Trying Out a Far Infrared Heated Poster
bentasker.co.uk
bentasker.co.uk
(The expensive electricity point is also kind of moot in case that's your only heating option.)
I'm only ever in one place at a time, and both my house and workspace are compact, so I'd be up for moving one around with me if it meant saving on propane for the "real" heater.
I'd also happily place one under my sink or wherever to keep my pipes warm without having to heat the rest of the room when I'm not in it.
Caveat emptor: in my experience, these things only last one or two seasons. But paying $25 or $50 to be comfortable for the winter is worth it. There are more expensive, presumably more durable wall-mounted options as well. [3]
I've also tried various methods like electric blankets and pads but I find the sensation of direct heat like that kind of annoying, plus I often end up with a warm butt and cold fingers, which is not ideal for music or coding.
1: https://www.homedepot.com/p/PROAIRA-700-Watt-1000-Watt-in-Bl...
2: https://www.homedepot.ca/product/living-zone-oscillating-rad...
3: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dr-Infrared-Heater-1500-Watt-Ele...
To solve this, I put a blower fan at the foot of the stairs blowing up. This takes the coldest air in the house and sends it to the middle of the house.
The 1 ~100 watt fan balances the heat of the basement far more than any supplemental heating systems ever would, and at 13 cents/kwh only costs me about $0.30/day to run.
The hot air is moved with some repurposed computer fans up high in a few doorways, and a return cold air fan , like your case, blowing the lower colder air back to the room with the mini split.
The introduction of the fan moving the cold air into that room has a FAR larger impact on the house temp than just the fans moving the heat alone. (They obviously help as well but it's far more effective to move the cold air).
As a geek side note, I also have a few "in wall" fans that direct into 6" vent work, and come out floor registers for the second floor. There are enabled or disabled via esphome temp sensors -- when a differential greater than X is noted, the fan(s) turn on, more rapidly evening the temps upstairs and downstairs.
(To be fair, I also have an oil hot air furnace, and a wood stove, but the furnace has not been used for 2 winters, and the wood stove on the cold cold days in Jan/Feb when the heat pump isn't very happy)
The problem I have is that all my windows are narrow casement (crank out) windows, so the only AC I can use is a floor unit, with a plexi plug covering the rest of the window. They're too narrow for real window ACs. It's 14,000 BTU, ostensibly, and has a dual hose to avoid creating negative air pressure inside the house, but it can only really keep it 10-15° cooler inside than outside. That's fine until it's over 90°, which thankfully doesn't happen all that often. The AC has to be in the southeast corner, and there can only be one, because all the outlets near the windows are on the same circuit, and it's not able to power two. Oh, and the whole east wall is a giant double sliding glass door, which has a gorgeous view of the river, but gets hot first thing in the morning.
I'm mostly kidding, but man, any suggestions for how to improve this would be great!
Cool the space at night (when it's cooler already) as much as possible. Then during the heat of the day, use thermal curtains to both block the heat out and to trap the cool in.
On days where that is simply not enough, cross breeze is underrated.
Get one of those magnetic mosquito door net things and set it up on your front door. Open the windows and the doors when it's too hot for the AC to help and get some air movement with a fan if necessary to push air from the shady side to the hot side.
Fortunately cross breeze often comes in off the river, which is cooler, and I'm far enough north that it doesn't break 100° more than once or twice a year, if that, so I guess maybe this is as good as it gets.
This is the same logic for electric cars where heat is expensive: conduction>>> convention. Heat the occupant(s) and not the air with heated steering wheels & heated seats. Some ICE gear shifter knobs would get warm from transmission conduction!
At one point in life, I had a heated mattress pad so I could turn the heat off a lot. I just ran it before I went to bed so it wouldn't be frigid when I got in. In the morning I'd just run into the shower and leave for the day. My place was western facing (in northern hemisphere) so I got a lot of afternoon sun and would return to a warm place in the afternoon.
It's not freezing in my workspace, just a few degrees cooler than I would like, and something inconspicuous like this seems like a great idea!
$68 FIR Heater - Infrared Wall Eco Portable Heating Electric Panel 3000 BTU w/ High Quality Picture "Flowers" Folded Efficient Indoor 41''x 24''
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1104443023/heater-infrared-w...
Personally, I live in a mild climate where it rarely gets below 50F or over 85F outside, and I just leave the windows open year round and let the house fluctuate between about 60F and 80F, and find it very comfortable without using anything but different clothing. It is interesting that even with all of the windows open the house averages out the evening lows very well, and stays about 10F warmer.
(And they probably cannot afford redoing insulation of where they live either, assuming they even own rather than rent.)
P.S.: The hot water bottle is pretty great, in particular when sick.
"Cold air inflames lungs and inhibits circulation, increasing the risk of respiratory conditions, such as asthma attacks or symptoms, worsening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and infection. Cold also induces vasoconstriction, which causes stress to the circulatory system (198) that can lead to cardiovascular effects, including ischaemic heart disease (IHD), coronary heart disease, strokes, subarachnoid haemorrhage and death (198–206). Most of the evidence for the impact of cold on health comes from studies connecting outdoor temperatures to health outcomes. For example, cold spells are associated with increased mortality and respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity (207), and mortality and morbidity rates in countries with cold and temperate climates are higher in winter than in summer (208)."
I doubt they are finding people that do a lot of outdoor winter sports for example have increased health problems vs people that just sit inside.
And then marketing people tried conflating IR saunas with conventional saunas, which nobody has studied and might not have the same efficacy.
I don't know either but I suspect hot air, especially in the lungs is a big part of the mechanism.
The pets love it too!
Main issue is that because it's dining table height, all the standard blankets and futons are too short/small.
Highly recommend it though, it's great. It just needed a voltage converter.
It is, but if a building cools down below the dew point (and it will, unless you're somewhere near the equator), any humidity e.g. from the air you breathe out or from plants will just crash out and condense on the walls, resulting in mold.
I am into sailing and often sail in cold climates without cabin heat- and find that my body heat alone is enough to prevent this from happening in a small sailboat cabin.
My head still moves on the bike, but it's much less. Also, this way I can just raise my desk and slide the bike under, whereas with the treadmill I was unplugging and going to another room which was less convenient. I have a TV dinner tray thing with a secondary wireless keyboard and trackball that sits just above my knees so I can work while I pedal.
And yes it's great for warming up and staying warm all day!
I've supposedly pedaled over 10,000 miles this year, and I've lost over 40 lbs in the process! Never mind keeping warm in New England!
One of the best purchases I've made in a long time!
Something like https://www.speedcomfort.com/en - just attach the fans and the thermal sensor to your radiator and plug it in. From then on, anytime the radiator gets warm, fans start and circulate hot air everywhere in the room.
I did find them on ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/405285386735?_trksid=p2332490.c1018...
Which suggests the ‘poster’ should be a lot bigger too.
Or am I mistaken somehow?