Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with heaters

does a direct external heat source mess with your body?

bdoop21 — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:20:47 -0800

Is it bad for you to sit in front of a heater, even when its not THAT cold? I live in the pacific north west and find that I am always cold but even when I was living on the east coast I was always cold though, so I'm not sure what that has to do with it.
Maybe I just need to move to a warmer climate, but I dont think that is going to happen any time soon.

I know there are ways of making heat in your body through yoga and other exercise, but my boyfriend says that sitting in front of a heater is actually bad for you and that it will make you colder when not in front of it.
Is this true?
Is it effecting my internal temperature regulation system, making my body dependent on external sources of heat to keep warm?
I wear lots of layers and still want the extra heat that comes from my amazing little heat dish. I love it.

My heaters groan with the cold

Eicats — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:06:16 -0800

Why are electric baseboard heaters so noisy only in the dead of winter? In my apartment building, we have just the little baseboard heaters, the metal kind that are attached to the base of the wall-- the kind that work by using hot water, I believe. Now, as it's starting to get cold, the heat has been turned on- but you would never know it by sound. Not a single creak, click, or peep from the heaters. However, I know from living almost a decade in this apartment that even though the heaters are nice a quiet at the start of the cold season, by the middle of winter, every time the heat comes on, it makes incredibly loud groaning and creaking noises. And it almost sounds like little popping noises, that seem like the water bubbling in the pipes (?)

So I thought I'd finally ask: why does this happen?! It gets so loud and annoying! Is there some problem like water lines or pipes freezing and that's why it makes so much noise heating up when it's so cold outside?

If there's something that could be done to mitigate this, I would love to know so I can request service from the landlord.

Thanks, all!

Why are car heaters trying to kill me?

DrGirlfriend — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:26:20 -0800

Who do I get nauseous the second the heater is turned on in the car? I've been going through this for years: in the wintertime, I can tell the heater has been turned on in any car I'm in even before the cabin gets warm. I get a feeling of nausea that intensifies the longer the heater is left on.

I first noticed this years ago, in a cab. I was nauseous to the point of asking the driver to stop to let me throw up, but was able to control myself. Once at my destination, I stepped out of the cab and with one breath of cold, fresh air, I felt instantly better. Now I keep the window near me cracked when I'm in a heated car. Doesn't make me feel completely better, but it helps a little.

Whether it's an adult-onset thing or not is hard to say, because I was born & raised in a warm climate and the heater was never turned on.

Has anyone experienced this? I never feel this way, say, when I turn on the heater at home. It's always in a car - any car.

making a kotatsu

Electric Elf — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 21:21:42 -0800

I want a kotatsu, but can't afford to ship one from Japan. I'd like to make my own if possible, but don't know where to start.

help with ceremaic floor heating

fixedgear — Wed, 22 Dec 2004 14:52:54 -0800

Ceramic tile floor heater question. Not hot water circulating through tubes, but a resistance heating wire in thinset mortar under the ceramic tiles. It just don't get very warm. (MI) New addition to our house. Plywood subfloor in the new master bath. I was surfing the internet one day looking for ceramic tile floor patterns when I saw this heating system. I did a little research, and saw that most systems of this type use wires in a plastic mat that is installed in a scratch coat of thinset mortar. The ceramic tile is then installed as usual. I talked to my contractor, and he said "well, those Home Depot type systems don't have much of a warranty. I'll see what i can find." He came up with this programmable thermostat controlling this heating wire.

Everything checks out OK. No breaks in the wire (continuity test) no breaks in the sensor loop and good voltage from the circuit breaker box to the thermostat. It just don't get very hot. By not very hot i mean not at all. Using a digital instant read meat thermometer we see the air temp in the room is 68 and the floor temp is 68, even after the floor has been left on for 8 hours on the highest setting.

I haven't paid the contractor his final payment ($1,100) while I'm waiting for a resolution. He says everything is OK. I say it doesn't do anything. Are my expectations too high? The manufacturer will send a service tech to my home on January 5. Ay thoughts.

Kerosene space heater?

RavinDave — Sun, 31 Oct 2004 10:56:34 -0800

"Winter is icumen in, lhude sing 'Goddamm' ...
Was thinking of augmenting my rickety ol' furnace by getting a portable kerosene space heater for inside the house. Bad idea or unfairly maligned by price-gouging gas & electric companies?