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To Heat a Room or: Too Much Current?
Calebros
a k a TimesNewPwninRegistered User regular
a k a TimesNewPwninRegistered User regular
I currently have a computer with monitor, lamp, television, game consoles, printer, fan, and modem hooked up to this room through one outlet, split up through a battery backup brick thing and a surge protector. Of these, only the computer/monitor and lamp are regularly on.
The problem comes from the fact that I wish to hook up a 1500watt space heater into this room. It will be going into the surge protector. Is this like to cause problems and be a potential fire hazzard (as far as circuitry goes; I know a space heater can cause a fire for other reasons)? Would it be safe to have it on long enough to heat the room (this is a very small room, approximately 12ft x 12ft) with the comp/monitor/lamp on?
I can set it on low, which my dad think will probably run the heater at 750w rather than 1500w. Either way, I really don't want to risk a fire.
The room will also be constantly attended when the heater is on.
The problem comes from the fact that I wish to hook up a 1500watt space heater into this room. It will be going into the surge protector. Is this like to cause problems and be a potential fire hazzard (as far as circuitry goes; I know a space heater can cause a fire for other reasons)? Would it be safe to have it on long enough to heat the room (this is a very small room, approximately 12ft x 12ft) with the comp/monitor/lamp on?
I can set it on low, which my dad think will probably run the heater at 750w rather than 1500w. Either way, I really don't want to risk a fire.
The room will also be constantly attended when the heater is on.
Calebros on
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It might be worthwhile to look in your circuit breaker box. if you know what room is attached to what breaker you can look at the amperage rating for that circuit.
Also to be safe pay close attention to the amperage ratings on those extension cords and power strips. They should be written on the back. If you put too many amps on one they can cause a fire without tripping the breaker
Seriously though, nexus is right. You do not want to put too many devices on one circuit. Aside from the obvious dangers, you are probably putting a bit of stress on the equipment by using a device that draws a lot of current on the same circuit. Heck, each time you turn it on, the lights in the room will probably dim and may trip your UPS, depending on its over/under voltage protection settings.
I dunno, you can always try it, just have a fire extinguisher handy as well as a clear nose to sniff for that electrical burning smell / melting plastic smell.
I don't believe it - I'm on my THIRD PS3, and my FIRST XBOX360. What the heck?
So at least initially, everything is fine and the outlet didn't get hot.
And yes we need a space heater in here. For some reason this room has a temperature independent from the rest of the house just will not retain heat. Well, it will, it's just it needs more heat at different times then the rest of the house does. My dad likes to keep the house at a frigid 66-68, whereas I prefer 70-73. I pretty much stay in here all day and he bitches if I mess with the thermostat.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/
Those things are enormous power draws.
1) we have a 3 year old running around that would be all up ons that cord
2) my dad said something cable thickness something something length something
they have a much lower current draw, heat things gradually, are much less of a fire risk, and are very efficient. I was having a problem with a space heater we got at Target blowing the circuit breaker, so we brought it back and got one of those (normally costs around $39) and haven't had a problem since.
EDIT: OK here we go. This is what I have to work with.
I was planning on having the little heater thing on the desk by the TV near the edge, away from the curtain. But with as much electricity as it'd be drawing in from that one little corner, I am quite wary.
However, one of my roommates has a little heater that looks like a fan and is very low wattage and works great for his small space. I will try and figure out which one he has and get back to this thread.
The conundrum I am having is if I want to suffer the cold, find an alternative, or make the room really, really warm.
Warm with raging fire.
You can't post on these forums anymore!
lol nub!
get a fucking sealed oil radiator
they're cheap and will work perfectly for you and are safe in a room like that
You should go to your breaker box, find the circuit it's plugged into, and find out if it's a 15-amp, 20-amp or 30-amp circuit. It's probably 20, but if it's 30, you should be alright.
If you do end up going for it, please remember to follow this basic rule: It can only be on when you're awake, and unplug it before you go to sleep. Most fires started by space heaters are started when they're left to run all night and fall over or something.
edit: it has 3 settings. "Fan", "I", and "II". Fan is obvious, "I" (what i have it on) has '(1300w)' next to it, "II" has '(1500w)' next to it. So i'm getting your lower setting will be 1000-1300w.
Drill + wall = access to another room.
Your father is right if you want to connect to the power station, I assume he is talking about loss of power.
But seriously if you do install a heater, clean all that shit up with that mess it is a fire trap.
Satans..... hints.....
It's only as safe as the weakest component though, and that's why I recommend unplugging it when you go to sleep - you never know if the cord has taken damage and will spark/short while you're sleeping.
Assuming the house isn't that old its pretty much irrelevant if you blow the breaker. You can reset the fuse just by flipping the switch anyway. Also its actually more dangerous if it is 30 amp breaker because they aren't normal and theres a chance that some one just put a higher amp breaker in because they wanted to but the wiring won't be able to handle a constant load.
Aside from that I'm confused that your room is actually cold. In my apartment I use zero heat and I jsut leave my computer on and it gets pretty damn hot.
You'd think it'd be easy to keep this room clean. In fact, most of the rest of the house is pretty neat and tidy.
But this is only due to the fact that there are 3 rooms full of shit.
This is my haven, and I try and keep it as clean as possible, but people like to shit all over it. This is the 'where the fuck does this go? I dunno, I'll just shove it here I guess' room. I have more than once cleaned out the corner of the room by the extra swivel chair, and straightened the shelves, and cleaned off the desk to the left just out of view in that picture, but shit just gets piled in here. I'm lucky it's as clean as it is.
We might be cleaning out that corner again and putting my brothers computer there, as it is currently up in his room which as of last week does not have internet, and my brother and his wife MUD all the fucking time (well, his wife does. My brother spends most of his time being daddy AND mommy, but that's another topic entirely). The problem with that is one of room and power as well. If that computer comes in here, then I really doubt we'll be able to have a space heater in here.
The wiring was just restored c.2001, but I don't know any exact numbers, so I have no idea how far I can push before something blows. I also really do not want do not want to have some freak accident in wiring and have something get hot and catch aflame before something trips.
I think I'll just dress like I'm outside when I'm in this room and suck it up. We can keep this open I guess, in case someone has any recommendations thats have not been covered yet.
When I tested it and left it on for a bit, after about 30 seconds it would shut off. I didn't know if it was just turning the fan off and providing raw heat or what, as I have never used a space heater before and I do not know their behavior. It a good chance that was a auto-shutoff due to power spike?