Space Heater

Pure Din

I guess I had a while before having to worry about this stuff, but it's 35 degrees outside now, and it feels the same indoors as well. My roommates told me they don't want to turn the heat on until at least after Thanksgiving, but it's okay to get a space heater for my room.

I was reading about the types of heaters online, but I'm not sure which kind would be best. My room is pretty big, I guess about 400 feet. So I guess I need to find a way to heat only part of it, or find a heater that is powerful to heat the whole room. Does anyone have suggestions?

Edit: Also, I was wondering if those window shrink wrap things will come off cleanly in the spring? It looks like a good idea...

shadydentist

Space heaters are very inefficient. I would ask your roommates to reconsider. Especially for a big room.

FyreWulff

Your roommates can either pay for the 1500 watts the space heater is going to be sucking down or pay for the damn heat.

MetroidZoid

Heat is always expensive. Some forms are cheaper than others, mostly because they're more efficient. I had this issue last year when I didn't want to pay the $500 to keep my 'stove oil' tank filled and use the oil heater that came with the house, so instead thought I'd skate by with an electric wall heater that was also installed in the house. Well not only did that hardly keep the house above freezing, it also fucked my wallet thoroughly. So this year I ponied up the money early for 'stove oil', which turned out to be plain kerosene, and while it's still a big chunk of change, it lasts longer, keeps the house actually warm, and is very enjoyable.

Convince your roomies to turn on the heat, possibly paying for a bigger share until after Thanksgiving? Otherwise, if you were to use like a rolling oil heater, all you guys will still be paying higher electricity.

THEPAIN73

I like electric heaters. $15 bucks and I have a warm room to sleep in.

I don't use it for more than 30 minutes anyway. Just enough to get the room warm then it's off.

Captain Vash

Just another consideration.

Every space heater I have ever seen or used has given me the distinct impression that it had somehow burnt my air. I would prefer death via impalement upon a slowly forming ice stalagmite in a cold cave of despair over the sickly-sweet smell of the dead air that emanates from one of these horrible horrible devices.

that said, the only form of heat I've ever really found comfortable was my childhood home's hot water radiator boards.

I miss those.

FyreWulff

Yeah, space heaters dry the fuck out the air, since it's basically a fan put behind wires under a mostly controlled short circuit.

VisionOfClarity

You can get weather strips for your window if it doesn't seal properly but personally I would just turn on the heat and tell them to suck it. If they have a problem with heating the apt I'd tell them I'm moving out as it being unreasonably cold in the apt is a good reason to break a lease.

Electric heaters are great if your room is a bit chilly but they are not meant to heat a full room in near freezing weather. Shrink wrapping your window, unless your window is really drafty, it won' make a big difference in terms of the space heater working better. If you get one your electric bill will go through the roof though. As for the dry air, I have this issue in my apt because the building is steam heat so I bought a humidifier for my bedroom and that solves the problem.

Also, if you don't turn it on and your pipes freeze/burst your landlord will anally violate all of you. You will be liable for the damage and that shit won't be cheap. Just turn the damn heat on.

RUNN1NGMAN

First, you're in Providence. Waiting until Thanksgiving until you turn the heat on is patently ridiculous.

Second, just set the thermostat at a reasonable level and tell your roommates to suck it. Put it at 68 or something, and explain that's a very reasonable and cost-efficient thermostat setting for during the day, and explain that the weather really doesn't give a fuck what month it is, cold is cold.

Dunadan019

FyreWulff wrote: »

Yeah, space heaters dry the fuck out the air, since it's basically a fan put behind wires under a mostly controlled short circuit.

you can get oil or water based space heaters as well that look just like plug in radiators. they look like this:



edit: oh, and plastic your windows if they are old or single paned. they sell kits at home depot.

illig

Dunadan019 wrote: »

FyreWulff wrote: »

Yeah, space heaters dry the fuck out the air, since it's basically a fan put behind wires under a mostly controlled short circuit.

you can get oil or water based space heaters as well that look just like plug in radiators. they look like this:



edit: oh, and plastic your windows if they are old or single paned. they sell kits at home depot.

i second the oil filled heater suggestion... they're cheap ($30-40 for a basic one), and safe, i.e. they don't have a red-hot exposed element that can set something on fire

you will have to pay for the electricity, however... but if your roomies split the bills, fuck em... live nice and toasty while they pay part of the cost

cooljammer00

Also, there can never be enough sweaters and blankets. You better not be wearing shorts and shivering!

