Please recommend me a space heater

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Greenman

Lifer
Oct 15, 1999
20,900
5,526
136
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.
A little investigation and some math would answer the question. A nice home with an ADU would be worth some very serious money, and stage well. Build the ADU first, then live in it while building the house.

Berkeley is a tough place to work though. I promised myself I'd never take another Berkeley project after going through the last one.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
Most roofs are meant to last at least 25 years, though I guess in Florida you're lucky to get to keep your house that long lol.
Nonsense, my house has been here since 1973, the majority of homes are of cinder-block construction. The problem with 15+ yr old shingles is that they are not as sturdy as newer ones and 15 years in the sun and heat down here
renders them as possible victims in the event of hurricane force winds. Wind insurance is sold separately in FL, if you owe any $$ on an outstanding mortgage the bank will insist you carry it.
 

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
11,854
2,706
136
The art of staying alive in Florida is avoiding water and crazies. Be a little more inland but still near the water for the balance of temperature and durability.
 
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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
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.


I think he's just attached to his house and you've gone and hurt his feelings you big meany !!1!

:p ;)


The art of staying alive in Florida is avoiding water and crazies. Be a little more inland but still near the for the balance of temperature and durability.


Also excessively large scuttling multi-legged creatures! :oops:

(the ones that die off when it gets cold further north)
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
The art of staying alive in Florida is avoiding water and crazies. Be a little more inland but still near the for the balance of temperature and durability.
Inland is always 5-9 degrees hotter than coastal areas, but no chance of storm surge damage. We have plenty of crazies to go around, would you rather be homeless in FL or CA vs IL or OH this time of year?.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
I think he's just attached to his house and you've gone and hurt his feelings you big meany !!1!

:p ;)





Also excessively large scuttling multi-legged creatures! :oops:

(the ones that die off when it gets cold further north)
Gators tend to hand around bodies of water, they don't roam very far away often unless it's mating season. As a cold blooded critter, it needs access to both heat and a means of cooling itself if it gets too hot. Unless some idiot feeds them they tend to avoid humans, start giving thm hamburgers and they lose their fear of man and it winds up turning out badly.
 

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
11,854
2,706
136
Inland is always 5-9 degrees hotter than coastal areas, but no chance of storm surge damage. We have plenty of crazies to go around, would you rather be homeless in FL or CA vs IL or OH this time of year?.
Well, given the weather, one would be picking out of CA or FL already. Cali's more high end though...with more rich people willing to get suckered.

I was kind of casually yet seriously checking out of locales of FL a year or two back since I fucking hate MD and my mom is getting old. We hate hot humid weather though, so Jacksonville's or some other place with a little sea breeze to moderate the heat seemed appealing. The deep inland would be suicide.
 

snoopy7548

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2005
8,119
5,143
146
I wasn't Googling space heaters, but this showed up in my phone's Google News feed a couple of days ago. Creepy...

1641950068789.png
 
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Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
Gators tend to hand around bodies of water, they don't roam very far away often unless it's mating season. As a cold blooded critter, it needs access to both heat and a means of cooling itself if it gets too hot. Unless some idiot feeds them they tend to avoid humans, start giving thm hamburgers and they lose their fear of man and it winds up turning out badly.


What makes you think I was referring to gators ?!? ;) :oops:



 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
73,190
6,319
126
Mulla Nasrudin claimed to have powers that would allow him to survive a night unclothed in a freezing cave and so the towns people made him a bet he couldn't. But he won the bet by extracting heat from a heavy bolder.
 

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
What makes you think I was referring to gators ?!? ;) :oops:



Oh yea, bugs get kind of big down here, a bumble bee once got trapped in the hatchback of a car I was driving, thing was the size of a chicken wing. I stopped at the bank and popped the hatch to let him fly off which he did, followed by a 180 and flew an attack pattern at my skull!. Kept at it too, people were driving by seeing my duck and weave in the parking lot at something they couldn't see probably thought I was having a bad flashback or something.
 
