No, these are not oil filled, it's working on the same principals as a space heater except it's a long, thin design to heat a room faster. If electric rates are high in CA then propane should be on the table, very cheap to run and powerful.The baseboard heater I have is an Intertherm Softheat II, and looks to be this:
Intertherm Softheat II Hydronic Portable Baseboard Heater for Sale in Ruston, WA - OfferUp
Used (normal wear), 62 inch brown hydronic baseboard heater. Works fine. . Make an offer!;offerup.com
As you can see, it has 3 settings, High, Medium and Low (and Off, of course). It has a polarized plug. I've never plugged it in. Is this oil filled? It's heavy, I'm guessing 20lb or more. Big, at 74 inches long.
snoopy7548
Diamond Member
- Jan 1, 2005
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Maybe you could make an oil-filled heater. I bet most people are looking to get rid of used motor oil. Dump it all in a sealed metal case, then put it on your stove top for a while until it's nice and hot, turn off the stove, and put a fan in back of your new heater.
What could go wrong?
What could go wrong?
Since your home has knob and tube wiring, have you inspected the condition of the insulation of the wiring? I think knob and tube used rubber instead of plastic insulation. The probability that the rubber insulation has degraded ( simply because of age) is quite high. I wouldn't feel safe operating an electric heater ( or any other device that draws a heavy load) on compromised wiring. For safety sake, run a new dedicated line back to your fuse/circuit breaker panel.
Red Squirrel
No Lifer
- May 24, 2003
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I would definitely recommend running some dedicated circuits for loads such as heaters. The existing wiring is probably ok for lights etc but I would not trust it for heaters. Lack of proper grounding can be an issue too. A dedicated run will have a proper ground to the panel.
zinfamous
No Lifer
- Jul 12, 2006
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It also gets to a minimum of about 40 Freedom degrees, no more than 2 weeks per year over the last 30 of our years, where the OP lives.
Heating is definitely useful, because it does get cool at night, but it's comfy indoor temperature most of the year because it just never gets cool enough to diffuse the day's accumulated heat trapped within the typically stone and concrete and stick living units (probably about 55-65 Freedom degrees through most of winter days, and nights are typically 45-50).
BUT. There are times when you can use a small portable unit because it will get chilly for a few days at a time, whoever you are. Historically, it's also really rainy this time of year, though it's been droughty for the last 15 or so years....but this Winter is also extremely wet there right now. Gonna be so much strange Flora popping up over the next 4 months that have probably been dormant. ....OP should definitely keep an eye on mold this year. It already gets bad there when moisture is heavy, but it's gonna be brutal coming down off those hills each morning. The way the clouds/fog just hovers on those hills through the night and into the morning. Traps so much "material" in one area--really makes things interesting, in terms of what now grows among the humans.
The gas-electric radiator units have worked well for me, and worked perfectly when I was living in OP's same town. I usually had the in-wall gas units, but I did bring one of those portable radiators from Chicago, where it provided some nice "extra" heat when needed there, which happens.
BLS says average is 25c/kwh. Berkley though, if they haven't banned dirty fuels they will soon.
- Jul 11, 2001
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- Jul 11, 2001
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Grounding is something that only exists here one or two places because I have run a wire to ground. Most of the time there's no grounding. The place should be replumbed too, I got quoted $7000 to do that less than 6 months ago. I believe it would leave me with a lot of walls to fix.
Where I see the knob and tube wiring is in the attic, where I have to be careful not to step on it while hopping from joist to joist. A roommate did just that one day (damaged wiring) when I was sharing the house (before I bought the house) and I had to fix the damage. I see the condition of the wiring. I haven't inspected it carefully, but it appeared to me to be crumbling some! Looked to me like the insulation had fibers, was maybe rubberized, didn't look new and spiffy for sure. But no reason to think it would start a fire, but what do I know? TBH, I'm not high on the idea of running a space heater at 1500w. Those do scare me, plus I figure I don't need that intense heat output. The heater I ordered a week ago is <500w, my Kasa energy monitoring smart plug has it drawing about 480w.
Edit: But hey! The house survived 6 sometimes 6+ people living here in uncoordinated activities, who knows who had what running in their rooms? It's just me here now.
