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Space heater and power outages.
DasUberEdward
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So as of last night I've begun to have power failures whenever my space heater is plugged in and my PC is on. This would be entirely understandable if it wasn't a new development. I've used the same set up for about two weeks without experiencing any sort of power outage. I have at times had lights on, the heater, my pc, and the television without any problems.
So I left my apartment for a few days and when I return a few nights later i'm making a post on PA. I press "submit reply" and bam. Everything goes dark. I try to use just the PC and the space heater. . it's successful for a while but then I go to hulu and bam. Everything's out.
Now I have turned off just about everything I can think of that's elsewhere in the apartment but the problem persist. It's important to note that only the electricity in my room decides to vanish and my roommates are unaffected.
Why would my heater suddenly cause this problem? I've tried plugging it into the surge protector and a few other locations but to no avail. It's fucking cold.
So I left my apartment for a few days and when I return a few nights later i'm making a post on PA. I press "submit reply" and bam. Everything goes dark. I try to use just the PC and the space heater. . it's successful for a while but then I go to hulu and bam. Everything's out.
Now I have turned off just about everything I can think of that's elsewhere in the apartment but the problem persist. It's important to note that only the electricity in my room decides to vanish and my roommates are unaffected.
Why would my heater suddenly cause this problem? I've tried plugging it into the surge protector and a few other locations but to no avail. It's fucking cold.
DasUberEdward on
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Also, are you aware how much using a space heater very often is going to run up your electric bill? They're fantastically inefficient.
That must be one hell of a fault to kill the TV and Lights too.
OP could try running an extension cord from another unused circuit to power either his comp or the TV.
Space heaters should really be plugged directly to a socket though.
Yeah they all have power. Nothing goes out in their rooms and I only have to flip the circuit thing for my room.
The big debate we're having is if we can save money by heating the entire lower floor of our apartment with the fireplace since not using heat in the winter will save a lot of cash and our ventilation system seems to be relatively inefficient.
So. . .I picked up a space heater because it's cold as the dickens in my room. I'm sure that having a sliding glass balcony door taking up an entire wall of my living space doesn't help matters.
Do go on. How would I test such a thing? I suppose that could explain why it seems that the problem on arises when I do something on the PC. Once it happened when I pressed save. Another time it happened when I pressed submit. . etc.
It's just strange that the setup has worked without any complications just until recently.
[edit] Replacing a breaker is a job for a licensed electrician.
Well we do have some sort of maintenance staff for our apartment complex. So that's good I guess. . .how would I know if it was the breaker?
Well I can't say that it would have went out anyway because I used it while watching TV for quite some time without anything happening. I recall one time it decided to go I only had Google Chrome up and nothing else. I clicked some link and everything powered down.
This is depressing I don't want to wear a jacket when I compute.
You're drawing too much current and causing the breaker to trip. Run an extension cord to another circuit to serve the heater.
Edit: If it's a 1500-2000 watt heater, as many space heaters are, it alone draws more power then everything else in your room combined.
Everything powered in your room should have a sticker indicating peak Amperage, or at the very least you should be able to calculate it's consumption based on wattage.
eg a 1000W heater:
1000W / 120V = 8.3Amps
Wattage / Voltage = Amperage.
Since each standard househould circuit is usually 15Amps, you know that single 1000W heater would be using more than half of the circuit. Additionally, that generation of PC probably consumes 300-400W for the tower, and depending on the Monitor, possibly a 150W more there. Add in a Laser Printer or a few Lamps and you're creeping up on the max.
But I'd say if you total it out to less than 12Amps, the breaker may be bad. Or you could have an electrical short in something.
I've got my tower (500W?). Monitor. Modem. TV. Mini Fridge. The heater.
That's it. Oh and one light. I think if the problem persist i'll just unplug the fridge as i'm sure it's a hog.
Actually, you should avoid extension cords for space heaters most of the time.
If you want to use an extension cord for a heater, I'd recommend the good 12 or 10 guage 3-wire onces, single end only (as opposed to triple ended cords).
Honestly, I'd recommend getting long johns, flannel pajamas, and moccasin-style slippers. In the long run, doing that instead of running a space heater will save you a shitload of money.
I originally had it plugged into a search protector and all was going well. Right now it's plugged directly into an outlet.
Yeah I intend on stocking up on some of that stuff when I go to visit my parents.
Probably just because it's colder outside now.
You have no idea how unbelievably warm those can be with a down comforter. Like, having to take clothes off you're sweating so bad in a ~50 degree room.
Your fridges power consumption, as another example, would be considerably higher when its compressor is running.
There is also the possibility your PC power supply is going flakey, in addition to possibly running in overload when a PC power supply starts to fail its power draw can become erratic. Though moving a large power consuming device like a heater to another circuit would probably resolve your issue.