electric heater efficiency - Page 2

 That makes sense for your climate and in general but the oil filled is only
a comfort feature and doesn't save money, especially vs. a heat pump with a
3:1 COP or better.

Need some zone controls there, and/or more thermal mass to carry heat
overnight and cool over the day. One guy here put up large pipes full of
water to stretch the heat periods longer (desert type climates profit well
from this stuff)



I live in Florida. To save money, I use the oil filled plug in heaters
that you can buy at Walmart. I set it on #3 setting, and use only the
lower element. It keeps the room nice and cozy. My central air heat pump
just uses too much power. There is no need to heat up rooms no one
sleeps in.

Jim Rojas




Josepi wrote:

  Josepi wrote:

That would be ideal for new homes. My house was built in 1964. It
originally didn't even have central air.

When we remodeled the house, we installed 3 inch foil backed sytrofoam
in the attic, followed with R34 a year later. Before we did the stucco
finish on the concrete block, they drilled 1/2 inch holes every foot all
around the house. Then they injected expanding foam into the nterior
walls. It cost us $
500 to do this, and we got a 1500 rebate from our
utility company. All our windows are double insulated.

In the summer months the AC runs for very short periods of time to keep
the house at 76-78 degrees.

Jim Rojas

 

I took an April-Aire humidity sensor, wired it backwards to
"make" on humidity rise instead of fall, and inserted it into
the red wire of the thermostat for my A/C. So that the A/C
serves as a whole-house dehumidifier rather than trying to
compete with that big fusion reactor about 8 light-minutes
away.

After all, a muggy 73 degrees can be far less comfortable
than a drier 83 degrees.  So the thermostat is set for 73,
and we adjust the humidistat for comfort, usually at about
35%, it gets reset at higher temperature.

And after a shower, it kicks on about 45 seconds after we
open the bathroom door, runs till the humidity has been
brought down near it, and we never have a mold or
mildew issue in the bathroom.

If I come in from cutting grass and I would like it to be
running for a while, I just breathe a nice wet breath
to the humidistat, and it kicks on for a few minutes.
It has made a difference in my utility bill, and my wife does
not wake up with a dry throat in the morning.

 

We figured that out the hard way when we tried to cool our bedroom with one of
those one-hose portable AC units.  The problem was, for every cubic foot of hot
air that box blew out of the house, another cubic foot of saturated Florida
mugginess infiltrated from outside.  The result?  Cool and uncomfortable.  Never
use a one-hose portable AC in a high-humidity area!  We sent that one to my
daughter in California.  There, it works great.

Vaughn

 Nothing like a variable system you can close off for recirculate for
efficiency.

Biggest trouble is the automation of the system so you can benefit from both
methods. Need to get small percentage of fresh air when the humidity is high
and larger amounts when the outside humidity / temp is low. The house should
have enough fresh air to carry itself normally for a day at a time.



We figured that out the hard way when we tried to cool our bedroom with one
of
those one-hose portable AC units.  The problem was, for every cubic foot of
hot
air that box blew out of the house, another cubic foot of saturated Florida
mugginess infiltrated from outside.  The result?  Cool and uncomfortable.
Never
use a one-hose portable AC in a high-humidity area!  We sent that one to my
daughter in California.  There, it works great.

Vaughn