# Portable Space Heater in a Bedroom,Whats wrong with this picture?



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Here is what the service looks like.

In the 4th and 5th picture you have to squeeze in that little door and there is only about 20" from the wall the fuse boxes are on to the wood framing where the hatch door is.

He had about 20 ,30 amp Edison base screw in fuses lined up for one of the circuits that is blowing all the time from overload.:laughing:


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## Edrick (Jun 6, 2010)

Once you get that old you don't care what goes on


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Edrick said:


> Once you get that old you don't care what goes on



Thankfully i convinced him to have an Electric baseboard heater installed so that old toaster space heater will be thrown out.


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## 3xdad (Jan 25, 2011)

80 yrs old and made the call. RESPECT.

i'm glad he called you Harry. Probably saved his life.:thumbsup:


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## Pete m. (Nov 19, 2011)

3xdad said:


> 80 yrs old and made the call. RESPECT.
> 
> i'm glad he called you Harry. Probably saved his life.:thumbsup:


I've seen the result (after the fire) of this situation all too often.

Pete


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## ohmega (Apr 19, 2010)

Roped a duplex last year after it had burned down, demo'd and then rebuilt. Gal thought it was a good idea to use her space heater as a clothes dryer.:laughing:


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

No way, that house was wired in 1910. I don't think that house is that old! I lived in several old houses, that were wired in the mid-1920's. The BX that was used had an outer jacket, that had different, smoother ribs. Also, block and poured concrete, wasn't used that early.


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## Cletis (Aug 20, 2010)

*..*

I agree. Looks like 30's or early 40's to me


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

retiredsparktech said:


> No way, that house was wired in 1910. I don't think that house is that old! I lived in several old houses, that were wired in the mid-1920's. The BX that was used had an outer jacket, that had different, smoother ribs. Also, block and poured concrete, wasn't used that early.


The city records show 1910 I know because I have to look that stuff up to get the owners info for the electrical permit.

Most of the foundation is field stone so it is likely that area was added at a later date.

Also BX Has been around since 1899 from what I have heard.

It is also possible that , That house was originally wired at a latter date because having electricity was still optional at that time.


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## Cletis (Aug 20, 2010)

*Electric*

Hey, who had the first electrically wired house and when ??


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## Cletis (Aug 20, 2010)

*Easy*

First All Electric House

The Bungalow style house at 1155 Avon Road in Schenectady, NY is known as the house without a kitchen chimney. Built for GE’s Harry W. Hilman in 1905, it was a very special house – the first all electric house in the world, created to demonstrate the marvels of this new use of electricity and the domestic products being produced by the pioneering Edison Company. It was to prove that electricity could provide wide domestic applications beyond simply lighting and that these appliances could make lives easier.

Hilman was head of the Electric Heating Department at GE in 1905 when he constructed his experimental house to demonstrate new uses of electricity. At the time, homes were restricted to wire with a single circuit capable of handling mostly light bulbs. If you wanted to use an appliance, you had to unscrew one of the light bulbs. Cooking and heating were limited to coal or wood because of the limited capability of the single circuit.

Hilman devised his house to hold two circuits, one for lights, and the other for heating and cooking, along with the novel idea of putting outlets in all rooms so electrical devices could be plugged into them. Looking for promoting the economy of electricity, at that time expensive to produce, his house had five instruments throughout to record room temperature and power consumption during his first winter. He was quoted as saying “I claim that this application of electricity, as suggested by a thoughtful engineer, represents a principle of economy that affects time and labor in a way to make the experience with electricity in my home a success.”

Hilman read a paper at the Association of Edison Electric Illuminating Companies. The association decided that a committee of engineers should verify Hilman’s claims. Their decision and recommendation were that electric heating and appliances should be vigorously pursued by the member companies. This led to the development of refrigerators, stoves, and products that today no one can live without. For the next twenty years GE went to work to provide the appliances that would serve this home and every home that wanted them – 1909: GE’s William Coolidge develops the ductile tungsten filament, the material still used today for light bulbs; 1910: First electric range manufactured, the GE Hotpoint electric. 1915: GE’s Irving Langmuir stabilizes tungsten filament in 1915 by twisting it and using gas in the bulbs (N, then Ar); GE invents Calrod, an electrically insulating heat conductor making electric stoves safer; 1925: GE introduces Monitor-top refrigerator, the first hermetically sealed domestic refrigerator; 1930: GE places the first electric washing machine on the market; 1935 First food waste disposer: the Disposall (GE). 1936: The GE Juice-o-Mat, “A-la-carte” table cooker, Portable Mixer, Hotpoint automatic roaster, and the Dorchester coffeemaker were introduced into the home.

