Umbrella Type Patio Heater. Fuelled by propane gas, these heaters are ideal for keeping larger spaces warm (up to 20 feet in diameter). The heat is radiated out through the cylinder at the top while the fuel burns at the bottom of the heating unit.

Another popular variety of outdoor patio heaters is the Wood Burning Patio Heater. These type use wood and its derivatives as fuel. While these are attractive choice for people caring for economy, some areas have laws against wood combustion in the property so their selection depends partly on the area where one lives. A luring thing about wood patio heaters is that these can be purchased with a cooking grill, so that you can enjoy making a hot snack while feeling the cool weather outside.

The material of composition of patio heaters varies. Many outdoor patio heaters are made of stainless steel. They can also be purchased with an antique copper finish, painted black, and other materials depending on individual taste.

Outdoor Patio Heaters And Safety

While using an outdoor patio heater, remember that it is not meant for indoor use and hence should be used only in the patio. The gas cylinders providing fuel for these heaters should not be stored inside. In case of Wood Burning Patio Heaters, a chimney must be installed so that sparks coming out are limited and possible damage may be prevented. Take care that children do not play with the heater or its elements. Also, clean and maintain regularly in order to minimize the pollutants emanating from the heater. Store all the fuels and chemicals in a secure garden shed, locked and out of children’s reach.

Keep Warm Safely With Propane Heater

Whether it’s for a tent, a single room or a whole house, a propane heater can do the job, and do it safely, if proper precautions are taken. As with any device, which uses any type combustion, proper ventilation is required to insure the safety of the user.

Small propane heaters are widely used by campers, ice fishermen and others needing heat outdoors. The small, propane heaters, usually attach to a one-pound propane tank and uses a burner, often reflected by a metal dish to distribute heat, provided at about 5,000 BTU. Since 1990, there have been 31 deaths attributed to the unsafe usage of a propane heater.

Larger units are available, which can produce up to 15,000 BTU of heat, and are generally used in larger structures. However, regardless of size of the propane heater, proper ventilation is needed to prevent the build-up of carbon monoxide, a tasteless, odorless and colorless gas, which replaces oxygen in the blood stream and may cause serious injury or death.

Properly Install Whole-House Furnaces

People living in rural areas and those with the benefit of a natural gas pipeline often turn to a propane heater for their home. Propane gas is stored in a pressurized tank outside the house and is fed to the furnace as needed. Most homeowners have their propane heater installed by a professional and it is properly vented, decreasing the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. However, it is a good idea to equip the home with a carbon monoxide detector.

There are also propane heaters, which are used in construction for warming a house under construction during colder months. This type heater generally throws a burning flame into the air, warming the building site. Care must be taken with their use, as not only the danger of carbon monoxide exists, there is the added potential for fire.

While propane heater manufacturers are doing a far better job of cautioning consumers on the dangers of their use, as well as discontinuing production of those not meeting safety standards, there are still numerous propane heaters in use today that were not being sold for several years.

While a propane heater can offer affordable, portable options for when a heat source is needed, certain precautions should be taken to insure the safety of the user. A simple precaution of proper ventilation, even in a tent or ice fishing house, can make the use of this type heater much safer.

Using A Solar Heater For Swimming Pool

To keep your swimming pool a source of joyful baths even in cold weather, some source of heating the pool’s water must be employed. Now a day, many people choose to install a solar heater for swimming pool. The reason behind this popularity appears to be the easy and cost-effective way by which a solar heater for swimming pool raises the pool water’s temperature, usually from seven to ten degrees, and provides a warm, comfortable feeling of bath in a free and open space.

Function Of A Solar Heater For Swimming Pool

A solar heater for swimming pool basically works by forcing water of the swimming pool through a filter that leads it into a solar collector. This contains solar heat collected from the sun by means of specially designed panels. The pool water absorbs the collector’s heat and returns into the pool through the pump. Certain kinds of solar heaters serve a dual function i.e. besides heating the pool water in winter they can be run during the night and kept off during daytime. This helps maintain a cooler water temperature during the summer days.

Price And Heating Capacity

The price and heating capacity of a solar heater for swimming pool depend on the heater’s size. The most popular size of the heater is the one with 2’x20’ panels. It costs about $150 a set. Two panel sets i.e. 4’x20’ suffice to heat a 18’-24’ round pool. If you have a 16’ round pool, you can do with smaller panels i.e. 4’x10’.

Installation

Installing a solar heater for swimming pool is fairly easy and usually takes less than an hour. What you need to do is take a hose and clamps and with these, connect the solar panel to the pump. Now roll out the panel to finish your installation. Remember that you need not mount the panels permanently. You may either simply mount them up on the roof or position them by using frames available from the dealer. On first turning on the panels, they will feel hot to touch for some minutes. After that, they’ll cool down.

Maintenance

Though little maintenance is required for a solar heater, keeping balanced water chemistry is important as well as keeping the filter in proper working condition.

