Gas turned off due to nonpayment- space heater starts fire

[scotsajo]

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/Man_in_critical_condition_after_fire

Be careful with those space heaters.

[roccman]

space heaters are serious energy hogs.

[powerDown]

space heaters North Americans are serious energy hogs.

[rdocr]

space heaters are serious energy hogs.

Space HeatingCutoffNonpaymentBlog   

   One of the basic requirements for a human being is shelter and a heat source- but you may have already guessed that.

   I cannot supply all of your heating needs, only half of it, AT NO COST.

   For the past forty years, we have turned off the stove and/or furnace when the Sun is out. We get all of our daytime home heating from Solar Space Heaters. It works even better when there is snow on the ground- more sun is reflected into the heater.

   It is nothing fancy, but you must build it. Oh, sure, there are a few on the market, but they are quite spendy. The last time we built one of these, the only expenditure was plastic covering for the 4 X 8 ft collector, a gallon of black paint, about 250 sheet metal screws, The key to the whole thing is tin cans, as in soup or bean cans. You will need about 250 of them.
The total was under $75.00, and there are no operating costs for fans, etc..
   “You mean to say you have a 4 X 8 ft, black box on the front of your house, filled with 250 tin cans?” Yep. In fact, two fo them.
   Of all the heat exchangers I have experimented with, the tin cans are the best by far- and the cheapest, too.

   Never mind the arguments, I have met most of them and I still use my Solar space heaters every day. When summer comes and the sun is overhead, the collector doesn’t work, but there is a way to use it for cooling. I have a thermometer placed in the incoming vent and it reads around 150F on sunny days like yesterday, when outside was around 40F..It requires no energy to operate, air movement is by convection.

   Here I am, going on about one of my books, How To Build And Benefit From A Passive Solar Space Heater. It tells how, why, and what- about this thing. Hey, I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread and I want everybody to have one.

   Well, actually there is more than one. I have used them on the barn- animals love a little extra heat; on the garage to keep the car comfortable. ( I just put two of them on an insulated garage for my EV. The batteries won’t take a full charge if they are cold. )
   In our former Studio, 5000 sq ft, we had a big 8 ft by 12 ft, solar heater that kept the whole place toasty.
   Oh, our neighbors are happy to collect cans for the “crazy Ritchies”. Yeah, crazy, all the way to the bank.
   Take a look, It is available from our website printed or as an Ebook.

Keep warm

Ralph

[roccman]

   Here I am, going on about one of my books, How To Build And Benefit From A Passive Solar Space Heater. It tells how, why, and what- about this thing. Hey, I think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread and I want everybody to have one.
   
Ralph

Nice Ralph!!! It is in my cart now!!

[wordnerd]

Okay tell me how I can build one of these things - or buy one of these things
My furnace is broken - due to flooding in August
I need a heat source - quickly
I'm going to the Red Cross today to see about Disaster Assistance
BUT - if my basement flooded once - it "could" flood again

[Ellie]

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/Man_in_critical_condition_after_fire

Be careful with those space heaters.

There was a story on our local news this morning about a housefire caused by flammables stored too close to a baseboard heater. The people and two dogs got out but another dog and some cats died.

We had baseboard heaters at one place we rented and I was in a constant state of hypervigilance that often turned to outright paranoia trying to make sure that nothing got close to them, including the stuffed toys the dogs like to spread around. Made me absolutely yearn for the days of living in my old apartment with its clanking steam heat radiator, but then of course there was always the ever-present possibility that some moronic neighbor with a candle and a cat would set the place on fire anyway.

[TheDignityofStruggle]

I mention this in the Bug-Out-Bag thread. House fires will be on the rise as gas is shut off and people try to get creative with weber grills and electric heaters, etc.  Have a prepped bag that is easy to grab and run out with.

[wordnerd]

I jkust added it to my cart too!!!

[kmaine2]

space heaters are serious energy hogs.

They are serious energy hogs but when you can't afford heating oil and you live in a state that does not allow your electricity to be shut off in winter it is  a choice many make. 

Every winter there is a story  about someone getting carbon monoxide poisoning because they have a kerosene space heaters in their homes and they weren't properly ventilated.

[Eclipse]

Hey Ralph, I only have one south facing window. Actually only 1 window in the whole house that I could do a passive solar heater on. Is 1 window enough? Or do I need 2?

Also, have you ever put one on a second story window? I might be able to get a second window on the second floor.

I really want to try these. Have been interested in them for years.

E

[rdocr]

Some of you want to use window space for a space heater.

Yes you can, and I have designed one just for that purpose, and included it in the book..

As to putting one in a second story window, sure, but some of the work must be done from the outside. If you cannot get out there with a ladder or balcony or whatever- forget it.

Now, about solar space heating.

The Sun radiates about 500 BTU per square foot toward the earth’s surface. Our atmosphere reduces that by half, or at least, it used to. I don’t have numbers on the increased radiation, but there is little doubt but that it has increased. The greater the collector’s surface area, the more heat you will get.

So, under the best conditions, the collector captures about 250 BTU, per hour, per square foot of collector area. The trick is transferring this heat to circulating air within the box.
We move the air by convection, and so no additional energy is required for its operation. Once again, I have yet to find anything that transfers heat as well as tin cans.

Since the air is taken at floor level, heated, then sent back into the room, the same convection keeps circulating the room air. Yesterday, the incoming air from the collector reached 150F for most of the afternoon ( a foggy morning dropped the incoming air temp to 85F, but that is some heat and the room stayed at 70F. By sundown, the room was almost 78F and I didn’t light off the stove until about 9PM. We saved heating costs for about 14 hours. It was about 40F, outside. (We are in Western Oregon )

That’s about as close to FREE HEAT as you can get.

I would guess that a window unit would probably heat a room, but don’t plan on heating the entire house from one window.

Next: Are you keeping the heat that you have in the house?
We spent an entire book , Home Energy Tips, Low- and No-Cost Solutions To Home Energy Problems- In A Power Hungry Culture. We used fifty years of experience to write this book.

Keep warm

Ralph