Cheap electric heater tweaking

[swampratt]

I use those cheap 12 to 25 dollar electric heaters to heat my garage or upstairs when i do not want to turn the furnace on.

Sometimes I get some that shut off way early and take an hour to come back on if they even come back on without unplugging them.
I tweak almost everything I have in some way or another to make it better/stronger / faster.

These little heaters have points sets in them and I bend the contact point arms a bit to make them stay on longer.
Of course you need to watch the heat and make sure the cord can take the long run times.

I have never had any issues doing it.
I even had to do it to a couple of electric deep fryers that would not get to the right temp.
Bend the point arm a bit until it is accurate.

My neighbor had a deep fryer that on max temp would only get to 220° F .
I fixed his in just a few minutes.

Just stating this because some of you may use those heaters and notice the lack of run time or heat.

I also break some of the plastic shroud vanes out of the back and sometimes the front of those heaters to allow more air flow.
It does make a big difference and allows the coils to dissipate heat better.

Some of the old ribbon steel heaters with a fan I have drilled holes in the housings and baffles to allow more air flow.

 

[O4L]

I use those small heaters for my entire house. I have four of them spread out in different areas. I don't keep my house very warm and it saves me money over running the older inefficient furnace.

The only issue I have with them is finding just the right setting for the temperature that I want but once I find that, they are good to go.

I hate having to turn on any heat especially when we are still have days in the 70s at times but I finally fired up a couple this morning to knock the chill off.

 

[Rod Snell]

I too use the 110v heaters to take the chill off in the garage if I am going to be working there, but I don't trust them unattended. One of the possible failure modes is the points may stick and overheat. Still, they are better than the old charcoal bucket, which is a CO hazard.
Also, any 110v heater or similar device is inherently less efficient then using a properly made 220v device. That's why all the high-current home devices (electric furnace, water heater, electric oven, clothes dryer, AC) are 220v.

 

[MacFromOK]

We have 3 of the small ones with a fan that I've used to heat Sweetie's room during the past few winters. I always run them on the low (1200W) setting.

However, with constant use, the points get pitted and start sticking CLOSED. All 3 (different brands) have done this, 2 within just a few months of constant use (the other one was already 35+ years old).

I currently have one disassembled and plan to add a 30A relay so the original points won't have much load to carry.

Anywho... beware of leaving them unattended for long periods.

___

 

[Snattlerake]

Well, at least we know where the future fire will be.

 

[harley128]

Wow! You guys could be playing with fire !! Be cautious!

 

[Forgalspop]

Just ordered 2 Lasko brand ceramic electric heaters from Amazon. ($30.00 each) We have a total electric house with a heat pump. (not the most efficient type of heat; especially below 32 degrees) I'm going to experiment and see if by using these in rooms we are in and keeping the thermostat lower will be more efficient than having the heat pump working to keep it comfortable.

After researching I found that Lasko products are manufactured in the USA. They do source components from China, but so do many made in the USA products. At least they do provide jobs in Texas, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

Anyhow, going to see if we can reduce our electric usage via burning more firewood in the fireplace, keeping the thermostat lower and electricity via our newly installed solar system; also with USA made panels and components.

I have an endless supply of firewood from our neighbors property. I only need the endless energy to cut the firewood.

 

[Perplexed]

I use those cheap 12 to 25 dollar electric heaters to heat my garage or upstairs when i do not want to turn the furnace on.

Sometimes I get some that shut off way early and take an hour to come back on if they even come back on without unplugging them.
I tweak almost everything I have in some way or another to make it better/stronger / faster.

These little heaters have points sets in them and I bend the contact point arms a bit to make them stay on longer.
Of course you need to watch the heat and make sure the cord can take the long run times.

I have never had any issues doing it.
I even had to do it to a couple of electric deep fryers that would not get to the right temp.
Bend the point arm a bit until it is accurate.

My neighbor had a deep fryer that on max temp would only get to 220° F .
I fixed his in just a few minutes.

Just stating this because some of you may use those heaters and notice the lack of run time or heat.

I also break some of the plastic shroud vanes out of the back and sometimes the front of those heaters to allow more air flow.
It does make a big difference and allows the coils to dissipate heat better.

Some of the old ribbon steel heaters with a fan I have drilled holes in the housings and baffles to allow more air flow.

 

[HFS]

 

[John6185]

After last winters ice storm that knocked out electricity for days, the wife finally convinced her sister who was without heat for several days that she should buy some electric heaters since we are souveniring her a generator. She was and is deathly afraid of space heaters.