ho hum .......................

[brett53]

for those of you who read my stuff , you will know i have been pondering heating recently ( ain't we all - well those of us in the UK certainly - and parts of the states ) - and i WAS hoping to be able to use an ish solution to my brick pile money gobblers ( storage heaters ) - but after considerable pondering and more pondering - have decided that any sort of wood fired effort is out of the equation

so it look like - halogen heaters for the main - but what for extreme ?? - gas - not mains gas as it is beyond my means to have this reinstalled here ( used to have it once - and still have the old lead gas pipes including lights - but that's just so much scrap now )

so it looks like propane - i am thinking portable heater ( superser derivative ) or 2 for any extreme conditions - then i thought if i have to have the stuff *** - could i also use it for cooking ( again in extremis ) ?? - and how much would a simple say 2 burner arrangement cost - can i do it my self ?? or do you have to have corgi registered fitters to put in LPG ?? - and how much would the bottles cost ??

sorry for so many questions as i have little experience of the stuff ( but see below )

*** actually i DO have experience of the stuff - usually either about to blow up /catch fire or having blown up /caught fire - and am NOT really keen on having bottles in the house - as i have seen some REALLY DUMB stuff ,like storing bottles under the stairs - - which is great until you find them at 3 in the morning venting gas because of the incidental house fire you happen to be fighting at the time - or the ones you find in a van rolling around loose that has been in a smash and also happen to be leaking etc ,

to say nothing of being tasked with closing down venting cylinders which where spouting 5 foot flames on a film set catering tent fire ( mind me and a college did have the pleasure of putting the wind up a couple of major stars who where watching when we walked past with a venting cylinder that the valve had melted on - and told them "don't any of you buggers light a fag " )

and having had some fairly hairy moments with the things can understand my SLIGHT paranoia about them and certainly when NOT in use any bottles / heaters will be relegated to the garage

anyways any advice on the subject appreciated

[Milims]

One thing I would say about superser thingys is - condensation! And lots of it! What about oil filled radiators instead. We have a couple of them for the conservatory and even when it's freezing outside they do a pretty good job and don't seem to cost an arm and a leg to run. In fact this winter quarter my electricity bill has gone down! We also have one of those camping 2-ring-with-a-grill thingies for emergencies and wok cooking and that runs of butane and that's fine. My folks have propane for cooking with and they've never had a problem - so if they can manage it I'm sure you can. The thing is - just be sensible, have appliances serviced regularly and make sure that your gas is stored safely - the company you buy from will be able to give you good advice in that regard.

[snapdragon]

propane run central heating here, as we're not on the mains, currently costing (and this will depend on supplier) about £1 per Kg

[kit-e-kate]

Wait! Have you considered thermodynamic radiators? That's what we're thinking about for our house. They are powered from the electricity so super-easy to install, and really energy efficient! : )

[Marc]

The butane cabinet heaters are ok - not great but useful for a little extra warmth on occasion.
I use a butane 2 burner camping stove for all my cooking at the moment. It was originally on camping gaz but now runs fine on calor. 2 rings is a bit restrictive but I've used it for 4 years (cost £15 S/H) and it's much nicer to use than electric hobs many people have in their houses.

Marc

[brett53]

Wait! Have you considered thermodynamic radiators? That's what we're thinking about for our house. They are powered from the electricity so super-easy to install, and really energy efficient! : )

had a look at those - way too much hype for my liking `and regardless what the manufactures claim - there still is no such thing as a free lunch vis 1000 wt is still a kw and has to be paid for methinks the fluid used in them is snake oil

+ i get VERY suspicious when i cant find one site that actually quotes prices - its all "contact us " - and THAT from bitter experience means the hard sell

why the hell sites cant just say OUR PRICE IS and be done with it i don't know - or is it being my cynical self a question of how much can we screw this sucker ( whooops sorry valued client ) for ??


( unless of course any one wants to loan me one for evaluation and testing with FAIR report at conclusion ( vis if is any good i will buy one - if not you get the crap back ) ?? - PM ME - I AIN"T GONNA HOLD MY BREATH THOUGH )

as with a LOT of these new wunderkind must have super efficient green Eco products - the hype and reality is usually a lot different and the LAST thing they want is the truth coming out - big claims - require big proof !! - and once they have your money .........................

thanks for the pointer though

[Thomzo]

Well after three weeks of no heating during the worst of the cold snowy spell in
January, I can thoroughly recomment an oil filled radiator to take the chill off and two cats and a laptop for when you sit down.

Zoe

[citizentwiglet]

One thing I would say about superser thingys is - condensation! And lots of it! What about oil filled radiators instead. We have a couple of them for the conservatory and even when it's freezing outside they do a pretty good job and don't seem to cost an arm and a leg to run. In fact this winter quarter my electricity bill has gone down! We also have one of those camping 2-ring-with-a-grill thingies for emergencies and wok cooking and that runs of butane and that's fine. My folks have propane for cooking with and they've never had a problem - so if they can manage it I'm sure you can. The thing is - just be sensible, have appliances serviced regularly and make sure that your gas is stored safely - the company you buy from will be able to give you good advice in that regard.

We've got a couple of those oil-filled radiators (we too have storage heating, we only have it on in the living room), we got one from parents-in-law and one from Freecycle and they really are good. Ours have timers - the one in the kids' room only has to be on for about 20 minutes to make it lovely and toasty for a few hours, then you can time it to come on again for 20 mins before they are due to wake up. Certainly a lot cheaper than the halogen heater we used to have.