Completely agree on physical switches etc. There is no positive feedback in touchscreens and apps are just annoying. Same in cars, I dont know anybody who prefers the touch control systems. Buttons you can operate without looking and are much more satisfying to operate.
Not to mention the conspicuous safety hazards associated with car touch screen interfaces. A subaru outback that I drive occasionally requires tapping through two menus just to turn the front defogger on. The whole large screen also remains bright even when ambient light is low; it has a really noticeable effect on visibility at night. I hope regulators catch up and shut that crap down
@@Styrofo4m What a load of nonsense. I am sure the blind will loveee all those touch screens. If the goal was really to help the disabled you would never use touch screens you would allow custom peripherals. Physical buttons have been scientifically proven to be faster to operate and safer in traffic. 'Touch' interfaces are popular because of cost ( on cheap products )and the ability to lock down features and sell them separately on more expensive products (because they can push everything into software).
I really like now my 21 Corolla does it, it has a good sized screen that has all the infotainment stuff, but it also has a physical vol knob, and a few other buttons. Then also has all the HVAC controls on physical buttons.
Only a few touch surfaces get surprisingly close to physical buttons using haptic feedback. I know the Steam Deck's trackpads do and supposedly Apple's new touchpads are similar. But without that or in cars in general, physical buttons definitely are the way to go. In the latter case also for avoiding static electricity damage, along with the reasons mentioned in the replies above.
When Matthias turns on all of his heaters, we can see the voltage drop here in Nova Scotia! 😁 On a more serious note, I appreciate the science that goes into these videos, which helps to dispel some of the marketing BS. For me, the disadvantages of my Costco dish heater are not sufficient to cause me to go for one of the more high tech options. I like the simplicity and reliability.
I made a heater for my bathroom out of 2 of the 120 watt bun warming trays. I buy these at goodwill or garage sales for a dollar or two. I made a stand to hold them vertically and added a switch with indicator light to show that it is on. Gentle silent inferred heat . Some time and a few dollars. Nice to stand next to.
Lots of space heater content on this channel...Love It! My fav was the one where you used the raspberry pi to follow you around the room with the heater.
3:23 - Even though the heater turned yellow in the image instantly, you can see that it took about 5 seconds to reach 80 degrees. The color didn't change because it was still the maximum in the image. Still very very fast, but not instant
Good point. When I watch it heat up, it takes a few seconds to settle into its expanded shape, so that would also reflect time to get to full temperature
Great video. One thing to consider in use with the infrared heaters are portable sand batteries (in my case, empty 20 lb. propane tank filled with dry play sand.) I use a few adjacent to my wood stove. Really impressive thermal storage, and safe and stackable. Beats rubbing two wood scraps together to get warm. I keep learning new things from you. Much appreciated.
Holy troll, batman. I use them in my shop since this video is featured in a shop- maybe that escaped you. Use your brain for more productive things.@@ColCurtis
all kinds of heater bulbs available for all kinds of heaters on amazon or aliexpress. Which is worriesome, in that there is apparently enough need for these bulbs.
Thank you for sharing yet another thorough analysis. I would like to add: don't forget "radical" alternatives to getting warm: putting in some good physical exercise before sitting down. I find calistenics to be very practical and effective.
that's a different topic altogether. You could also put on a sweather. But that said, you need to keep the house at a certain minimum temperature or you risk getting condensation and mildew in the corners.
3:08 the weird switching from this heater might be caused by it using a triac to switch the power, which latches on until the 0 volts crossing. The weird switch points are probably from it sending some PWM signal without it syncing to the mains frequency. In P3 it might still be checking somehow, perhaps to insure the weird heating element's integrity. Or it's slightly power limited still to preserve the life of the element or something. It'd be curious to see how it performs if you wire the element yourself and put on a different grate. That'd also bypass the slowly starting "smart" electronics, making it more reliable in this way.