Using solar heater for the pool is very beneficial since it is totally free after you pay the initial cost. You can also use solar heaters in conjunction with another swimming pool heater. This brings down the costs by as much as 70 per cent.

Using A Wall Heater Safely

Not all of your house uses heat in the same way. Perhaps the back rooms get chilly when the wind whips up. Maybe the basement needs more heat when there’s a cold rain. It doesn’t make sense to turn up the thermostat just to make a room or two more comfortable. Not when heating costs are rising. The answer may be a wall heater for those cold rooms.

Many Choices

These days, space heaters come in all shapes and sizes. Assess your heating needs before you make your choice. You can find portable heaters that can be moved from room to room as needed and even warm up and area on the deck or in the back yard. You can find heaters for almost every kind of fuel: electric, gas, propane and solar. If your heating needs are fairly permanent and you have safety concerns with the portable units, you might want to consider a professionally-installed wall heater.

Once installed, you won’t have to worry about the heater being tipped over or a child or pet becoming dangerously curious. Although today’s space heaters have many safety features, it is always better to provide your own additional features by planning for the best installation for your needs. Have the wall heater installed in an area where there won’t be objects that will block the air circulation around it or where flammable things may be kept. Think about how you use the room, especially at the colder times of the year. If that is the room where you set up the Christmas tree, make sure the wall heater is in the part of the room away from decorations.

A wall heater with an ignition is safer than one that needs to be lit with a match. A thermostat will prevent overheating and over drying the contents of your room. A ventless wall heater should have an oxygen-depletion-sensing shutoff feature. The ventless heater takes the air from the room to heat it. With an automatic shutoff, it will stop heating if there is not enough fresh air in the room. Of course, the heating element should be shielded. Many heaters are safe even around blowing curtains.

Once the wall heater is installed, make sure that you understand the maintenance directions in the manual. A wall heater needs to be cleaned once or twice a year to remove debris that has been taken in with the air. You can enjoy warmth in every room of your home all year round and save money, too, with a good wall heater.

Need Determines Size Of Electric Water Heater

Whether building a new home, remodeling an older home planning your current and future needs can help you pick the right size electric water heater so you don’t have to suffer cold showers.

An electric water heater is basically a storage tank into which cold water flows. There is a switch, which shuts off the flow of water when it gets full. Most electric water heaters have two electric elements, which heat the water and keep it hot until it’s used and replaced by colder water. Each element is controlled by thermostats.

While an electric water heater can be as small as six gallons or as large as 120 gallons, the average family can generally be served with a 52-gallon electric water heater. However, the larger the family, the more capacity will be needed. When planning your needs you should also plan for potential growth of your family as well as the frequency of visitors, which may increase your need for additional hot water.

An electric water heater offers several advantages over gas, for example, as not having to be vented and it can be installed closer to walls and they do not have a pilot light which requires a small open flame or a thermocouple to keep the pilot light burning, which generally needs replaced every year or so. There is also less chance of overheating.

Adjust Temperature To Your Choosing

Another feature of an electric water heater, like most others, is the ability to adjust the temperature of the water through the use of a thermostat. By raising, or lowering, the water’s temperature, it can be adjusted to the family’s liking.

Electric water heaters also have built-in protection for pressure build-up in the form of a pressure relief valve. Occasionally pressure may build up and if it reaches a point higher than the check valve on the water line, it could push the hot water back into the feed line. This pressure release valve will harmlessly release any over pressure. However, having a leak from the pressure valve may be an indication of some other problem, which needs attention.

While maintenance on an electric water heater is minimal, problems can arise and unless the homeowner is experienced in plumbing and electrical repairs, it may be best to leave any repair or replacement to professionals. This could lessen the time needed to male repairs, or replace the unit, ensuring you have the hot water when it’s needed.

Saving Money With A Bedroom Heater

It seems like money spent in the summer is spent on fun while money spent in the winter is spent on necessities. If it were possible to spend less winter money, there might be more summer money available. Even those who live in the warmest parts of the world have to budget for winter heating. There are always ways to trim that expenditure a bit.

The Space Heater

Before adding any new heating elements, make sure that all of the existing heating is as efficient as possible. Check for drafts and look into increasing insulation as necessary. A draft barrier around the outside doors might save a few dollars and storm windows can make a difference in most climates.

That said, how can you adjust your heat to do the best job? Timers can be added to your central heating to turn temperatures down when you don’t need it. If there is no one home during the day, set the timer to start warming the house in time to be greeted by a toasty home after work. This only works if there are no pets, of course. During the work week, you may only need a warm living room, bathroom and kitchen for a few hours each evening. One third of your life is spent in bed. Turning down the central heating at night and adding a bedroom heater could make a large saving.

