US & English/European heating systems.

[Colly0410]

Brilliant replies. I love reading how & why different Countries/Regions use different methods of heating their homes... When I was a kid Dad worked for the National Coal Board in a surface workshop & got 12 tons of free coal a year. We had 2 living rooms with open fires blazing away all day in winter, we never went cold, except when the delivery trucks at the storage yard caught fire, deliveries were delayed for a few weeks. We had a one kilowatt electric fire & went a bought electric blankets & a kerosene heater, what a smell that made..

[Olorin67]

The really scary systems were hot water, using a Honeywell heat accelerator. Basically, hot water systems circulate faster if you can run them at higher temp and pressure. So what honeywell did was come up with a device that was like a big iron manometer, filled with a bucketfull of MERCURY to place an additional pressure head on top of the normal water pressure. This was back when hot water systems had no pump, and used an open expansion tank in the attic. This way the radiators and piping could be slightly smaller, due to the higher water temperature.

[Electronic M]

In Florida most of the houses 1970 and newer (did not enter many older ones when I lived there) had forced air air-conditioning, and electric heat thrown in for the cold part of the year (around January IIRC) when near frost temps at night were too much for people who think the mid 60's are positively fridgid.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Electronic M

In Florida most of the houses 1970 and newer (did not enter many older ones when I lived there) had forced air air-conditioning, and electric heat thrown in for the cold part of the year (around January IIRC) when near frost temps at night were too much for people who think the mid 60's are positively fridgid.

Every home built in the last 10 years or so, have heat pumps.
They have back up resistance elements, as heat pumps can't be used when the outside temp is 30 degrees F or lower. Probably more common in northern Florida.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Colly0410

Brilliant replies. I love reading how & why different Countries/Regions use different methods of heating their homes... When I was a kid Dad worked for the National Coal Board in a surface workshop & got 12 tons of free coal a year. We had 2 living rooms with open fires blazing away all day in winter, we never went cold, except when the delivery trucks at the storage yard caught fire, deliveries were delayed for a few weeks. We had a one kilowatt electric fire & went a bought electric blankets & a kerosene heater, what a smell that made..

Just about All of the portable electric heaters sold in the US are at least 1.5 KW at high heat setting. Some of them have three watt settings, .5, 1.0 and 1.5 KW. Considering the fact the lighting circuits are only 15 amp @ 120 volts.
Regarding non-vented kerosene heaters, in some states, they're illegal and not to be sold. Of course, with the internet sales, it's hard to prevent.

[Findm-Keepm]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Regarding non-vented kerosene heaters, in some states, they're illegal and not to be sold. Of course, with the internet sales, it's hard to prevent.

And some ventless gas heaters are the same way - illegal to install/sell in certain jurisdictions. I use a 18K BTU one with two windows cracked open for cross-flow ventilation, and I shut it down at night, even securing the gas feed line for additional safety. I gotta get a CO monitor before I use it again. I can see why they are dangerous - so many don't take the extra precautions.

[Colly0410]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Just about All of the portable electric heaters sold in the US are at least 1.5 KW at high heat setting. Some of them have three watt settings, .5, 1.0 and 1.5 KW. Considering the fact the lighting circuits are only 15 amp @ 120 volts.
Regarding non-vented kerosene heaters, in some states, they're illegal and not to be sold. Of course, with the internet sales, it's hard to prevent.

My electric fire is 2.72Kw's = 3 x 666 watts radiant bars, a 600 watts convector & 2 x 60 watts fireglow bulbs & the fan heater is 2.4 Kw's, both run off 13 amp sockets at 240 volts..

Modern European legal ventless gas heaters are fitted with a catalytic converter to eliminate carbon monoxide emissions, they also have a device that detects low oxygen levels & shuts it down if it's triggered. There are still some older ones round without cats, the government encourages people to scrap them..

[Username1]

You'll have to show me that one.... CO Converter...? I don't think there is such a thing..
But I can see a shut down device when CO gets high in the living space....
I don't think you can eliminate CO emissions from a non vented gas or other fuel
burning heater....