Robos A Go Go

cooljammer00 wrote: »

Also, there can never be enough sweaters and blankets. You better not be wearing shorts and shivering!

For me, the biggest problem is my hands. I wear gloves some of the time, but it's hard as well to cook, eat, and type with those things on.

Anyway, my roommate is trying a similar thing by buying space heaters and using them to keep the apartment at 60 degrees without having to touch the thermostat. I'm guessing this is going to end poorly for him? Luckily, he's the only one who pays utilities.

VisionOfClarity

cooljammer00 wrote: »

Also, there can never be enough sweaters and blankets. You better not be wearing shorts and shivering!

Also, I have a good down comforter that keeps me toasty at night.

cooljammer00

Robos A Go Go wrote: »

cooljammer00 wrote: »

Also, there can never be enough sweaters and blankets. You better not be wearing shorts and shivering!

For me, the biggest problem is my hands. I wear gloves some of the time, but it's hard as well to cook, eat, and type with those things on.

Anyway, my roommate is trying a similar thing by buying space heaters and using them to keep the apartment at 60 degrees without having to touch the thermostat. I'm guessing this is going to end poorly for him? Luckily, he's the only one who pays utilities.

From what I've gathered in this thread, he'll just end up paying more for electricity instead of gas.

Hachface

If you're going to go with the space heater, I second the vote for the plug-in radiator ones. They work very well.

Pheezer

If it were below 69.8 degrees F in the main living areas of my apartment during the day, I would call the residential tenancies board here and they'd send an inspector. They'd take a reading, and if it verified what I'd claimed, they would give the landlord 24 hours to turn on the heat. They'd take another reading 24 hours later, and if it failed that threshhold, they'd start to institute fines based on the number of apartments in my building. These can be around $1000 per day. Per apartment.

This would be true completely regardless of what the date was. I had to get an inspector to explain to a previous landlord that they didn't give two shits what the date was, and that cold is cold and that's not livable.

In short, I do not believe that it is unreasonable for you to turn on the fucking heat. Your roommates are being ridiculous, and they will pay far more to run your space heater than they would to run a proper heater.

Metalbourne

Pheezer wrote: »

In short, I do not believe that it is unreasonable for you to turn on the fucking heat. Your roommates are being ridiculous, and they will pay far more to run your space heater than they would to run a proper heater.

I spent the summer with a family that would turn on the swamp cooler and then set up a complex set of baffles in order to ... well I don't know what the fuck they were doing. My novel idea of setting up a "tunnel" in which cold air would move from the cooler, to your person, and then out a window was promptly shot down, as anything that violently cold was obviously costing a mint. The fact that air was actually leaving the house was all the proof they needed that my frigid contraption was the most inefficient and ridiculous thing anyone had ever seen.

I am still blamed for the four hundred dollar August electricity bill.

Inquisitor77

1. As has been previously stated, your roommates are sadly ignorant if they believe that letting you use a space heater is a good way for them to save energy and cost. It's not.

2. If you guys are splitting the electricity/gas bill anyway, and you feel you'll use the space heater in the future, then go ahead and buy an oil/water-based heater. Just make sure you think long-term and look at the energy it uses and the amount of space you'll actually need to cover.

3. If you're feeling particularly adventurous, you could try to educate your roommates? I don't see why anyone would feel like it's a good deal to pay $40 more per month just to heat up your room, when they could just pay $20 to heat up the entire place... Then again, people can be ridiculously stubborn sometimes.