Halogen heaters - any good for a boat?

[Québec]

I know there's been a lot of threads recently about which type of electric heater to use on the boat.

Just wondering what's the view (if any) on these halogen heaters? Efficiency, safety, etc.

 

The fact they they have 400W/800W/1200W settings caught my eye. I know they're not cheap, but there is a 2 for 1 offer and we need one for the house anyway.

 

http://www.guardianoffers.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/GuardianOffers/_D3142/-/Halogen-heaters---buy-one,-get-one-free

[Bat & Frog]

Your right there not cheap, £40 for same on amazon, http://www.amazon.co.uk/OSCILLATING-1200W-HALOGEN-HEATERS-FREE/dp/B002CQ6LR6/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1292068968&sr=8-8.

We had some cheap one which seemed to work well but were vunrable to the tubes going.

On safety, they have a switch underneath so if get knocked over will switch off.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Bat & Frog

[DHutch]

All electric heaters are 100% efficient in terms of turning elec into heat. They cant not be.

 

From there, it depends what you trying to do. Halogen heaters emit a large percentage of there heat as infared radiation so are very good at heating (un-silvered) objects rather than the air in between, which makes them very useful for things like heating people (or work/tools) and large spaces where heating the space itself is a bit of a non-starter and they might work for heating someone in a boat too, if you have elec, and a big open plan room layout, and your not mocing much.

 

But i wouldn't use one on a boat unaccompanied for low-level i dont think, as compared to other options (such as ceramic frost heaters) heat they are a fire hazard.

 

You should be able to under cut the price offer there too i would suggest, without compromising quality.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=383988&C=Froogle&U=383988&T=Module

 

 

 

Daniel

[Nickhlx]

All electric heaters are 100% efficient in terms of turning elec into heat. They cant not be.

 

From there, it depends what you trying to do. Halogen heaters emit a large percentage of there heat as infared radiation so are very good at heating (un-silvered) objects rather than the air in between, which makes them very useful for things like heating people (or work/tools) and large spaces where heating the space itself is a bit of a non-starter and they might work for heating someone in a boat too, if you have elec, and a big open plan room layout, and your not mocing much.

 

But i wouldn't use one on a boat unaccompanied for low-level i dont think, as compared to other options (such as ceramic frost heaters) heat they are a fire hazard.

 

You should be able to under cut the price offer there too i would suggest, without compromising quality.

http://www.maplin.co...383988&T=Module

 

 

 

Daniel

 

I echo what Daniel says ...

 

In particular, all electric heaters are 100% efficient - all energy going into them ends up as heat.

 

and

 

the heat these produce is at "high energy", in that something brought close to the filaments, could / will catch fire.

 

I would much favour a "tubular heater" or panel / oil-filled radiators which could be screwed to a wall - the trauma of a fire isn't worth any risk, if avoidable.

 

Nick

 

 

 

[Ark Right]

I know there's been a lot of threads recently about which type of electric heater to use on the boat.

Just wondering what's the view (if any) on these halogen heaters? Efficiency, safety, etc.

 

The fact they they have 400W/800W/1200W settings caught my eye. I know they're not cheap, but there is a 2 for 1 offer and we need one for the house anyway.

 

http://www.guardianoffers.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/GuardianOffers/_D3142/-/Halogen-heaters---buy-one,-get-one-free

Not cheap, downright EXPENSIVE.

We bought 3 last year (not for the boat) with 400w and 800w settings from Poundstretcher @ £7.99 each.Excellent they are too.

They have them again this year too but didn't check the price.

[Keeping Up]

Something else to watch, I bought a ceramic fan-heater and discovered that the fan remains on at all times when it is connected to the mains. Not a big problem if the boat is attended, or in very cold weather when the heating element is on most of the time, but a big waste of energy if left unattended to guard against a sudden cold snap. I suspect the halogen heaters may operate in a similar way.

[PhilR]

Something else to watch, I bought a ceramic fan-heater and discovered that the fan remains on at all times when it is connected to the mains. Not a big problem if the boat is attended, or in very cold weather when the heating element is on most of the time, but a big waste of energy if left unattended to guard against a sudden cold snap. I suspect the halogen heaters may operate in a similar way.

 

No, the halogen heaters don't have fans. I bought a 1200 watt model for our conservatory. It was £12 from our local market and similar to the Maplins model. I'm very pleased with it. It has 3 heat setting + oscillating function which can be switched on or off.