Quartz is king! Two years ago, I got an oscillating floor mounted 600/1200 watt, the two bulbs went high and low. 1200 watts is handy for warming up a very cold room, but 600 seemed too much for continuous use. Last year I got a smaller 400/800 watt quartz, for 18 or $20. This one used one, or both bulbs, and the 400 watts setting works great at 3' to 8' in a cold room. Clearly quartz is most efficient, and no compromise in my experience. One thing, line of sight to the bulb will eventually dry out your eyes, I just point it at my back. A laptop display, or something else, to block a line of sight to the bulb, also solves the problem.
getting one with two bulbs is much better -- that way it just turns on one smaller bulb on low instead of turning the whole thing on and off 10 times per second
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 I'm familiar with the digital pulse phenomenon, my quartz toaster oven uses cycling to manage cooking intensity, it causes LED lights to flicker across the house. The 600/1200 watt heater uses some other technology, probably a transformer, both bulbs appear to operate at half intensity for the 600 watt mode. While I prefer the 400/800 watt heater, it does use one vs two bulbs to manage the power level. I prefer non-flickering, low power, but product lifecycles seem 6-9 months, so caveat emptor.
There's a special circle in hell reserved for whoever realized that appliance apps are an easy way to pretend your device is sophisticated while also creating an ad revenue stream. Love having to scroll through black friday deals to check how my air purifier is doing.
Backed the Sunkos on kickstarter, still waiting for it to arrive… from this review I’m somewhat regretting my decision :/ Thanks for your work Matthias!
One of the best things I've ever done is grabbing a nice long bath robe to wear while at my desk. I just wear it over my clothes, and it makes it a lot more comfortable without using any power. Sure, that won't work in all situations, but at a desk it works great. For those worried about cold hands: I usually suffer from that quite a lot, but with most of your body better insulated, your hands stay quite warm too.
Update to my earlier comment: I've received my Sunkos "early bird" Kickstarter pledge now, a month after they started selling them on Amazon. I'm amazed they didn't even bother including a CR2025 battery for the remote. :| I expect your issue with the placement of the controls is caused by the main design fault - if they had put them at the top of the device, the controls would get very hot! And boy, you weren't kidding about the flickering. My Philips Hue lights are fine, but the standard LED bulbs are _not_ happy about it, no matter what power level it's at. :/ The screen is also quite bright at night, even when powered off!
I bought one of those garage heaters, and mounted it to the bottom of a bridge between mezzanines in my garage. This bridge is at 15* from horizontal, and the heater was angled down at 45*. It lasted about a year of occasional use before the case warped from the heat and locked the power indicator wheel (attached to the switch) into place, I pried the shell away and it worked a bit longer before the plastic part of the switch itself warped. It still worked, though. I scrapped it and bought another one, and mounted it in the same place. It warped, too. The light confuses me. It's useless - the heater bulbs are brighter.
You could maybe reduce the power from the high power heater and increase it's longevity by using a SCR based "speed controller"? I've been doing this for resistive heating elements for years with great success. Even have a box specifically for this purpose with a 3kW SCR "dimmer" in it and a thermocouple based temperature controller. It works a treat! Super useful to have that box that can temperature and power control any mains device by plugging it inline.
While the modern looking thing might be one, I'm missing the generic modern infrared heating panels. I think they're by far the most comfortable. Also, infrared is quite a wide spectrum with different wavelengths producing different effects w.r.t. absorption and reflection (and burning your skin, similar to UV!) and the way you experience it. It's ultimately the latter that matters. Infrared radiation is often divided into 3 different parts (just like UV radiation) with IR-C being the most comfortable and safe while IR-A ages the skin and IR-B also but to a lesser extent. I think those bulb-based heaters produce all kinds of IR and may not even be healthy for long exposure. I strongly suggest you repeat the test with a more representative medium (e.g. yourself) and include a modern IR panel heater that's specifically made to radiate IR-C. The goal is not to get things - especially not cardboard - as hot as possible, quite the contrary in fact; the goal should be to get you comfortable with as little power as possible.
@@unionse7en I believe most slowly warming panels are primarily IR-C (which is also why I doubt the modern looking thing Matthias tested was an IR-C panel; it got hot instantly). A random example is the Trotec TIH series and it looks like a popular North American brand is Ducoterra (at least their stuff looks like IR-C panels).
@@IDoNotLikeHandlesOnYT It was new to me too but I noticed IR heating manufacturers use these terms so decided to use them here too. I had a bit of a Google and apparently the ABC-thing comes from the International Commission on Illumination and is commonly used for IR heaters. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared#CIE_division_scheme
The beauty of this time of year is that I can burn the wood scraps from the previous day in my stove, and it keeps my shop warm enough for most of the day.