Today the Hilman all electric house sits quietly in its Avon Street section of Schenectady, the home of a retired judge. It still remains as it was in 1905 – an all-electric house.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

Pete m. said:


> I've seen the result (after the fire) of this situation all too often.
> 
> Pete


It is amazing that people do not see the danger they put themselves in when they set them up in their bed rooms and leave them running all the time while plugged into cheap ext cords on the only circuit on the whole floor .


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

ohmega said:


> Roped a duplex last year after it had burned down, demo'd and then rebuilt. Gal thought it was a good idea to use her space heater as a clothes dryer.:laughing:



Yeah that is just like when they used to sell those stand up halogen lights people would hang the clothing on them to dry them Fast...:laughing:


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

Edrick said:


> Once you get that old you don't care what goes on


I did a lot of work in older peoples homes. They all seem to have cords that are all twisted up, from winding and unwinding them. They also like using string to support their temporary hookups. The picture was typical.


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## Svtlightning207 (Apr 2, 2012)

That's cool, I live twenty minutes from schenectady and never knew that.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

I often enjoy encountering the old GEM electric baseboard mounted 3 way receptacles wired in zipcord stapled to the baseboards.


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

Harry .,

I have that same portable quatz heater the qurik that you will not like this due this heater work little odd and it will cycle depending on the thermosat setting and when the quatz is little cool side ( when you run on low setting ) you will hear the tubes rattle a little but once it get warm up it disappair.

But the early verison do not have wattage slection switch so it will be stuck at 1500 watts ( I did modifed by add a switch to cut one off and that did the trick for me ).

( I will tell ya what I did with second quatz heater later but just save it for now. ) 

Merci, 
Marc


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

retiredsparktech said:


> I did a lot of work in older peoples homes. They all seem to have cords that are all twisted up, from winding and unwinding them. They also like using string to support their temporary hookups. The picture was typical.


Yup those turn into 50 year permanent wiring sometimes they last .

Other times the vary worst happens because they overload them.


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

frenchelectrican said:


> Harry .,
> 
> I have that same portable quatz heater the qurik that you will not like this due this heater work little odd and it will cycle depending on the thermosat setting and when the quatz is little cool side ( when you run on low setting ) you will hear the tubes rattle a little but once it get warm up it disappair.
> 
> ...


The OP stated that the heater is 40 years old. The quartz heaters were only out for about 20 to 25 years. That's not the right application for space heating. It's a radiant type heat and it effectively warms just an area about a foot square. I use one in my workshop to heat just me. It was a $5.00 thrift shop special, in like new condition.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

retiredsparktech said:


> The OP stated that the heater is 40 years old. The quartz heaters were only out for about 20 to 25 years. That's not the right application for space heating. It's a radiant type heat and it effectively warms just an area about a foot square. I use one in my workshop to heat just me. It was a $5.00 thrift shop special, in like new condition.


Your right they came out in the early 1980's so i should have said about 30 years...


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

frenchelectrican said:


> Harry .,
> 
> I have that same portable quatz heater the qurik that you will not like this due this heater work little odd and it will cycle depending on the thermosat setting and when the quatz is little cool side ( when you run on low setting ) you will hear the tubes rattle a little but once it get warm up it disappair.
> 
> ...


Why waste time? Walmart sells 1500 watt heaters for $20.00.


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## retiredsparktech (Mar 8, 2011)

bobelectric said:


> Why waste time? Walmart sells 1500 watt heaters for $20.00.


The only kind I would buy are the "milk house" type with the metal case. Also check the quality of the power cord. Better heaters use the HPN type cord, which doesn't crack in the extreme cold. My Chinese built "Honeywell", even has a grounding type cord.


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