My way of staying warm vintage space heaters is it snowing where you are!

[zenith12]

It is in the 20s in Canfield right now so what better to post than space heaters and my thermostat to control the Arvin . The titan I just restored last week one is a Canadian made heat machine heater from 1988 or 89 and my 1940s Arvin .

 

[kirbyklekter]

Arvin's Rule!

I see you started hanging your Christmas lights. I'm running a 40's Arvin heater right now and I dug out a 50's SuperLectric parabolic heater. I'm cleaning up a early 20's Edison Electric parabolic heater that is solid copper.It's made for Hotpoint.

How many watts does your Arvin use? Not sure if there was much regulation back then. My heaters range from 560-1720watts.

Sometimes I think the only reason they put fans in these old heaters was to keep the enclosure from over heating because they don't blow a lot of air. Doubt you could blow a lit match out with a couple I have!

 

[zenith12]

It is

It is 1300 watts an yes I have started putting up my lights and my mom let me use a little fiber optic tree that she said I could put in my room. And I am waiting for a 3D printed fan for my Hoover 450 from another vacuum lander

 

[kirbyklekter]

Fiber Optic

I've got one of those too! Someone tossed it after the Holidays. They're nice. This one revolves on a stand and the tips of the branches change color as it turns. Enjoy!

 

[lesinutah]

Breaker 19

The average breaker is 10-20 amps. If 120 watts is an amp. Your pushing 14 plus amps with the heater. Your probably going to trip the breaker if you plug anything else in.
I do think the heaters are nice. I've noticed the metal radiator type heaters use less power and work good too.
I just thought I'd let you know as having an electrician come tell you exactly what I mentioned and paying $150 for a service call.

 

[zenith12]

Well

I live in a century home and it is very drafty and has bad windows and the temperature Is different in every room the room next to my room is like 64 in the morning and my room is no better when the wind blows the window make noise you might say replace the old windows but my parents just spent a lot on a shed with heat an fully finished inside because my mom raises weenier dogs .

 

[huskyvacs]

Yeah single pane sash windows are brutal in winter. Thick rubber backed curtains will help, but replacing the windows will do a great deal of good to your electric bill and indoor temp.

That Arvin is nice.

 

[madman]

Ah a perfect shag carpet to set fire to with an old space heater!

2nd on Les though, always be careful when using big power consumers. Typical house circuits are 15A each. 1500w (12.5A) is the max current draw for a small appliance now, because you generally don't want to put much more load than that on a 15A circuit. The '15' is really more like a peak current rating, rather than sustained. Especially living in an old house, if it were me, I wouldn't think of running a big consumer like that without knowing full well the condition of the wiring and outlet, and knowing the rating of the breaker matches the gauge of the wire.

My house and my previous house we both rewired from top to bottom to make sure they were safe. My friend's house is largely still old wiring, and (before we redid the kitchen) they were using a 1700w (14A) air fryer in their kitchen (not to mention what other appliances simultaneously) on old 14AWG wiring (meant for 15A), with a 20A breaker. Legit fire hazard. The previous owners just did whatever they wanted with the electrics, and we're still rooting out fire hazards :/ When I did his kitchen, I put in TWO 20A circuits for just the kitchen outlets alone, not including the fridge, stove, microwave, etc.

 

[human]

Yeah, my house was built in 1970 and has aluminum wiring. I know the HVAC system has been pig-tailed with copper but I'm not so sure about the rest. I've got an infrared space heater but I seldom use it. I put in vinyl replacement windows a few years ago and a new air conditioner and gas furnace in September. I'm really enjoying the lower utility bills those things bring with them, although I'm fully aware it will be a long time before they actually pay for themselves, if ever.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

I replaced my oil burner (which also provided hot water).

In less than 3 years, it DID pay for itself. Gas water heater too.
My house has vinyl siding, over Styrofoam, over asbestos siding, over wood clapboard, with 6" of blown in insulation, wood lath, horsehair plaster... and some walls have drywall over that.
33 thermopane windows.
It was an ordeal.

 

[human]

Already 'efficient'...

My house already had a gas water heater and vinyl siding when I moved in almost seven years ago and the mailings I get from the power company rate my home as "efficient" with its original 50-year-old HVAC system except in the summer months. Adding vinyl windows in 2017 made surprisingly little difference. I guess the original single pane windows with ugly aluminum triple-hung storm windows were more efficient than they looked, not that I regret replacing them. The new HVAC system helped a little bit in September and October when I was still running the A/C. I don't expect much of a difference in the electricity bill over the winter months but I'm hoping the gas bill, which is not outrageous, will go down a bit from the winter months last year and I will see some relief on the electric bills next summer.