You should try a (Herschel) infrared panel for your office. We use them in our bathroom, they even have some that are built into a mirror which is pretty cool. Since they don’t have bulbs they are pretty much indestructible
The Dreo one reminds me of the small wall-mount heaters that are for bathrooms, but those are mostly just a small "milkhouse heater" in a wall mount form. I don't think many people use the wall-mounted bathroom ones, but they have bathroom ceiling vents with heaters. I'm always thinking those will melt the cheap plastic vents.
Really interesting stuff indeed, Matthias! 😃 I'm thinking about getting one of those... But next year, it's almost summer here in Brazil already. 😬 Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
If they get the light filcker sorted with a different screen on the front, I wonder if they would think about doing a ceiling tile-mounted option. I imagine even 500w pointing down onto a desk would keep you nice and warm.
3:50 Does the Sunkos damage other devices in your home? Is the flickering just a superficial annoyance? Or is it a sign that other electronics' lives are being shortened?
I was considering a heated floormat for at my computer, or maybe next time I see one of these IR bulbs at the thrift store for keeping a chicken pen warm for underneath my desk as an experiment.
I also ordered some 150 watt infrared bulbs, but they arrived too late for the video. The catch is, they also need some metal thing to go into, and I should put some sort of metal screen in front so I don't burn myself if I accidentally tough them. Also, ideally they point down so as not to lose too much heat from convection.
Hi Matthias I really love your vdeos! Could you come up with a lithium drill battery that can have replaceable batteries? Like an opening flap and you just slot in batteries like the old days? The lithium batteries wear out but everything else is still ok, seems a waste!
its not so easy, the cells have to match, otherwise the cell balancing circuitry can't keep them balanced. Also, cells of different wear level or capacity will cause problems in that the emptiest cell gets reversed and ruined.
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 For someone like me that cant check the individual batteries couldn't I buy all new batteries or does that not save any money?
@@neila9251hi, It used to be do-able until the replacement individual cells doubled in price, at least where I live. I've replaced individual bad cells (in their parallel pair) but it's not long before others fail. I think another issue is the high current/power draw off the cells; the connection would need to be beefy enough not to burn out.
I really like the ceramic PTC heaters since I don't have to worry about them getting too hot. I have 2 Dreo branded ones and a few of the Honeywell branded ones. I've yet to find one of the IR heaters I'd feel comfortable leaving under my desk.
Thanks for the great video. Do you have any suggestions for an infrared heater for the bedroom that doesn't light up the room at night? I mainly want it for nights and near my bed and I hate fan noise that's why I prefer infrared. Thanks again.
The thermal time constant of that "nanofilm" is probably very fast. But it may be a good candidate for two mods: 1, revised control to avoid blinking and 2, revised screen (with more open/closed ratio). Maybe window screen?
I'd love to see you tear them all apart, cobble them all together in one long sheet metal tube, and mount a blower and air filter at one end, so it blows past all those heaters and becomes a home-made forced air system for the basement. You could use the smartphone app to trip a relay to make them all come on.
bold of a company to send free stuff and it be worse in almost every way to something you can pickup online for about $60, also agreed for switches/knobs, I don't think it's old fashioned to hate the sleek buttonless modern designs for new products these days, obviously it appeals to some people but a simple knob is far more useful.
A heater is useless if a power blink will cause it to turn off. It can cause plants or chicks to freeze. Unfortunately, those nifty modern designs don't recover from even a 1 second power blink or outage.
I bought a DREO tower fan and liked it so much i sent my friend one! All thanks to your video. I take your climate control videos seriously... Considering buying that infrared camera in the video!
I've used those thin flat panel wall mounted electric convection heaters (Amaze Solo is one model, I'm sure there are others), they work pretty well, you should test one of those. Also used a rug heating pad (a Hot Carpet - highly recommended) in a previous house that had really cold floors, those would be nice under a desk, just not sure how long they'd last under a rolling chair... Note, I have zero relationships with any of these and don't use any of them anymore, but I did buy a Dreo fan based on Matthias' review... ;-)
I imagine someone hacking the sunkos one to put glass in front of the element, turn it upside down, and build their own discrete electronics to drive it.
The waveform is almost surely due to a zero-crossing PWM switch circuit, designed to reduce the amount of power burned in the power mosfet or IGBT or whatever driving the heater. By doing the switching at the zero crossings of the AC waveform, the transistor won't dissipate any meaningful power during the time when it's turning on and off and is in an intermediate high-resistance state: when the current is actually flowing it'll either be in a fully conducting or fully open state. Of course this type of circuit can get into degenerate states where it's only grabbing half waves, leading to what you saw on the scope. I expect the heating element is probably actually pretty low tech: just a PCB heater but with a flexible PCB substrate for less thermal mass, and graphite conductors instead of copper.
