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Infrared space heaters

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dkheckmanl
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 134 Middleton, ID
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2008-10-14          157234

I am looking for an infrared space heater to use as supplemental heat for an 800 sq ft area. Anyone have a recommnedation for one they have had a good experience with?

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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2008-10-14          157235

I have a little 1500w box, and it's a over-priced joke. Effective heat range is directly forward about 18 inches. I suppose you could keep your toes warm if you placed it directly in front of your feet - like in the footwell of a desk maybe. For 800 sf - at least with the one I've got - you'd be better off burning the electric bills it would generate.

//greg// ....

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2008-10-14          157237

DK; I had them in my old shop, but the shop was small and built to use them. By built to use them I mean the cement floor had foam board under it and the walls and ceiling were well insulated. The shop was 20X24 with an 8ft. ceiling. I likely will need correcting, but as I understand the infared heating system it heats objects like the cement floor, benches, tools, etc., not the air. If my memory serves me correctly I had two 8ft. 5000 watt cove heaters about a foot below the ceiling. This worked great for me as I didn't want anything with an open flame, and the price was right with the energy costs of that time, I don't know how the energy costs would compare today tho. Frank. ....

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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2008-10-14          157253

I have been pondering the same issues for an all-steel 40'x8'-6" ocean-going shipping container I cut in half and turned into a 17'x20' shop.

You say infrared--is that electric or gas?

In these parts car dealerships use the gas-fired tube-type ones which, like Hardwood pointed out, heat the objects first before they heat the air. I found some on Craigslist for about $350-$500 which is about half to a third of retail.

My ceiling is 8' so I didn't want to feel like a hamburger at a fast food place with the heater on.

I ruled out gas (would need a big tank) and electric (I have only a 5000W generator).

Wood seems the way to go for me.

I was going to build a wood stove out of a 30 or 50 gallon steel barrel but the costs and my time approached the cost of a used stove. Today in fact I ended up buying two wood stoves: the high-efficiency one retailed at Tractor Supply for $1,000; the other was an antique, decorative, short-style potbelly stove. They wanted $350 for one and $150 for the other. I got them both for $350! Hopefully with winter coming on and a projected 20% increase in fuel costs, I figure I can sell the old antique for at least $350-$600 and basically get the other better stove for free---and then some.

Luckily there are many pallet manufacturers/brokers within a mile or two of me and many trucking companies who give pallets away--so that'll be my fuel. Pallet comapnies are PAYING to get rid of 40-yard dumpsters full of wood scraps. ....

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2008-10-15          157263

Mine were electric. ....

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dkheckmanl
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 134 Middleton, ID
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2008-10-16          157319

I was thinking more of an electric space heater like Greg-G has but it sounds like they are not very effective. We would use it mostly in our master bathroom/bedroom area which actually about 500 sf. My wife spends 2-3 hours in this area every morning and she likes it warm and toasty. We have a geothermal heat pump which is not a real warm heat unless you turn it and heat the whole house which we don't want to do.

I had read that some of those box infared heaters like the Eden Pure air were suppose to heat up to 800 sf. Also read some reviews on them that said basically the same thing Greg said. I may try a cheaper convection space heater and see how they do. ....

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earthwrks
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3853 Home Office in Flat Rock, Michigan
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2008-10-17          157321

DK: If that's all you're doing with it I would suggest a $19 Walmart 1500W ceramic heater. My bathroom and bedroom of 400 sq ft are toasty in minutes. I used it down south when it got in the 30's to keep a 30' camper trailer warm, which had no insulation.

Those Eden Pures are a joke. I read the full-page ad they took out in a local paper. It was full of lies and deception as far as how a furnace works--claiming it spews carbon monoxide into the air and fills your home with carbon deposits and ash. And they made false claims about how their heater heats the air like no other---like how it heats the whole room evenly even denying that hot air rises. All lies. I found 10 false claims, contacted the marketing arm of the company and they dismissed all of them. The other day they were on TV showing how it works: nothing more than quartz rods wrapped with resistance wire surrounded with "special copper" tube that transfers the heat. There were 3 or 4 of these tubes in the box. And the reason you can put your hand on the heater is it's INSULATED! Duh! There is no science or engineering to these! We used to call them "space heaters"--and are still made today except the elements are exposed. ....

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sunheat
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 2 USA
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2008-11-17          157936

I know quite a bit about how these infrared heaters work. let me know if want to pick my brain. ....

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