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skyking
Lifer
- Nov 21, 2001
- 21,643
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Especially with the small stuff I say screw resale. You do you!!
As long as you don't cover it in fake fur you'll be OK.
As long as you don't cover it in fake fur you'll be OK.
lxskllr
No Lifer
- Nov 30, 2004
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Who cares about resale anyway? Muse isn't a spring chicken. He could tear the house down, sell the lot, and have more than enough money to live a comfortable life. Everyone worries about a future that doesn't matter at the expense of the present.
- Jul 11, 2001
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Yeah, and who knows what prospective buyers would want? This area is so diverse and people's tastes and needs differ so much, any idea of who the ideal buyer would be isn't much more than a fantasy and probably a foolish one.
Now, I think my idea that this house would be attractive to people with a large family, as many at 5 kids, makes some sense (each kid could have their own room). It's not the multi-millionaire's ideal but there are plenty of large families who aren't that well to do. Schools in Berkeley are a big draw, the quality of education, and the diversity here would be a big draw to many, also the proximity to San Francisco (etc.) without the drawbacks. Much to like here for some people. The house needs a lot of work right now, though.
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TBH I'm surprised any insurance Co would write you a policy with a wiring system that old, here in FL they
stopped writing policies for any home with a roof older than 15 years.
stopped writing policies for any home with a roof older than 15 years.
- Jul 11, 2001
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Captante
Lifer
- Oct 20, 2003
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Not only that Florida isn't exactly known for strictly enforcing quality construction!
If you get 15 years out of your roof in Florida you are very fortunate.
- Jul 11, 2001
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Well, my complete tear off, roof replacement (with quality shingles) was done about September 2005, so not insurable in FL. But here AFAIK, not an issue. I'm not aware of any problems. Before the job was done I used to go up on the roof and apply from a 5 gallon can of roof repair black goo I bought at Home Depot. But one day I realized I had hit the limit of the efficacy of that strategy, I wasn't able to stop the leaks inside and I reached out to the roofers. I made the company I chose (too big, next time I'd hope to pick one where the owner was THE foreman!) toe the line, had them reroof a section that wasn't up to code (they denied it but I'm not that stupid, have a degree in mathematics, could sternly insist that the rake of that section required double underlayment). Also made them reshingle quite a number of shingles where I could see the carelessly fired nails. I'd climb up on the roof every day after they shingled and inspect their work.
Red Squirrel
No Lifer
- May 24, 2003
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I don't think I'd be concerned about resale value. Whoever buy's your house is almost certainly going to do a major remodel on it. They will also probably be a cash buyer, as your home as it sits isn't habitable. Banks don't like to lend on a home that can't be lived in.
- Jul 11, 2001
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AFAIK, the only show stopper on a bank loan is the lack of central heating. That's addable.
That's correct. Though adding heat might be a decision you want to hold off on until you're ready to sell. It would be a shame to spend $30k on heat then have a buyer tear the house down.
Unless you just want to do it for your own comfort, though it seems as though you're aren't much concerned about that.
- Jul 11, 2001
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He's being realistic. With the real estate market in the Bay Area your house a prime candidate for a tear down. Unless of course there are some architectural/design features in decent shape that have a lot of value.
I wasn't being a jerk at all. You've mentioned several times that you've lived for several years without heat. You had to use a garden hose to get hot water so you could take a bath for a couple of weeks. You've also mentioned having substantial investments, so you're not poor. The only reasonable conclusion from that information is that is that you're not all that concerned about personal comfort.
I'm very sorry if that offended you, it wasn't my intention.
That can be a tough call. From several comments he's made it appears that his home is in pretty rough shape, but that doesn't make it a teardown. There is a lot to consider before making that call, he'd have speak with a good real-estate agent and a contractor before deciding. It might end up that rehabbing it before selling will net him a better profit than selling as is. It all depends on comps and the cost of repairs.
Yeah it could go either way. At minimum the house needs gutted to the studs in the kitchen and bath(s), full rewire, full repipe, full HVAC, and then you're still stuck with the 1912 or whatever floor plan of many small rooms. That's assuming the foundation is in good shape. In Berkeley I just don't see too many people paying for the land then constraining themselves to the floor plan when they're replacing 80% of the building anyway. There's also the new zoning allowing multiple dwellings to consider as well.
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