I work at a bank with a hundred or so odd offices. Over half the people here run heaters, mostly 1500w oil electric. Very few have heating pads/blankets which would probably be the best option with the most human-heating per watt. There's probably a reason for this, but I don't know it. Maybe cords. I wonder if someone out there sells a sticky-back heating pad similar to a 3d printer heating bed that you can stick to the bottom surface of your desk, right under the mouse and keyboard... You know what I'm just going to buy a seedling heater and glue it to my desk. lol
Some older or special 3D printer headbeds have standard silicone heater modules glued to them. Which you can order separately and just stick under your desk, wiring it to a self-made switching cord.
I know there is some danger to it, but a convection heater under the desk is the best way to stay warm. Your lower body is always in warm air and your upper body get's constant warm wind. Or you can be even cheaper and work in a sleeping bag like me :)
Smart phone app means your Smart Assistant (Alexia) can probably control the heater. "Alexa turn on heater" which is convenient. I picked up a tv remote for Alexa so when my kids leave the TV on i don't need to hunt around for the remote
Radiant heaters seem rare in England, but I do have an Oil filled room heater. Do you have any Gas fired Central Heating with radiators or warm air ducts?
Is there such a thing as a room heater that uses induction like my stovetop? That's supposed to be the most efficient production of btus per watt. Did you or could you check that? Thanx.
Matthias, being the expert builder that you are... Have you considered making a Rocket Mass Heater ? Or a simpler Rocket Heater / Stove ? They are extremely efficient, and burn clean (no smoke exhaust). I read that a guy that was using a typical fireplace, switched to a rocket mass heater... and he went from using 4 Chords of wood... to a Single Cord of wood, for the entire Winter.
doesn't make sense when we don't heat with wood. Also, modern high efficiency wood stoves achieve the same thing. There is no magic to it. You just need an insulated high temperature burn chamber, like like modern high efficiency wood stoves have. So I would just buy a newer wood stove.
called a heat pump, and we use those. But you can't very well direct that at your desk. And you need slightly warmer temperatures when sitting at a desk. So a small heater to heat at the desk still makes sense in terms of saving energy
For that DRIO rather than a pedestal base you could hang it from your ceiling. I wonder how well those infrared heaters would work if you hung them from the ceiling aimed at your computer chair.
its my legs that get cold. Also, infrared heaters that aren't meant for ceiling mound will usually not work for ceilings as they rely on convection to keep themselves physically cool.
How do you manage the combination of having solid below 15°C and no problems with mold? I can swap the air as much as i like, if it gets bleow like 16°C on an outside wall, water might condensate :(
@@antraxxslingshots When it gets cooler outside, keep in mind that cold air holds less moisture, so ventilation is sufficient to avoid this issue. Dehumidifiers are only needed in extreme circumstances.
@@aliasgharkhoyee9501 thank you for your reply. ventilation is in my case easier said then done. it's a dead end long narrow cellar room... just leaving a window open all winter is no real solution
I agree, I don't like things that have smartphone apps. I wouldn't mind if they give a remote, a app and physical controls But very rare they do they ever give all of them.
Smartphone app buy itself is of very limited use except when it comes to automation or being triggered on or off by google assistant via voice or routines. Wish now a days of something that has reliable presence detection when you enter / exit a room.😢
it absorbs the infrared even with its white color. And it will radiate a little bit, but you don't want that screen to absorb infrared, cause it will just mostly release it through convection. If you want a lot of infrared, you need something hot.
I'm amazed any company is brave enough to send Mathias a product to review.
Inside jobs from about to be or just fired employees.
Lmao respect the brave
Marketing dept “we’ve hooked a tech influencer! Yay!”
Engineering: “waitaminute what’s their name”
Marketing “a certain Mr Wandel”
Engineer “oh shit. Time to update our resumes y’all”
Completely agree on physical switches etc. There is no positive feedback in touchscreens and apps are just annoying. Same in cars, I dont know anybody who prefers the touch control systems. Buttons you can operate without looking and are much more satisfying to operate.
