Space heaters

[GalvestonDuck]

Okay, I'll admit, I was pretty spoiled growing up. Always had central heat and air. So my knowledge and experience with space heaters is pretty limited.

Most of them say "Do not leave unit unattended" or "Do not leave on while asleep or away." I know all about keeping them away from anything flammable or explosive and to keep them a safe distance from furniture, plastic, clothes, curtains, etc.

But seriously, do people turn them off at night...during the coldest time of the day? I can't stand to be hot at night and I HAVE to have AC. Usually, I'm okay in the cold. But when it's freezing and my nose is cold and I'm breathing cold air...ugh...that's just not comfortable!

So, if it's a well-maintained, clean, properly functioning unit that is placed in a safe, secure location, is it really still unsafe to leave it on when I'm away or asleep? I had heat this morning while I got my shower and then turned it off when I went home for lunch. And my place was cold again. I can't imagine being out for the evening and then coming home to a cold house and not being able to have heat. I know if I turned it on the minute I got home and waited about 30 minutes, it still wouldn't provide enough heat to really warm the place. And I'm not going to stay up all night waiting for it to get warm.

Thanks!

[JCT777]

That's a great question, Shawn. I have heard the same as you - not to leave a space heater unattended and also not to let it run while sleeping. I am not sure why, if the heater is properly maintained, someone could not have it running while sleeping.

[breeze]

Space heaters can "short-out" and cause fire damage, and,
that's why they say not to leave them unattended. They can
get pretty hot, pretty quick, in little time.

So many lawsuits and such, they HAVE to let you know that fact,
too, so that you can't sue the company if your house burns down!
That one's a legal reality.

[StormCrazyIowan]

Ok, when I lived at my dad's last winter, I used a space heater in my room, and I left it on while I slept and when I left, and never had one problem!! I did turn it down to low when I wouldn't be there, and even had it on carpeted floor...no burns or anything, I'm sure they put that on there so no one can sue if something goes wrong!! If, however, you ever see it spark or anything, I wouldn't leave it unattended!!

[GalvestonDuck]

Thanks, guys! Like I said, it's a well-maintained model in great working order. The cord is good, the coils are clean, and so forth. I used it some last year but I didn't move into this house until March and it really didn't get cold. Now that winter is about to set in, I want to be ready for those five whole long cold nights of under 50 degree temps. It's hard, but I think I'll make it through that week.

[Guest]

I purchased two for my house and we got the kind that automatically shut off it moved or tripped while running. It will keep your room warm - trust me.

Patricia

[Miss Mary]

I've never used a space heater but have considered it for my daughter Nina's bedroom - located on the northwest corner of our house, register comes up along an outside wall, and her room is the farthest away from the furnace. Her room is very, very cold! For years my husband would suggest buying a simple register fan to draw the heat out and up. But I could never find one. Until now! If this might help you Shawn, look into it. If not, pass the info along maybe.

http://www.improvementscatalog.com/prod ... pt%5Fid=20

I buy online now so I am getting catalogs from companies I never heard of before. Like this one. I plan to take this catalog to Home Depot or Lowe's to see if they have the same product but cheaper. Until now I didn't have an example to show the clerk. Now I have a picture! Nina's so happy. She's asked for a heater but being a sloppy teen - clothes strewn about her room - I've said no. Didn't think it was safe.

Mary

PS - there are other clever items to improve your home's heating system. Covering higher or lower cold air returns according to the season, items like that. Not sure if that would really help any or not. Just a thought too. Search around this site, it's pretty neat.

[StormCrazyIowan]

That is EXACTLY where my room is Mary- coldest room of the house!! I need to get a space heater here!!!

[WXBUFFJIM]

The warmest room is mine upstairs and the basement is the coldest and no one goes down there anyway. I guess a well train of thought is worth it afterall, especially tonite. It's freezing here in eastern Baltimore County as of midnight and we should be dropping to 28 by sunrise.

Jim

[Miss Mary]

I failed to mention another reason my daughter's room is so cold in the winter, the heat has a long way to travel, and then up an outside wall on top of that. By the time it gets to her room, it's not that warm. That's why that device will work well, we hope. The second floor bedroom above the furnace, but with the first floor in between, is the warmest room in our house! I love that room! It's my pack rat, tomboy's room - so you don't want to spend too much time in there otherwise this mom just wants to clean/clean/clean. We have to close her vent 75% of the way, so it's not overly stuffy in there! The things you wish for.....we wish Nina's room had another heat vent or was planned better, within an interior wall (we had our home built, so we could have asked for that). Oh well.

Mary

[TexasStooge]

Well, my mom and I had a space heater but it shorted out in 2000.

[coriolis]

I'm late to this thread...

I've used them too and left them unattended. On carpeted floors I always would put them on a piece of plywood, like 2-ft square "just in case." I think that the modern ones have a tipover shutoff, which is a good thing. Extra caution if pets or children are present.

