@Xtoff depends on your electric rate, and how long you use it. This seems no worse than those propane outdoor heaters. And probably better for the environment than a fire pit.
@alose@Xtoff depends on how the electric is generated too. Since the majority (77% <>) of it still comes from thermal power plants that may be 50% efficient (coal, natural gas and nuclear), it’s a gong in my book. A quick look shows most gas patio heaters are in the range of 45,000 BTU\Hr. On high this puts out 5120 BTU\Hr…this thing can’t do much unless one were hugging it outdoors. A nice wood fire in the pit for a few hours isn’t going to be worse environmentally than the pollutants created just to get coal or natural gas to the power plant, or the nuclear waste created to generate electricty.
If you use wood, twigs, paper (a fine example of Reuse), matches (better yet, a flint and striker, or hardwood bow and softwood base) you are completely organic.
Reusable, Renewable, and you can dump your ashes into your compost bin (I don’t think that’s very good for composting, but you still can do it).
PS: the pic that sort of shows the end without the controls looked like it said Bluetooth when I looked at it quickly. If it had pairable (stereo) BT, I’d be in for 2!
@alose@G1@Xtoff Arsenic is generally “natural”, as in “present in the environment from natural sources”. Cyanide and hemlock both can be organic, along with ricin, digitalis, and amatoxin.
Many years ago I used to have radiant electric fire which I would use to make bacon sandwiches. Now I use the Ninja Foodie so would struggle to find a worthwhile use for this heater.
@mbimeh your memory isn’t faulty, but my deal math certainly can be. We sometimes give better-than-usual deals in mehrathons which was partly the intention, but I also didn’t realize the damn stand costs $13 to ship separately
@gertiestn@Tadlem43 The neighborhood cats are used to living and eating in the local weather conditions. They do need liquid water, so a thermostat controlled heated water dish is necessary for when it gets below freezing. There are also many plans online for inexpensive, easy to clean, warm places for cats to sleep.
We bought a heated water thing designed for chickens. We discovered that the water container part was poorly suited for cats. So we tossed that part, and found a feline drinking fountain that was the same diameter as the heater.
I designed a sheltered sleeping place for cats that worked, but wasn’t nearly as easy to clean as the designs I later saw online.
This was about twenty years ago for our cats that developed an aversion to litter boxes. The water fountain and cat houses were in an unheated garage with a cat door. Those cats died when they were 18 years old. We keep the fountain running and clean for our current indoor/outdoor cats.
One of the first pair of cats was terrified of traffic. He also really liked to be carried around. When I would get the mail, I would carry him as far as a particular tree, then set him down before going the rest of the way to the mailbox. Then I would pick him back up for the return trip to the house.
Therefore that cat decided that forty feet was a safe distance from the road, but no closer. His brother adopted the same safety guideline. A few years later a semi feral cat learned same safety zone rule from the boys. She had adopted me as her pet human.
We got three kittens during the pandemic. They learned the safety rule from her. So that knowledge of an arbitrary distance has been passed on through 3 generations of cat.
@craigthom Yeah… I have some plastic storage containers that I insulate for them, and I use torn up newspaper. They can nest in it and it’s easy to clean up. Thanks for the suggestion!
@gertiestn@hamjudo lol That’s cute that they knew where to stop.
Do you have a link for the fountain and heater? I need something like that for them. I keep water out for them, but when the racoon gets through washing their food, it’s gets nasty.
I have storage bins for them that i insulate and put ripped newspaper in. They can nest down in it and it’s easy to clean.
In the summer, I put ice in their water bowls, and this year I set up misters on my patio umbrella…the same one that in the winter I cover with tarps and make a little house for them, with their storage containers inside.
After writing all of this…I think they own me!
Nah, for the Ferals, Find a group that will allow you to trap and have them sterilized for $20.00. Then you can release them. At least your cats won’t be eating you out of house and home. Then feed if you like as long as HOA doesn’t get on you for being the block Cat Lady/Man.
@Mandamm There isn’t a place for them to get food around here. I get them sterilized for free, nor do I have an HOA.
However, I’m sure I have been labeled the ‘mean old cat lady on the hill’. lol I’ve been called worse…
I also have a racoon and a few possums that come up and eat what’s left over from the cats. You’d never believe i live less than 2 miles as a crow flies from downtown Dallas!
@Mandamm@Tadlem43 My friend feeds 4 ferals and a coon eats right along side them at the same time, waiting for the food each day as the cats do.