There is always CO from fire. I think in some cases the fire is small and they
think it will not rise to lethal levels because of air leaks in the house, but
that is a gamble....

.

[Telecolor 3007]

But I'm curios: why in U.S.A. showers are using an fix (non-moveble) pipe (sometimes inserted into the wall), and not a hose protected by an armour, like here, in Europe. I hate that non-movable shower.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007

But I'm curios: why in U.S.A. showers are using an fix (non-moveble) pipe (sometimes inserted into the wall), and not a hose protected by an armour, like here, in Europe. I hate that non-movable shower.

They have both here. My former home had one.
It was called "Shower Massage" by Water Pick. It had several settings on it for pulsating and steady flow, etc.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Username1

You'll have to show me that one.... CO Converter...? I don't think there is such a thing..
But I can see a shut down device when CO gets high in the living space....
I don't think you can eliminate CO emissions from a non vented gas or other fuel
burning heater....

There is always CO from fire. I think in some cases the fire is small and they
think it will not rise to lethal levels because of air leaks in the house, but
that is a gamble....

.

I have a vent less 30K BTU propane heater in my other workshop. I always had a Nightwatch CO detector with the digital readout and it never went over 5 PPM.
Just to prove it was working properly, I moved it to the other part of the building where I had my car running and it gave a high reading and started beeping.

[Username1]

Yah, I did the same after working all day in my garage with a kerosene heater, also
ventless, regular wick style. No count, no alarm, thought it was dead, then took
it over and tried by the car running and it went nuts..... I can't explain it, same
results as you.....

Might have to do with the quantity of fuel.... Is a car using 30K btu worth of fuel
while idling...? Is it just more efficient...? More carbon atoms...?

I took it into the garage for that time because it was in the house near the
garage door, and I was surprised it never went off when I walked in from
working in the garage with the heater on all day, Especially one of the fancy
ones with the counter on it, I figured even if below the threshold, it would
show something with a CO source running all day.... That's when I began
thinking it didn't work.... Wife wanted it, we have no gas, and my coal stove
is in the garage, so house is pretty safe, so I wouldn't have gotten it myself.


.

[old_tv_nut]

From 1956 to 1969 we lived in a rented apartment in a 6-flat that was built in the 1920s or 1930s, I guess. Heating was from a free-standing gas space heater in the dining room that had a flue pipe to the outside. The flat also had a no-longer-functioning gas fireplace in the living room, with the flue sealed off. No air conditioning, of course. The building still had gas pipes connected to the center of the ceiling in each room, as it apparently started life with gas lighting(!). I only found this out when I changed out the kitchen ceiling lamp. It had been mounted to the gas pipe by unscrewing the cap and then screwing down the mounting plate with the gas pipe cap. I just about crapped my pants when I unscrewed the cap and immediately smelled and heard gas escaping; lucky that I had killed the electric before starting!

[Colly0410]

Originally Posted by Username1

You'll have to show me that one.... CO Converter...? I don't think there is such a thing..
But I can see a shut down device when CO gets high in the living space....
I don't think you can eliminate CO emissions from a non vented gas or other fuel
burning heater....

There is always CO from fire. I think in some cases the fire is small and they
think it will not rise to lethal levels because of air leaks in the house, but
that is a gamble....

.

Burley (www.burley.co.uk) make flue-less gas fires with catalytic converters built in, I'm thinking of having one myself to replace the electric fire in the lounge..

In England most central heating systems are on a timer that switch's them on for an hour or two in the morning then off while the occupants are at work/school, then on again about 5/6 PM till about 10 PM at a temp of about 21 degrees C. (70F) The house is left to get cold for the rest of the time. When I lived in Germany the heating was on 24 hours a day but the temp was reduced to about 16 degrees C (61F) overnight & in the day when un-occupied. What do they do in America? I never noticed when I was over there! I myself use the German system from October to April, other times I click it on for an hour or so if it get a bit chilly.... P.S. Had it on over the weekend as it was a bit chilly in the evening..

[old_tv_nut]

Programmable thermostats are commonly available in the US and many people use them in their homes. I haven't rented in decades, but I suspect they are less common in rentals unless the renter buys one.