I also use a kerosene heater in our basement. Not too much to worry about with a concrete floor. I did get a carbon monoxide monitor also "just in case." I don't know what I'd do if it went off. Wouldn't want to go down there. Probably open all the windows and get out!

[stormraiser]

I agree with Coriolis. The biggest danger is probably lack of exhaust -- no place for the fumes to go. If you sleep with it and don't wake up you will never know why. Please, stay warm, but use it wisely, we need you here.

[coriolis]

I do put the kero heater out when we go to bed. Don't want to push our luck.

[Persepone]

Kero space heaters: always put them out before you go to sleep or if you are leaving the room or the house. We are talking flames here... And, keep an appropriate fire extinguisher nearby (read the labels) and ALWAYS refuel outside because of the possibities of spills. Yes, you wake up in the cold, bolt out of bed, light the space heater and crawl back under the covers (but stay awake) until the heat comes up. A kerosene heater can heat a lot of space to toasty warm pretty quickly. But you might consider a small room-sized one for your bedroom (and an electric coffee pot on a timer in your bedroom as well). Set the alarm and the coffee pot timer for 15 minutes before you want to get up. Leap out of bed, light the kero. pour the coffee, and climb back into bed and sip the coffee while wrapped in the covers and by the time you are ready to pour the second cup, the room should be warm enough to get out of bed. Kerosene heaters are pretty fast.

Be especially careful of space heaters of any sort around children and pets. Yes, they have "tip-over switches" but those will not necessarily prevent tragedy. Remember that if you spill or splash kerosene on yourself, and get near flame, it will burn...

Always use a carbon monoxide detector in your house/apartment--even if you are NOT using space heaters. Even if there is no obvious possible source of carbon monoxide. I actually had one (habit? luck?) in an apartment outside Boston--nice apartment, well maintained, etc. This was a plug in unit that lived under a desk in the bedroom. About a year after I moved there, it suddenly went off one afternoon. No obvious reason--and I almost ignored it--but I did the right thing and opened all the windows and went down to the fire department and told them. The fire department person said, "yes, they are quite sensitive, and give lots of false positives, but better safe than sorry". So he followed me back to the apartment with their detector and up until opening the door, he was reassuring me that it would be a false alarm. Then, even with the windows open, his detector went nuts! They found--and shut off--gas leak in building--and since the place had lots of elderly residents, this could have been a real tragedy. Really scary stuff. Carbon Monoxide detectors are cheap.

Carbon monoxide is a hazard in virtually all houses unless there is no gas or oil burning furnace, no gas appliances, no fireplaces, etc. etc. in the building (not just in your apartment if multi-family dwelling.) The detectors are cheap. Do not ignore them. Things suddenly begin to leak for no apparent or known reason.

As for electric or other space heaters, I'd heed the warnings and not leave them unattended, and I'd pay really close attention to all safety warnings.

By the way, kerosene lanterns can "flame out" and so they should not be left unattended either. Really wierd--while there is some scientific reason, I'm sure, it sure seems like they just "do it" for no good reason.

In extended power outage situations, etc. these heaters make your house warm enough to stay in, keep pipes from freezing, etc. but you do need an awake person to babysit for them. When you are asleep, they should be off. So perhape if there are multiple adults, you can arrange some shifts so house does not really cool down, etc. (We've done that.)

As far as curing "cold rooms," you'd be absolutely amazed how much difference caulking windows, putting plastic over windows, sealing all cracks, insulating under switchplates, etc. etc. etc. makes. Hang quilts over large windows, sliders, or even cold walls. Put bookshelves with books against cold walls. If you stop the drafts, you stop a lot of the sense of "cold." Of course, the "tighter" your house, the more carbon monoxide is a threat, so do have detectors.

If you have hot air system, shutting off registers in rooms that are unused, or "warm enough" and partially shutting other registers in rooms along the way that are "warm enough" will get more heat to those "end of the run" cold rooms. If you can, insulate the ducts to those rooms... But some cheap window plastic, a little caulk, and some strategically-placed "quilt-curtains" will make a huge difference in your heating/comfort. You can buy cheap quilts on sale and sew curtain rings on one edge, put them over a round curtain rod or dowel (like a shower curtain) and pull them into place at night and you'd be amazed at their insulating power.

[Persepone]

Kero space heaters: always put them out before you go to sleep or if you are leaving the room or the house. We are talking flames here... And, keep an appropriate fire extinguisher nearby (read the labels) and ALWAYS refuel outside because of the possibities of spills. Yes, you wake up in the cold, bolt out of bed, light the space heater and crawl back under the covers (but stay awake) until the heat comes up. A kerosene heater can heat a lot of space to toasty warm pretty quickly. But you might consider a small room-sized one for your bedroom (and an electric coffee pot on a timer in your bedroom as well). Set the alarm and the coffee pot timer for 15 minutes before you want to get up. Leap out of bed, light the kero. pour the coffee, and climb back into bed and sip the coffee while wrapped in the covers and by the time you are ready to pour the second cup, the room should be warm enough to get out of bed. Kerosene heaters are pretty fast.