Since it sounds like you have electricity near where you feed them get them one of those outdoor cat houses that have a heated floor (via a mat that was designed for cats). They’d probably adore that.
They also make tubes, up on legs (that helps cold not get in from the ground, nor rain, etc.) that are insulated with smallish entrances. One of the animal shelters around here has several of those and they are large enough for 3 or 4 to pile in and they use them all spring, fall and winter (it’s hot here like in Dallas). Those are “self heating” but when you have a bunch of cats in there it warms right up.
@Kidsandliz@Mandamm Thanks! I’ll check it out.
I have several storage containers that I insulate and fill with ripped newspaper for them to stay in when it gets really cold. I also put tarps over my patio umbrella, and make a little ‘house’ for them with the storage containers inside. It keeps them out of the elements, and makes it easy for me to just step out and feed them, but I still worry about them getting so cold.
I’ve lost several from the cold, but more from the Texas heat. But… you never know about Dallas!
@Mandamm@Tadlem43 Straw is a better insulator than newspaper, blankets or towels. Try that. Also make sure the houses are off the ground as cold comes through the ground.
@Kidsandliz@Mandamm Yes, I have them up on 2 x 4’s.
I tried straw, but they seemed to think it was litter and it was just a mess. They don’t seem to do that with the newspaper, but they’re well insulated with foam board that you’d use on a house.
When you take care of ferals, you learn that there’s only so much you can do, and the rest depends on their natural instincts and things that are out of your control, but I try to make it as comfortable for them as possible
An example, I had a regular neighborhood cat that came up almost every day to eat, but she wouldn’t let me get close to her. She showed up on my porch and had prolapsed, but I couldn’t tell if it was intestinal or her uterus. I tried for days to catch her, she left for about a week and I thought she was gone, but she showed back up, so I tried to catch her again. She hasn’t been back, so I’m sure she’s gone now, but I felt so bad because I couldn’t get her to a vet and get her the help she needed.
I know there was nothing more I could have done, but I still feel really bad about it.
Sometimes, it’s just out of your hands.
So, I do the best I can…
Bought something very similar for my always-cold, living-with-dementia mother-in-law when we’d planned a November family gathering on the patio during the height of COVID (whenever that was) and it seemed that this device was either too far away from her to actually warm her up or so close I was worried that she’d get burned by it and the sweet spot was very small. Maybe people without dementia could benefit from it in certain situations, but we threw ours in the donations pile since it took up more room to store than we expected benefit from it.
I bought one of these last time for my central Texas back deck.
It must work pretty well; I didn’t even plug it in and we still consistently exceeded 100 degrees daily for over two months…
Hope it works as well when (if?) we get below 60.
Anyone have experience using one of these in an uninsulated detached garage? I’d like to be able to turn on 1 or 2 when I want to go do something in the workshop during the winter. I know it won’t stay warm, but would they work to heat the space to a tolerable temp while parking on my project?
@Perkalicious Running a 1500W heat panel in my unheated two-car garage full of Stuff only heats the majority of it about 5-8F, but it gets roughly a 6-foot circle up to “warm”.
@Perkalicious It doesn’t heat space, it heats surfaces.
A heater that blows hot air is heating space - that is, it is heating the air in that space. Obviously, you want to have a small, confined space for them to work.
A radiant heater works by lighting up a surface (such as your skin) with infrared light. The surface will be heated, but not the air that the IR energy passes through. This makes them useful for situations where there is too much space for a space heater, but where you can position yourself so that you can stay in the direct light - such as on a patio or in a garage.
In your case, a single heater mounted above and behind your bench would probably suffice.
Maybe my math is a little fuzzy this morning, but how does “72 inch Long Grounded Cord Set” = “Cord / Plug 5 ft.”? Is this more of the newfangled math the kids are talking about?
@JWhirly@rpstrong Or, it’s rounded to the nearest 5 ft. Either way, I’m guessing most buyers will need to use an (ill-advised?) extension cord with it.
I bought one of the parabolic radiant electric heaters from Costco to use in my unheated barn/workshop. It produces a cone of warmth that is quite pleasant but if you step out of that cone, no heat. It works OK if I am doing something that allows me to be mostly stationary, or to periodically pass through to warm up when I need to be more mobile.
