Does the room size rating of a space heater matter?

About | Information | History | Online | Facts | Discovery

1. Yes 1500W of Heat is 1500 Watts. The "types" of heat transmittance are convection, conduction, and radiance. Older Small Convection heaters are not 100% efficient, about 25W of the energy goes to the fan which makes almost no heat and an insignificant about of the energy goes into making the resistive element glow red. Newer small radiant heaters (like in the video) use a Ceramic/Quartz elements and are better at heating objets (not the air) in the room and use better fans for cooling the elements and dispersing what convection heat they make. These heaters are best for quick directed heating of objects and people. Conduction heaters are the "best" heaters but are mainly used in sleeping blankets. Oil filled heaters are close to 100% efficient at heating the room but create long IR that uses only convection to heat the air which eventually heats the objects/people in the room. Each type of heater has a place in the home, but for my home , a messy teenager bedroom needs an Oil filled heater that are intrinsically safe. The cost of a fire,smoke and injury far outweigh any benefit the small super hot heaters may have.
2. thanks for the video but you should turn fan on for the oil heater to make it even
3. I understand your point. Watched this video and it's pilot. Please hear me out... "Room size" ratings are arbitrary unless one establishes the cubic, (not just square foot), room size. Yes 1500 watts is 1500 watts no matter the unit.
   There is a written disclaimer at the start of the video.
   Some units use more amperage, (i.e., one with a fan), ultimately more electrical power cost to the consumer per hour of use. Any heater with a blower fan on it will appear to heat "better" because the heat generated is felt more readily and at greater distances.
   Perhaps one could minimize the criticism by defining "better." The fan unit put more heat in the farther reaches of the room, faster. The oil unit will do that,with less energy overall, at the expense of time. I own and use both types, as well as a quartz infrared unit.
   Your point at 8:39 seems to have been missed by many- and the window blind thing was probably an oversight.
   
   All in all, a great effort.
   Eliminate as many variables as you can, and more clearly define the parameter(s). This could reduce the complaining from misconceptions by viewers in future videos. Keep trying, you're on the right track...
4. This test is not a fair comparison between the 2 heaters. The small heater works with a heating element and a fan so heat energy from the element is transferred directly to the air. The element in the oil filled heater has to first transfer heat energy to the oil, which then heats the air. Of course it going to take longer as it has to heat a liquid to work. Just because the space heater can bring the temp up quicker doesnt make it a better heater. Because the warm oil continues to heat, even after the element shuts off it wouldnt have to work as hard to maintain temp in the room as the space heater would. The space heater would cost you more to run.
5. You have the shades open when running the second heater that would account for the 3 degrees
6. Lol, are you seriously trying to lobby for marketing ploys? I've had element heaters and the life on them is terrible. I've jus acquired a oil filled heater and is DIGITAL with an eco-mode. I could very well recreate your "experiment" and come up with another outcome.
7. DIdn't read all the other comments - but your test is a bit flawed. With the small heater on you left the window blinds down - an extra barrier to the outside temperature. With the radiator you left the blinds up. Giving the smaller heater the advantage.
   Not saying the ceramic heaters aren't as good , just the test here was biased against the radiator
8. The radiator heater appears to be defective.
9. you have missed the point and have not given the experiment long enough to get an accurate set of statistics. the point of the oil filled heater is that it switches off BUT the hot oil it contains is still radiating heat. this means that when it reaches that temperature it is still giving out heat but has stopped consuming electricity. you need to give the oil time to reach that temperature though which you have not done with this experiment. if taken over 1 day you will actually find that the oil heater will give out more heat in relation to its electricity consumption.
10. Heat rises. I have single pipe steam heat in my house. All radiators. In the winter when its really cold, I have to put the ceiling fans on to circulate the heat from the radiators. If I don't, its 68 in the room and at the ceiling it's about 76 degrees. Tall ceilings and the heat has no way to circulate. I have a forced air portable and oil filled portable for my back porch which is a 3 season enclosed porch. Not very big. I sometimes use the oil filled. It keeps the room at a more comfortable heat all day. The forced air heater does warm up faster, but the floor and walls stay cool even when the room warms up, and it cycles on and off quite a bit. The oil filled is like my house radiators, it's a constant "warm" heat. Not like forced air heat that the room feels "cold: as soon as it turns off. Short Story .......... Radiator heat for all day comfortable heat but you need a fan to circulate the heat. The forced air heaters i would use for a fast warm up, when I'm close to the heater but am not in the room all day. I trust the oil filled more than the forced air heaters. No moving parts like a fan running to have to keep an eye on in case something happens.
11. The oil one turns off , WHEN THE OIL reaches max heat . Nothing to do with the room. I have used it in my northern Canada apt. The trick is to put a small fan behind to full the system . 69 degrees farin. to -37 c outside.
12. Great! I just need to light a candle to heat up my room on winter seasons!
    
    LOL So much mistakes in this so called "proof", it's very entertaining!
    
    First, a watt is an SI unit of POWER.
    
    Heat is a form of energy with SI unit of Joule.
    
    Temperature is a unit of particle average kinetic energy with SI unit of Kelvin.
    
    Though they're related, they're totally different things.
    Get your units right!
    
    Second, you have zero clue of how heat transfer and thermal conductivity works. I will not go with all the maths but trust me, it heavily depends on SURFACE AREA; The reason why radiators and heat sinks are wide and most with fins.
    
    For instance, an electric welding torch, typically uses around 3 to 5 kW with an output temp of around 5000 deg F. The torch will not heat up your room to inferno level because it has very poor thermal transfer to its surrounding fluid (air). Why? because it's surface area is very small!
    
    A bit of advice. You should learn a little bit of science before you make a video like this. You're embarrassing yourself.
    
    Thank you!
13. The oil filled heater takes way longer to heat up,yet provides a much better heat once the rad is hot,also the fan heater provides a very drying heat while the rad provides a radiant heat not drying to the air.I have a room twice as big as that room and my room was really warm after 20 minutes. Clearly you have a bad radiator. I agree that the room to heater size recommendations are a little off but still useful.
14. its true they use the same amount of power in. The difference is how good the heater heats the air around it. The oil filled are best for larger rooms, Fan ones like that small one, is good for heating 1 person or smaller area
15. I have a oil filled heater in my room and it clearly states on the box it came in that's it take 15-30 min to even get warm and the little heater starts putting off heat instantly so yes ur test is bad but the littl heater want get the room as warm as the oil heater it might warm up be room faster but that doesn't mean it will get the room the warmest so in my opinion the oil heater is by far the best
16. Funny, my room is larger and i have this exact same oil heater and it works pretty great. You need a little bit of circulation around the room. Not to mention the fact that the oiled filled heater stays warm way way longer after shutting it off.
17. You should contact Consumer Reports or something. Tell them out room size ratings are just made up. Try not to get laughed at. Not like businesses that compete to make these products would not make sure their competitor were being honest with their ratings.
18. Thanks for the waste of time on your failed experiment. You buy the small one because it's cheaper and smaller, you buy the oil filled because it is silent, doesn't dry out the air and many have digital thermostat controls that are more precise, allow shut off timers, etc. They both have heating elements that draw the same amount of electricity so they will heat about the same. Size has nothing to do with it. Basic thermodynamics.
19. I have a question, does the amount of fins, or some call it ribs affect the speed and efficiency in which ther oil filled heater would heat the room? Anyone who could answer would be very much appreciated.
20. I am thinking , if I wrap my leg with some water filled or very moist towel and put the heater nearby the feet, will it be good, don't want to wear too much clothes at home