Be especially careful of space heaters of any sort around children and pets. Yes, they have "tip-over switches" but those will not necessarily prevent tragedy. Remember that if you spill or splash kerosene on yourself, and get near flame, it will burn...

Always use a carbon monoxide detector in your house/apartment--even if you are NOT using space heaters. Even if there is no obvious possible source of carbon monoxide. I actually had one (habit? luck?) in an apartment outside Boston--nice apartment, well maintained, etc. This was a plug in unit that lived under a desk in the bedroom. About a year after I moved there, it suddenly went off one afternoon. No obvious reason--and I almost ignored it--but I did the right thing and opened all the windows and went down to the fire department and told them. The fire department person said, "yes, they are quite sensitive, and give lots of false positives, but better safe than sorry". So he followed me back to the apartment with their detector and up until opening the door, he was reassuring me that it would be a false alarm. Then, even with the windows open, his detector went nuts! They found--and shut off--gas leak in building--and since the place had lots of elderly residents, this could have been a real tragedy. Really scary stuff. Carbon Monoxide detectors are cheap.

Carbon monoxide is a hazard in virtually all houses unless there is no gas or oil burning furnace, no gas appliances, no fireplaces, etc. etc. in the building (not just in your apartment if multi-family dwelling.) The detectors are cheap. Do not ignore them. Things suddenly begin to leak for no apparent or known reason.

As for electric or other space heaters, I'd heed the warnings and not leave them unattended, and I'd pay really close attention to all safety warnings.

By the way, kerosene lanterns can "flame out" and so they should not be left unattended either. Really wierd--while there is some scientific reason, I'm sure, it sure seems like they just "do it" for no good reason.

In extended power outage situations, etc. these heaters make your house warm enough to stay in, keep pipes from freezing, etc. but you do need an awake person to babysit for them. When you are asleep, they should be off. So perhape if there are multiple adults, you can arrange some shifts so house does not really cool down, etc. (We've done that.)

As far as curing "cold rooms," you'd be absolutely amazed how much difference caulking windows, putting plastic over windows, sealing all cracks, insulating under switchplates, etc. etc. etc. makes. Hang quilts over large windows, sliders, or even cold walls. Put bookshelves with books against cold walls. If you stop the drafts, you stop a lot of the sense of "cold." Of course, the "tighter" your house, the more carbon monoxide is a threat, so do have detectors.

If you have hot air system, shutting off registers in rooms that are unused, or "warm enough" and partially shutting other registers in rooms along the way that are "warm enough" will get more heat to those "end of the run" cold rooms. If you can, insulate the ducts to those rooms... But some cheap window plastic, a little caulk, and some strategically-placed "quilt-curtains" will make a huge difference in your heating/comfort. You can buy cheap quilts on sale and sew curtain rings on one edge, put them over a round curtain rod or dowel (like a shower curtain) and pull them into place at night and you'd be amazed at their insulating power.

[weatherlover427]

I might get one for my room since I get cold easily. What brand names would you recommend that are effective and cheap?

[ColdFront77]

Josh, I get cold easily as well. Space heaters are very dangerous as has been mentioned above. I wouldn't leave it on when you go to bed and obviously never leave it unattended.

[GalvestonDuck]

Great post, Persepone! Thanks, everyone.

No flames here. I stayed at a friend's house in KY once during a major storm and they had a kerosene heater. *gag* I couldn't stand the smell of it. I prefer electric heat.

I suppose if I had a rug on a couple of my hardwood floors, it would help also. Since the house is built up off the ground, cold air passes underneath and makes it a lot chillier where I put my feet. Kind of like how a bridge freezes faster than a road.

Brrrrrrr.

[Lindaloo]

Okay I can relate to this one. Space Heaters are dangerous and so are natural gas space heaters.

I had the so called "safe space heater" too. It was in my sons room. The electrical cord shorted out and caught my sons room on fire. The lights were flickering downstairs which is what got my attention. I just happened to go outside and saw my sons curtains on fire. Went back into the house and it was filling up with smoke. Called the fire dept. and they were there within 3 minutes. Had to get all my animals out of the house and back the cars out of the garage. We had just finished remodeling that room 2 days prior to that fire. Fire Dept. found an electrical short in the cord of the heater. Did I mention that heater was only 2 weeks old? They are dangerous.

A friend of mine had the natural gas heater and it exploded. She lost everything.

I live in one of those houses like that Duck. I fixed that problem. Had a house mover come over and he went underneath the house and insulated under the house. I also put skirting around the house. No more problems with cold feet on the floor. lol.