 

We already have a ceramic fan heater in the conservatory but I find the noise of the fan too intrusive, but OK for a temporary blast of heat. The fan only comes on when the unit is providing heat. The thermostat switches off the heating elements AND the fan.

[Lady Muck]

I love Halogen heaters, they're a bit rubbish for houses, because they can only heat a small space effectively but that means they are perfect for narrowboats. They cost very little to run, too.

 

But do try and get one from Argos or Maplin or somewhere like that, we've had some of the really cheap ones in the past, they lasted only a few weeks, then I found out that alot of the cheap ones you get on markets or cheap shops aren't ce marked and are not very safe.

[Mac of Cygnet]

.......... alot of the cheap ones you get on markets or cheap shops aren't ce marked and are not very safe.

 

.......as long as 'CE' doesn't stand for 'China Export' as has been pointed out on another thread.

 

As to efficiency, and being just a leeetle beeet pedantic, as halogen heaters glow orange, isn't some of the electricity being converted into light, not heat, and so not 100% efficient?

 

Mac

[Guest]

.......as long as 'CE' doesn't stand for 'China Export' as has been pointed out on another thread.

 

As to efficiency, and being just a leeetle beeet pedantic, as halogen heaters glow orange, isn't some of the electricity being converted into light, not heat, and so not 100% efficient?

 

Mac

I wondered about that too.

 

We had one of these heaters on the previous boat as our only source of heating (32ft NB.) We ran it off the genny at the 500W setting and it was quite reasonable.

Edited December 11, 2010 by Guest

[Heffalump]

Wouldn't oil filled radiating heaters be better? O have one at home to keep my rats at the right temp and stop the bed getting too cold ha. Much much less power use, and thermostatic.

[Lady Muck]

.......as long as 'CE' doesn't stand for 'China Export' as has been pointed out on another thread.

 

As to efficiency, and being just a leeetle beeet pedantic, as halogen heaters glow orange, isn't some of the electricity being converted into light, not heat, and so not 100% efficient?

 

Mac

 

I never use more than £4 of electricity a week, even when I've one of these on from 8am til midnight every day, thats why I think its cheap. They take no space up either.

Edited December 12, 2010 by Lady Muck

[blackrose]

Wouldn't oil filled radiating heaters be better? O have one at home to keep my rats at the right temp and stop the bed getting too cold ha. Much much less power use, and thermostatic.

 

Seems like a no-brainer to me. I'm not sure about less power use, but oil-filled electric rads must be the safest electric heaters for use on a boat with shore power.

[Woollymishka]

We have just put 2 oil filled rads on our boat (just before the freeze thankfully) and they seem to be OK. Probably not the cheapest - its worked out at 80p per day each rad during the mega freeze period. They have frost stats and were from John Lewis and cost £50 each. they are deLonghui ones - Bambinos!

[WJM]

A halogen heater cannot possibly be 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat. It produces light which is definitely not heat! I suspect there will also be some production of radio frequencies, perhaps some ultra-violet, some very low vibration too?

 

While they may be very efficient they are definitely not 100% efficient - a 100% efficient heater does not exist.

[Gibbo]

A halogen heater cannot possibly be 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat. It produces light which is definitely not heat! I suspect there will also be some production of radio frequencies, perhaps some ultra-violet, some very low vibration too?

 

While they may be very efficient they are definitely not 100% efficient - a 100% efficient heater does not exist.

 

Technically you are, of course, correct but let's try to get it into perspective.

 

How much power would it take to produce the amount of light that comes from an 800 watt halogen heater? I reckon about 0.5 watts would do it. So accounting for that we're on about 99.94% efficient.

 

When that light is absorbed by something it will become heat. So we're actually back up to 100%. Same goes for ultraviolet. Same goes for radio waves.

 

I think you'd be hard pressed to measure the energy wasted in vibration. And, surely, any vibration can only eventually turn into heat?

 

Indeed, I do think halogen heaters are 100% efficient!

Edited December 12, 2010 by Gibbo

[Naughty Cal]

We bought a little cheap halogen heater earlier this winter to help the diesel heating along when we first arrive at the boat on a friday evening. It is the best £6 we have spent and means we are making much more use of the cockpit space than we have the previous couple of winters.

 

Wouldnt want to leave it on unattended though. We have small tube heaters as frost protection during the week when we are at home.

[ditchcrawler]

 

 

Wouldnt want to leave it on unattended though. We have small tube heaters as frost protection during the week when we are at home.

But your water pump froze