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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,342
8,655
136
Well, that's a shit selection. No Maine? No Alaska?!?! How about Washington?
Weather in Maine, Alaska and Washington have to be near deadly for homeless this time of year. Well, in Washington everything you have is soaked. Maine and Alaska, frozen. Big reason for so many homeless in CA is the moderate weather at the coast.
 

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
57,932
8,191
126
I'd love be homeless in AK right now. Might get to see some northern lights. I can keep warm.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
Weather in Maine, Alaska and Washington have to be near deadly for homeless this time of year. Well, in Washington everything you have is soaked. Maine and Alaska, frozen. Big reason for so many homeless in CA is the moderate weather at the coast.


It would be pretty deadly sleeping outside right now in CT without some serious winter survival gear.
 
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Naer

Diamond Member
Nov 28, 2013
3,331
153
106
19 people in my borough died recently from a fire that was caused by a space heater. Be careful with those
 

dullard

Elite Member
May 21, 2001
25,476
3,976
126
19 people in my borough died recently from a fire that was caused by a space heater. Be careful with those
Too early for a Moritat reference?

But ultimately, it was likely an overused electric space heater that had been running for days on end. They are not meant for that purpose. Who was watching it that whole time to ensure no pets, children, or fabric came close? New electric space heaters have multiple safety circuits (thermostats, over-temperature sensors, tip sensors, etc). They aren't even remotely on the list of most common causes of fire (cooking, electric system). Older electric space heaters were a safety nightmare.
 
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Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
11,854
2,706
136
Too early for a Moritat reference?

But ultimately, it was likely an overused electric space heater that had been running for days on end. They are not meant for that purpose. Who was watching it that whole time to ensure no pets, children, or fabric came close? New electric space heaters have multiple safety circuits (thermostats, over-temperature sensors, tip sensors, etc). They aren't even remotely on the list of most common causes of fire (cooking, electric system). Older electric space heaters were a safety nightmare.
Space heater hooked up to a bad power strip or some indoor 16 gauge extension cord would be my suspicion.
Some of the cheapest have such frail wires they often just break. Usually, they fail open but you never know.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
68,353
12,569
126
www.anyf.ca
I'd love be homeless in AK right now. Might get to see some northern lights. I can keep warm.

Visiting northern Canada is on my bucket list, but AK too would be nice. I can see northern lights where I live sometimes but it's rarer here.

ew4kC4M.jpg


When I build my cabin I definitely want to build some kind of lookout where I can see stars, northern lights etc. My current house has general bad visibility to the outside and it's too cold out when all the fun stuff in the sky is visible. Though the northern lights can be seen from my bathroom if I close lights and let my eyes adjust, so there's that! Pretty sure that's how that pic was taken.
 
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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,342
8,655
136
19 people in my borough died recently from a fire that was caused by a space heater. Be careful with those
Yesterday I put the one in my kitchen on one of my KASA smart plugs. I turn it on by turning on the plug. Why trust the internals of the decades old heater? In any case I have the heater set on LOW (<500w). And off if I'm not in the room and usually off even then.
 

Torn Mind

Lifer
Nov 25, 2012
11,854
2,706
136
Yesterday I put the one in my kitchen on one of my KASA smart plugs. I turn it on by turning on the plug. Why trust the internals of the decades old heater? In any case I have the heater set on LOW (<500w). And off if I'm not in the room and usually off even then.
A heater from the 80s or earlier is probably safer. The internals were better built.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
38,342
8,655
136
A heater from the 80s or earlier is probably safer. The internals were better built.
I haven't been able to figure out when this one was made. It's a Holmes HFH-512. Couldn't find the manual either. I figure it's sometime in the 1990s. I found a manual that's almost the same machine. It only lacks the switch to turn off oscillation, near as I can tell: Holmes HFH506GTG.