The months of December and January can put even the most warm blooded and adrenaline pumped people to shiver down with cold and to retreat in their homes as soon as the sun sets. But, the shelter of the homes don’t help much either when it comes to restraining the cold temperatures. This is when room/space heaters come to the rescue.
Now, if you are a frequent visitor to the posts on this blog, you might be probably aware that we take each topic from the grass root level and we’ll do the same with this post as well. We’ll begin with the basics first, understand how the room heater works, then we’ll discuss the various configurations of room heaters available in the market and which one among them should one decide on as per one's preference. Post this, we would be analyzing the ways by which some manufacturers resort to maximizing their profits and install sub-par components in the room heaters they manufacture which may lead to increased energy consumption and might be reduce the usable life of the heaters themselves. After this, we will move onto deciding which are some of the best room heaters available in the market that are not only made of high-quality durable components but also provide efficient heating capabilities, thus offering most value for one’s money.
You might be glad to know that my father works at a company that manufactures home and kitchen appliances like washing machines, refrigerators, air coolers, vacuum cleaners, etc. So, at home, we frequently have a conversation about these appliances, what goes into making them, how some brands try to cut manufacturing costs to increase their profit margin etc.
Today, I will try my best to pass on the knowledge that I have acquired from my father over the years to you so as to help you make a good buying decision.
So without further a do, let’s begin…
The Basics
A room/space heater is a device that works on the principle of energy conversion, specifically, conversion of electric current to heat energy. Every room/space heater is fitted with a device known as heating element which is made up of several resistors. These resistors have very high resistance which converts the electric energy into heat as current flows through them. This heat is dissipated to the surroundings via either a fan or by radiation.
Now, having learnt the principle, let’s proceed to the types of room/space heaters available in the market currently.
Configurations of Room Heaters:-
- Convection/Fan Heaters - This kind of room heater converts the electrical energy into heat by the help of heating element and the heat generated is blown out into the surroundings via the inbuilt fan. This type of room/space heater provide even heating to the entire room. The best advantage of this type of heater is that it consumes lesser energy than the others, which means lesser electricity bill and thus is very friendly on your pocket. On the flip side, it tends to be a little noisy, due to the presence of fan and reduces the humidity inside the room and should be best avoided in the households that has children under 5 years of age and people having breathing issues.
- Quartz Heaters - These work on the principle of radiation of heat. The heat generated by the heating element is localized, since there is absence of fan. Thus, Quartz heaters are best suited for heating relatively small spaces and generally serve the purpose of bedside heaters. On the flip side, this is the cheapest option available in the market and is very cost effective.
- Oil-filled Radiator heaters - This type of room heaters are the most effective when it comes to heating the entire space inside the room. They release heat into the surroundings by the means of radiation. The source of heat, i.e., the diathermic oil circulates in the multiple fins of the heater and has two crucial properties - high specific heat capacity and high boiling point. Together, these two factors mean that the oil inside the heater can store a lot of heat without getting hot enough to boil. A distinct advantage of such characteristics is that the oil stays warm for quite some time after the power supply to the heater is turned off, thus one is able to extract some extra heat from the heater for some time at no cost. Other advantage of such heaters is that they tend to be less noisy than the convection heaters, thus the users can take a sound sleep. Moreover, they happen to be quite health friendly as they don’t dry out the surroundings, unlike other two configurations and thus the moisture level inside the room is always maintained which reduces the chances of having dry eyes, suffocation and other breathing issues.
(Image of a quartz heater)
Having said that, while deciding on a room heater, one must also keep one's room size into consideration -
- Area of the Room
The overall area of the room one would use the heater for, has a major influence on the wattage specifications one should purchase it with. As a thumb rule, 10–11 watts of power is required to heat 1 square foot of space inside your room. So if your room has an area of about 200 square feet, it would be wise to decide on a heater having wattage 2000 watts or more for obtaining effective heating from it.
So, having learnt about the various configurations of room heaters available in the market along with their Pros and Cons, let us proceed to discuss the ways in which some manufacturers (names not taken) try to cut manufacturing costs in order to maximize their own profits and in turn deliver a sub-standard product to the customers the components installed in which are highly inefficient in performing their intended purpose and require frequent repairs.
COST CUTTING TECHNIQUES
- Low-grade blower fan. A potent, high-grade fan is one of the most crucial components of a heater as it is responsible for dispersing the heat produced by the heating element into the surroundings, thereby raising the temperature of the room. Unfortunately, most buyers do not pay attention to the blower fan deployed in the room heater, and this gives some manufacturers a perfect opportunity to increase their profit margin. In order to reduce production costs, they tend to install an inferior, substandard fan in the room heaters they produce that is very inept in spreading the heat into the surroundings, resulting in inefficient heating of the room. Such practices increase one's energy consumption as one tends to keep the room heater running for longer durations than one would have otherwise done. Furthermore, over a period of few months, the excessive heat build-up inside the heater causes the components of the heater to malfunction and finally melt, causing the entire unit to be non-operational. Cost of repairing the heater might range from a few hundred bucks to more than a thousand bucks and this process is often recurring.
- Poor quality diathermic oil. As discussed previously in this post, the two characteristics of diathermic oil for which it finds its application in oil-filled heaters are high specific heat capacity and high boiling point. For these characteristics, diathermic oil is costly in nature. Thus, to save production costs and to maximize profits, some manufacturers fill low-grade diathermic oil in the heaters they manufacture adulterated with mixtures of other economical oils, consequently lowering the specific heat capacity and boiling point. The result - oil that takes a little while to reach high temperatures, thus the user needs to keep the heater running for longer in order to adequately heat the room. Also, this poor-grade oil tends to cool down a lot faster than the high-quality one, hence, the electricity consumption is more, and one may incur higher running costs.
Now, having learnt how some room heater manufacturers cut costs, let us proceed to zero down on some of the best room heaters available in the market, both in terms of the durability of the components installed and the efficiency with which they impart heat, thus providing most value for the money spent.
Convection/Fan Heaters:-
Best Choice 1, Best Choice 2, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9 and Best Choice 10
Quartz Heaters:-
Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8 and Best Choice 9
Oil-filled Radiator Heaters:-
Best Choice 1, My Preferred Choice, Best Choice 2, Best Choice 3, Best Choice 4, Best Choice 5, Best Choice 6, Best Choice 7, Best Choice 8, Best Choice 9, Best Choice 10, Best Choice 11 and Best Choice 12
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