More nonsense

dave jones over at eevblog just released a related video on this topic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3pE_mDwCpk" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3pE_mDwCpk</a> and also a video debunking the above kickstarter project as total BS.

adcurtin

You should check this out: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/koleda/solus-the-most-efficient-radiator-in-the-world" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/koleda/solus-the-most-efficient-radiator-in-the-world</a>

Per 'Zapro' Jensen

The only difference I can think of is that the oil filled heater (and other "medium room" heaters) doesn't lose all the heat if you open a door and a sudden cold draft blows through the room. With the small one, you have no "heat buffer", so it's better in a smaller room where this risk is smaller.

Tom G

Not sure if this is somwhere (scanned through second video for anything similar, but didn't watch it all) You can't get more heat out of 5125 BTU, but you can buy a portable electric heater in the US that's more than 5125 BTU, just not a space heater, which some people would probably care about. For example, I have an 11000 BTU Black and Decker Heater that's a 14000 BTU AC as well. I haven't run any tests to see how much power it's drawing, but I'm quite certain it's better than the space heater rated at 5125 BTU. <a href="https://www.walmart.com/ip/BLACK-DECKER-14-000-BTU-Cooling-11-000-BTU-Heating-Portable-Air-Conditioner-with-Remote-Control-Heat-Pump/178204252" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.walmart.com/ip/BLACK-DECKER-14-000-BTU-Cooling-11-000-BTU-Heating-Portable-Air-Conditioner-with-Remote-Control-Heat-Pump/178204252</a>

Kyle Olson

I racked my brain trying to think of a way that the large heater could work better, and this is what I have: It create less air currents than the small one (because the small one has a fan). Moving air feels colder to us warm-bloods, so this could technically mean it isn't "warming" the people in the room as effectively if it's also creating a breeze. Granted, I don't agree with this either, but it's the only way to explain how 1500w could be said to produce more or less warmth in the same space.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziglw2mXbS8" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziglw2mXbS8</a>

Dermot Conner

For what it's worth mate, you're 100% correct, and you're providing a genuinely useful and informative video that can and will save folks money. With that said, sometimes you can't fix stupid, and cognitive dissonance is a helluva drug, especially when it relates to something people feel strongly about. Evidently people have strong emotional connections to their heaters, presumably a consequence of childhood experiences and so forth.

Dermot Conner

Well they're getting quite badly screwed over by paying 2x or 4x the price for the heater, when the functional value to them remains identical. Check out the price tags on the different versions; $15 - $50 or thereabout from what I remember, not including the stupidly overpriced versions. I for one share his irritation; it really is a bit of a con.

Dermot Conner

Alec, I'm curious if it would be worthwhile to reach out to any of the heater manufacturers? I'm not sure Comfort Zone is an actual company anywhere, but I wonder if you might get a response from an American company like Lasko that makes heaters, maybe through social media? I wonder if their PR department would have any comment on this.

Andy Aspaas

Wanting to teach people is a good goal, and calling out bogus advertising is also good. But if someone goes to the store and buys a "large room" 1500W heater, it will probably work just fine in their large room. And if they can't afford the "large room" version and have to buy a cheaper "small room" 1500W heater, they won't be any worse off either. And if they choose to buy a "small room" model, it will also work fine for them. So it's a great video, but nobody is really being screwed over by this. And while your point about the convection "large room" model not having a fan is true, it's just working like a classic radiator does, so it's not like it's a horrible idea. You seem very annoyed/disturbed/confused by the old responses, but remember: the same people who wrote those comments elected Trump.

Wolf

The only real benefit I can imagine is, as you alluded to in your radiance commentary, that how "localized" the heat is may impact perceived comfort. If you can heat just the area in one corner of a room, where a person is occupying, you can spend less energy than heating the entire room. This could be considered "more efficient" in terms of the goal of "keeping someone warm", vs the efficiency metric of "how much electricity is turned into heat" :)

Aaron the Tinkerer

I commented on your earlier post asking you to do this experiment, but I didn't realize you had already done something like that. If you have the time or space, perhaps a better way to test this out is to use a very large room (e.g. a gymnasium) and put a heater on one side, and measure how long it takes for a certain temperature change all the way on the other side. This way, you can indeed confirm if each 1500-watt heater is still as effective.

Sonic the Anonymous Hedgehog

This is why it's a good idea, if you want maximum heat from an oil heater, to use a fan across it. You should do a modern version of your old experiment, comparing the two types, but this time use a fan with the oil heater. This will keep the thermostat from tripping off, and also prevent the oil from getting too hot. This should allow for an even competition and make your point better. - Also, let the oil heater get fully hot before starting the experiment, and also before applying the fan to it.

Bill Basch