When I first saw the in-store demo, it was mounted high, focusing the cone downward which seemed quite nice/useful, but they must have overridden the safety switch for the demo because the one I have shuts down if tipped. At some point I will modify mine the same way (Livin’ on the edge! ).
Hi! Can’t figure out how to attach the heater to the stand. I was able to put the legs on the stand and extend the pole but then it just says follow instructions on the heater, and the heater only gives instructions for wall mounting. Could not find any videos online, any help would be most gratefully accepted.
Got this in October and have been using it through most of the winter. Started smelling smoke yesterday. Took it apart and the cords that are connected to the circuit board are melted because they were somehow touching the heating element. Who designs this crap? Thankfully, my house did not burn down.
Specs
Product: Comfort Zone 1500-Watt Indoor/Outdoor Electric Heater with Adjustable Thermostat
Model: 120192, 520332, 120285
Condition: New
What’s Included?
OR
Price Comparison
$88-$130 at Amazon
Heater: $88.36
Heater with Stand: $129.99
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Monday, Oct 30 - Wednesday, Nov 1
Do people really use electric heaters … outside? My electric bill went up one hundred bucks a month just by looking at this.
@Xtoff depends on your electric rate, and how long you use it. This seems no worse than those propane outdoor heaters. And probably better for the environment than a fire pit.
@alose @Xtoff depends on how the electric is generated too. Since the majority (77% <>) of it still comes from thermal power plants that may be 50% efficient (coal, natural gas and nuclear), it’s a gong in my book. A quick look shows most gas patio heaters are in the range of 45,000 BTU\Hr. On high this puts out 5120 BTU\Hr…this thing can’t do much unless one were hugging it outdoors. A nice wood fire in the pit for a few hours isn’t going to be worse environmentally than the pollutants created just to get coal or natural gas to the power plant, or the nuclear waste created to generate electricty.
@alose @Xtoff No way!
Those outdoor firepits can be 100% Organic!
If you use wood, twigs, paper (a fine example of Reuse), matches (better yet, a flint and striker, or hardwood bow and softwood base) you are completely organic.
Reusable, Renewable, and you can dump your ashes into your compost bin (I don’t think that’s very good for composting, but you still can do it).
PS: the pic that sort of shows the end without the controls looked like it said Bluetooth when I looked at it quickly. If it had pairable (stereo) BT, I’d be in for 2!
PPS: No I wouldn’t.
@G1 @Xtoff Wood fires create a lot of particulate pollutants.
@alose @Xtoff Yes, I know.
Just having some fun. Some people don’t know that arsenic and cyanide are organic as well.
I would not recommend them to anyone, except in a small number of VERY specific cases.
@alose @G1 @Xtoff Arsenic is generally “natural”, as in “present in the environment from natural sources”. Cyanide and hemlock both can be organic, along with ricin, digitalis, and amatoxin.
Buy 2, mount them vertically next to a turntable, set it to 33⅓, …voilà - schawarma!
@ybmuG sounds tasty!!
I thought it was “get out of your comfort zone” not “take your Comfort Zone outside”.
Many years ago I used to have radiant electric fire which I would use to make bacon sandwiches. Now I use the Ninja Foodie so would struggle to find a worthwhile use for this heater.
Wasn’t this cheaper, something like $29-$39 during the Meh-rathon a couple days ago? Or is my memory faulty?
@mbimeh your memory isn’t faulty, but my deal math certainly can be. We sometimes give better-than-usual deals in mehrathons which was partly the intention, but I also didn’t realize the damn stand costs $13 to ship separately
@mbimeh @troy WELL THEN I FEEL LIKE I GOT A DEAL!!!
Sorry, just really excited I got this for an OK price. My fingers will appreciate it in the garage.
@troy
Thank you, I’m glad it’s not my senility talking, in this case. Sorry about the $ loss on those stands though.
If I get cold, I just get closer to my wife. Her hot flashes can warm the house.
Wonder if I could use this to heat the area where I feed my neighborhood/feral cats in the winter? hmmm…
@Tadlem43 I don’t know, of course, but thanks for feeding those kitties.
@Tadlem43 it’s more efficient to just make shelters. I’ve got some made of Styrofoam coolers filled with straw.
@gertiestn @Tadlem43 The neighborhood cats are used to living and eating in the local weather conditions. They do need liquid water, so a thermostat controlled heated water dish is necessary for when it gets below freezing. There are also many plans online for inexpensive, easy to clean, warm places for cats to sleep.
