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Originally Posted by SailinAway
If this is true, then wouldn't it also be true regardless of the number and size of the heating elements? In other words, a 1500 watt heater with one small element puts out as much heat as a 1500 watt heater with 4 large elements? That's hard to understand intuitively.
I noticed that the "perceived" heat from my previous larger infrared heater with two elements about 24" high was greater than the perceived heat from my current small Lasko ceramic heater. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TKDQ5C...x=lasko+heater
I also think that a fan would use part of the 1500 watts to push the heat outward rather than to create heat. There would then be less heat, but the heat would reach a person sitting within a few feet better than with no fan. |
An airconditioner (or heat pump) is different from a resistive heater. The airconditioner will be more efficient at using energy than a resistive heater because it essentially captures heat from one area and moves it to another, basically via a pump. So you aren't comparing apples to apples between the two.
The 1500 watt resistive heater is 100% efficient, but it just converts electricity into heat, it is not transporting heat from one area to another. There are no other efficiencies to be gained.
The conversation about radiant heat versus convection is pretty much moot for trying to heat a room. At the end of the day you are putting 1,500 watts of energy into the room via heat. It doesn't matter if you are using an infrared heater or an old coil heater, one element or 10 elements. It's 1,500 watts.
The problem is that on a colder night the amount of heat exiting the room is greater than 1,500 watts, so the room cools, or reaches a lower temperature of equilibrium and stays there as long as it doesn't get colder outside.
The fan in a portable heater produces heat. So if the fan is using 30 watts to spin, and the element or light bulb or whatever uses 1,470 watts of power, the net result is 1,500 watts of energy being delivered to the space.
Using one of the heaters, such as an infrared heater, pointed at you, might allow you to turn the main heat down in a room or house. But unless it's a very small room, the room temperature will likely get pretty cold. So you stay warm if you stay in front of the heater, if you move away from the heater, you'll get cold quickly. If someone turns off the main heat and just sits in front of the infrared electric heater, they may not notice the room getting too cold and end up with frozen pipes.
The portable electric heater is a great example of something being 100% efficient that will cost you much more to heat your house than a well designed gas or oil system. Caveat emptor.