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Fan heaters on extension lead


Thorfun

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17 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

How noisy are they, and do they chuck out warmed air, and how warm is that air.

 

 

It's pretty much like a hair dryer on min setting for all of the above. You wouldn't want to have one in your bedroom at night unless you like white noise. 

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1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

Was thinking about putting one in my shed.

 

I recently bought a used 180W dehumidifier off gumtree for my woodworking shop. It adds about one degree C to ambient but in combination with the drop in humidity makes it feel much more comfortable. I think it's an all-round great idea. I would say go for around 300W if you can find one - then it's doing some useful work while providing some heat. The only problem is that you do really need at least 10°C in the space around it for it to dehumidify efficiently. The point is, you could heat with just a resistive element but then again, raising the temperature is all it does. Because nearly all the energy going into the dehumidifier ends up as heat you get rid of some water vapour as well as providing some heat into the bargain. It all aids in lowering the dew point.

 

After I put in a 2kW convector to heat my electronics workshop I realised it might have been better to offer the place as a home for bitcoin mining. Getting useful work done with the energy that's being consumed and turned into heat is a more effective use of electricity. If anyone wants to split the electricity bill, I'll host their rigs (up to 2kW) ?

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8 minutes ago, Radian said:

The only problem is that you do really need at least 10°C in the space around it for it to dehumidify efficiently.

 

That's usually the case for compressor dehumidifiers. If you get a desiccant dehumidifier it will work down to 1 degree C and pretty much extract the same amount of moisture from the air. It will require more juice than the compressor version as it has a small heating element to work with the dessicant, but in many instances this is a benefit as it can slightly warm the space. At above 10C then a compressor version is definitely the choice.

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14 hours ago, saveasteading said:

I have had a new basement with 1m standing water in it*. So yours is not so bad.

 

Really, don't bother yet, if it can get soaked again,  until you close the walls.

no, it's really not that bad at all down there. and it won't get wet again as all our windows and doors are in now so if we get any more water in the basement then we've got big problems!

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I think it would be surprising if we looked at the number of times cable / Plugs get hot when running constant high loads. Just takes a loose connection in the plug and a Fire can easily start. Poor buggers in that new build fire. I wouldnt run any decent load unless I was physically there

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29 minutes ago, redtop said:

I think it would be surprising if we looked at the number of times cable / Plugs get hot when running constant high loads. Just takes a loose connection in the plug and a Fire can easily start. Poor buggers in that new build fire. I wouldnt run any decent load unless I was physically there

I have often wondered how much electrical energy could be saved if all terminals were tightened up five years after installation.

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5 minutes ago, SteamyTea said:

I have often wondered how much electrical energy could be saved if all terminals were tightened up five years after installation.

 

If it's a portable device then they should be PAT tested every year, which includes checking the tightness of all terminals.

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Just now, Adrian Walker said:

 

If it's a portable device then they should be PAT tested every year, which includes checking the tightness of all terminals.

Not for homes.

I was thinking more academically.

Only need a tiny fraction of an ohm increase, but multiplied by roughly a billion switches, sockets and plugs, it could be a sizable amount.

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1 hour ago, SteamyTea said:

Only need a tiny fraction of an ohm increase, but multiplied by roughly a billion switches, sockets and plugs, it could be a sizable amount.

 

Once again the series resistance will have the effect of reducing the power to the loads. There will be some heat generated in the poor connections but it will not make up the losses in the loads. Overall the grid will supply less power. There are certain kinds of loads that would be an exception however, those that regulate for the required power in the load. Examples would be digital electronics like PC's, TV's and some, but not all, LED lamps.

 

It's funny to think that all the loose connections in a house (and overloaded wiring) contribute to the domestic heating (by a miniscule amount of course) so will reduce the demand for heating fuel. It's like how LED bulbs now contribute around 1/10th the heat that their incandescent forebears used to provide so our heating bills have gone up in the drive to save energy. The offset is still worthwhile it to the consumer given that energy for heating tends to be supplied at a lower cost but from a global energy supply perspective there is much less of a distinction.

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