We bought a heated water thing designed for chickens. We discovered that the water container part was poorly suited for cats. So we tossed that part, and found a feline drinking fountain that was the same diameter as the heater.
I designed a sheltered sleeping place for cats that worked, but wasn’t nearly as easy to clean as the designs I later saw online.
This was about twenty years ago for our cats that developed an aversion to litter boxes. The water fountain and cat houses were in an unheated garage with a cat door. Those cats died when they were 18 years old. We keep the fountain running and clean for our current indoor/outdoor cats.
One of the first pair of cats was terrified of traffic. He also really liked to be carried around. When I would get the mail, I would carry him as far as a particular tree, then set him down before going the rest of the way to the mailbox. Then I would pick him back up for the return trip to the house.
Therefore that cat decided that forty feet was a safe distance from the road, but no closer. His brother adopted the same safety guideline. A few years later a semi feral cat learned same safety zone rule from the boys. She had adopted me as her pet human.
We got three kittens during the pandemic. They learned the safety rule from her. So that knowledge of an arbitrary distance has been passed on through 3 generations of cat.
@craigthom Yeah… I have some plastic storage containers that I insulate for them, and I use torn up newspaper. They can nest in it and it’s easy to clean up. Thanks for the suggestion!
@gertiestn @hamjudo lol That’s cute that they knew where to stop.
Do you have a link for the fountain and heater? I need something like that for them. I keep water out for them, but when the racoon gets through washing their food, it’s gets nasty.
I have storage bins for them that i insulate and put ripped newspaper in. They can nest down in it and it’s easy to clean.
In the summer, I put ice in their water bowls, and this year I set up misters on my patio umbrella…the same one that in the winter I cover with tarps and make a little house for them, with their storage containers inside.
After writing all of this…I think they own me!
Nah, for the Ferals, Find a group that will allow you to trap and have them sterilized for $20.00. Then you can release them. At least your cats won’t be eating you out of house and home. Then feed if you like as long as HOA doesn’t get on you for being the block Cat Lady/Man.
@Mandamm There isn’t a place for them to get food around here. I get them sterilized for free, nor do I have an HOA.
However, I’m sure I have been labeled the ‘mean old cat lady on the hill’. lol I’ve been called worse…
I also have a racoon and a few possums that come up and eat what’s left over from the cats. You’d never believe i live less than 2 miles as a crow flies from downtown Dallas!
@Mandamm @Tadlem43 My friend feeds 4 ferals and a coon eats right along side them at the same time, waiting for the food each day as the cats do.
Since it sounds like you have electricity near where you feed them get them one of those outdoor cat houses that have a heated floor (via a mat that was designed for cats). They’d probably adore that.
They also make tubes, up on legs (that helps cold not get in from the ground, nor rain, etc.) that are insulated with smallish entrances. One of the animal shelters around here has several of those and they are large enough for 3 or 4 to pile in and they use them all spring, fall and winter (it’s hot here like in Dallas). Those are “self heating” but when you have a bunch of cats in there it warms right up.
Here is how to build some:
https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/winter-shelter-bins-community-cats-faq
@Kidsandliz @Mandamm Thanks! I’ll check it out.
I have several storage containers that I insulate and fill with ripped newspaper for them to stay in when it gets really cold. I also put tarps over my patio umbrella, and make a little ‘house’ for them with the storage containers inside. It keeps them out of the elements, and makes it easy for me to just step out and feed them, but I still worry about them getting so cold.
I’ve lost several from the cold, but more from the Texas heat. But… you never know about Dallas!
@Mandamm @Tadlem43 Straw is a better insulator than newspaper, blankets or towels. Try that. Also make sure the houses are off the ground as cold comes through the ground.
@Kidsandliz @Mandamm Yes, I have them up on 2 x 4’s.
I tried straw, but they seemed to think it was litter and it was just a mess. They don’t seem to do that with the newspaper, but they’re well insulated with foam board that you’d use on a house.
When you take care of ferals, you learn that there’s only so much you can do, and the rest depends on their natural instincts and things that are out of your control, but I try to make it as comfortable for them as possible
An example, I had a regular neighborhood cat that came up almost every day to eat, but she wouldn’t let me get close to her. She showed up on my porch and had prolapsed, but I couldn’t tell if it was intestinal or her uterus. I tried for days to catch her, she left for about a week and I thought she was gone, but she showed back up, so I tried to catch her again. She hasn’t been back, so I’m sure she’s gone now, but I felt so bad because I couldn’t get her to a vet and get her the help she needed.