There are many varieties of space or wall heaters that can serve as a bedroom heater. Choose a form of fuel that is economical in your area. Propane or electricity should be good for most. Select one that doesn’t need constant attention. You’ll be asleep for most of its operating hours. Avoid an exposed radiant element for your bedroom heater. One night of open window sleeping could mean curtains blowing across a heating element and a fire. That sort of bedroom heater can’t be used with timers either. You’ll want higher heat as you’re preparing for bed and a timed increase just before the alarm goes off. While you’re under the covers or after you’ve showered and dressed, the heat is less important. The new models of bedroom heater can easily be adjusted for blustery weather, too.

The point is that there is no sense in heating an entire house all night any more than there is any sense in waking to a freezing room. The energy-efficient bedroom heater is the answer to both problems.

The Mysteries Of Heater Immersion

As the prices of heating fuel soar, many homeowners have become curious about exactly how their home and the water in it are heated, are kept heated and how they might become heated in a more energy-efficient way. Some hot water heaters, for instance, heat the water and keep it warm until it’s used. Other types don’t heat the water until it’s needed, saving the energy needed to keep it hot. Many of the storage types use heater immersion to heat the water. With heater immersion, an electrical element fits into the side of the water tank with the thermostat extending to the exterior of the tank for easy use.

Types Of Heaters

The common storage tank heater can be made more efficient by adding a timer to your heater immersion device to heat the water at off-peak times when energy is less costly. Even if that option is not available in your area, your storage tank can become more efficient by the addition of insulation around it. The less heat is lost to the surrounding area, the less energy is used to keep it warm. You may have an indirect water heater system. This means that your furnace or boiler heats your water while it heats the house. Most often, hot water from a boiler circulates through a heat exchanger in a nearby tank. Less often, a heat exchanger coil filled with water to be heated circulates through a furnace then through the storage tank. Since the exchanger penetrates the tank in either case, it is similar to the heater immersion method. Using modern equipment, this is often the most efficient system. The storage tanks are efficiently insulated, the heating equipment is high-efficiency and the need for the heater to turn on and off is much less frequent.

The on demand water heaters don’t use energy to warm storage tanks. The most efficient ones use natural gas and an electronic ignition to save on energy used in a pilot light. Solar heaters are making a comeback from the 1970s. While the sun’s energy is cost-efficient, the start-up costs are higher since tax credits are no longer available. However, today’s less expensive units compare with electric and propane heaters over the lifetime of the unit while natural gas still beats them all.

Whether you decide on heater immersion, on demand, solar power or some other technology, the most efficient heater for you is the one that uses the fuel you have at hand, works for your climates and personal needs and best integrates with your existing water system.

The Luxury Of Hot Water Heaters

There’s an old saying: A woman is like a tea bag; you don’t know how strong she is until you put her in hot water! Although this truism is unquestionably accurate, it would be difficult to put it to the test without a hot water heater.

In industrialized nations, hot water heaters are just simply “there.” We don’t even notice that they’re working properly until, all of a sudden, they aren’t. When that’s the case, we start panicking about things like showers, washing dishes and doing laundry. We think of all the things that are part of our everyday living, realizing that until the hot water heater is working, languishing in a warm bubble bath is a thing of the past.

What we take for granted – that hot water will spew forth on command when we turn on the faucet – other civilizations view as a luxury. In some parts of the world, even in some parts of remote, rural America, hot water heaters are non-existent. For example, the Aboriginal people of Australia and North America still haul water from streams and rivers in buckets, heating the water over an open fire. Why, we wonder, do they continue this practice when they know that all they have to do is flick a switch on a hot water heater, and it’s time to wash clothes? Respect for the traditions of their people, plain and simple. Sometimes what’s “easy” isn’t always “best.”

In most of the world, there’s a hot water heater in every basement or closet. Its capacity and rapidity of heating depends upon the number of family members who find hot water essential at various times of the day. With a capacity of 50-60 gallons, hot water heaters aren’t viewed as a luxury, but as a “given.” They replaced the burden of hauling and heating water from the nearby stream. But they also replaced the pleasant social interactions that once accompanied water-bearing, plus the self-esteem building that comes from viewing a job well-done.

How Dependable Are Hot Water Heaters?

If you live in a house most of your adult life – raising a family and doing all the activities that we cherish as a people, your hot water heater should last up to fifteen years, perhaps even more. These appliances are built for endurance and heavy use; another luxury. But of course, something’s bound to go wrong sooner or later, and your heater will need either repair or maintenance. Whether your hot water heater is power by natural gas or electricity, or even by solar power, there are some definite warning signs that tell you it’s time to call a repairman: (1) When you stop getting hot water from a faucet, (2) When you smell gas in the air near the heater, (3) When the appliance is sparking electricity or (4) When you notice a puddle of water near the hot water heater. Most of the time a simple repair job takes care of the problem, but there might also be a time for the heater to be replaced. Plan to spend about $300-$700, and you’ll return to luxury.