I know there was nothing more I could have done, but I still feel really bad about it.
Sometimes, it’s just out of your hands.
So, I do the best I can…
I live in Florida so I just go inside for the few minutes of Winter weather.
@yakkoTDI I’m surprised you’re up that early.
@werehatrack I don’t sleep much. In the Winter when I bicycle less and sleep more because of that I rarely go past 4 hours a night.
@werehatrack @yakkoTDI You’re the one who’s immune to caffeine too, right?
Very unusual metabolism!
Bought something very similar for my always-cold, living-with-dementia mother-in-law when we’d planned a November family gathering on the patio during the height of COVID (whenever that was) and it seemed that this device was either too far away from her to actually warm her up or so close I was worried that she’d get burned by it and the sweet spot was very small. Maybe people without dementia could benefit from it in certain situations, but we threw ours in the donations pile since it took up more room to store than we expected benefit from it.
I bought one of these last time for my central Texas back deck.
It must work pretty well; I didn’t even plug it in and we still consistently exceeded 100 degrees daily for over two months…
Hope it works as well when (if?) we get below 60.
Anyone have experience using one of these in an uninsulated detached garage? I’d like to be able to turn on 1 or 2 when I want to go do something in the workshop during the winter. I know it won’t stay warm, but would they work to heat the space to a tolerable temp while parking on my project?
@Perkalicious No. Maximum BTU\Hr. is the same as any free standing household space heater with a fan, 1500 watts.
@Perkalicious Running a 1500W heat panel in my unheated two-car garage full of Stuff only heats the majority of it about 5-8F, but it gets roughly a 6-foot circle up to “warm”.
@Perkalicious It doesn’t heat space, it heats surfaces.
A heater that blows hot air is heating space - that is, it is heating the air in that space. Obviously, you want to have a small, confined space for them to work.
A radiant heater works by lighting up a surface (such as your skin) with infrared light. The surface will be heated, but not the air that the IR energy passes through. This makes them useful for situations where there is too much space for a space heater, but where you can position yourself so that you can stay in the direct light - such as on a patio or in a garage.
In your case, a single heater mounted above and behind your bench would probably suffice.
Maybe my math is a little fuzzy this morning, but how does “72 inch Long Grounded Cord Set” = “Cord / Plug 5 ft.”? Is this more of the newfangled math the kids are talking about?
@JWhirly It’s rounded off to the nearest 72 inches. Something about metric, I think.
@JWhirly @rpstrong Or, it’s rounded to the nearest 5 ft. Either way, I’m guessing most buyers will need to use an (ill-advised?) extension cord with it.
@richrauch @rpstrong especially when mounted on that [fully extended] stand. Doesn’t seem to be enough cord to reach much.
I bought one of the parabolic radiant electric heaters from Costco to use in my unheated barn/workshop. It produces a cone of warmth that is quite pleasant but if you step out of that cone, no heat. It works OK if I am doing something that allows me to be mostly stationary, or to periodically pass through to warm up when I need to be more mobile.
).
When I first saw the in-store demo, it was mounted high, focusing the cone downward which seemed quite nice/useful, but they must have overridden the safety switch for the demo because the one I have shuts down if tipped. At some point I will modify mine the same way (Livin’ on the edge!
I’m curious to see how the heater attaches to the stand.
Also, gotta love how the all the patio/deck photos show it glowing brightly … without any power cord.
@richrauch
it’s powered by photoshop!
MMM, Copyrighter: Check your math, please…
Mmmm, proofreader, don’t rely on spellcheck alone when the topic is copy writing.
Carbon fiber as a heating element does not strike me as a wonderful choice.
Boo, with the stand is sold out. Would have bought one with it.
Easy install. Works great
Hi! Can’t figure out how to attach the heater to the stand. I was able to put the legs on the stand and extend the pole but then it just says follow instructions on the heater, and the heater only gives instructions for wall mounting. Could not find any videos online, any help would be most gratefully accepted.
@ebuyer099meh SAME… Did you ever figure it out?
4 months of use, stopped working garbage!!!
Got this in October and have been using it through most of the winter. Started smelling smoke yesterday. Took it apart and the cords that are connected to the circuit board are melted because they were somehow touching the heating element. Who designs this crap? Thankfully, my house did not burn down.