Not to mention the conspicuous safety hazards associated with car touch screen interfaces. A subaru outback that I drive occasionally requires tapping through two menus just to turn the front defogger on. The whole large screen also remains bright even when ambient light is low; it has a really noticeable effect on visibility at night. I hope regulators catch up and shut that crap down
@@Styrofo4m What a load of nonsense. I am sure the blind will loveee all those touch screens. If the goal was really to help the disabled you would never use touch screens you would allow custom peripherals. Physical buttons have been scientifically proven to be faster to operate and safer in traffic. 'Touch' interfaces are popular because of cost ( on cheap products )and the ability to lock down features and sell them separately on more expensive products (because they can push everything into software).
I'm a fan of apps, but only in addition to good physical controls.
I really like now my 21 Corolla does it, it has a good sized screen that has all the infotainment stuff, but it also has a physical vol knob, and a few other buttons. Then also has all the HVAC controls on physical buttons.
Only a few touch surfaces get surprisingly close to physical buttons using haptic feedback.
I know the Steam Deck's trackpads do and supposedly Apple's new touchpads are similar.
But without that or in cars in general, physical buttons definitely are the way to go.
In the latter case also for avoiding static electricity damage, along with the reasons mentioned in the replies above.
When Matthias turns on all of his heaters, we can see the voltage drop here in Nova Scotia! 😁 On a more serious note, I appreciate the science that goes into these videos, which helps to dispel some of the marketing BS. For me, the disadvantages of my Costco dish heater are not sufficient to cause me to go for one of the more high tech options. I like the simplicity and reliability.
I bet the table saw and Pantarouter makes a difference. I like his testing.
I made a heater for my bathroom out of 2 of the 120 watt bun warming trays. I buy these at goodwill or garage sales for a dollar or two. I made a stand to hold them vertically and added a switch with indicator light to show that it is on. Gentle silent inferred heat . Some time and a few dollars. Nice to stand next to.
I have mounted a thin 135 Watt infrared panel on the underside of my desk pointed at my knees. It's an absolute gamechanger.
I made something like that with a 120 watt bun warmer tray from goodwill. $5
Lots of space heater content on this channel...Love It! My fav was the one where you used the raspberry pi to follow you around the room with the heater.
It's 30ºC inside my house now... Probably will get near 40ºC outside today. And here I am watching a video about heaters!!!
Here to say beautiful transition to the oscilloscope. It has not gone unnoticed by me.
For solid objective measurable reviews, I like this on the same level as Project Farm!! Pure awesomeness :)
I love that you theach the UK/US viewers correct metric Units!
3:23 - Even though the heater turned yellow in the image instantly, you can see that it took about 5 seconds to reach 80 degrees. The color didn't change because it was still the maximum in the image. Still very very fast, but not instant
Good point. When I watch it heat up, it takes a few seconds to settle into its expanded shape, so that would also reflect time to get to full temperature
Great video. One thing to consider in use with the infrared heaters are portable sand batteries (in my case, empty 20 lb. propane tank filled with dry play sand.) I use a few adjacent to my wood stove. Really impressive thermal storage, and safe and stackable. Beats rubbing two wood scraps together to get warm. I keep learning new things from you. Much appreciated.
So you are dragging old propane cylinders around your house to stay warm?
Holy troll, batman. I use them in my shop since this video is featured in a shop- maybe that escaped you. Use your brain for more productive things.@@ColCurtis
Just open the top of a new one and get a match
not practical for portable spot heating in uninsulated large spaces. Can be useful for other things.
@@ColCurtis why would that be a problem?
Can you get replacement bulbs for those heaters easily? 🤔 thanks for sharing Matthias 🤙
all kinds of heater bulbs available for all kinds of heaters on amazon or aliexpress. Which is worriesome, in that there is apparently enough need for these bulbs.
I've used all these under my desk and the oil filled was best. The small IR parabolic heater works ok, but one leg will feel super hot after a while.
Thank you for sharing yet another thorough analysis.
I would like to add: don't forget "radical" alternatives to getting warm: putting in some good physical exercise before sitting down. I find calistenics to be very practical and effective.
that's a different topic altogether. You could also put on a sweather.
But that said, you need to keep the house at a certain minimum temperature or you risk getting condensation and mildew in the corners.
3:08 the weird switching from this heater might be caused by it using a triac to switch the power, which latches on until the 0 volts crossing.
The weird switch points are probably from it sending some PWM signal without it syncing to the mains frequency.
In P3 it might still be checking somehow, perhaps to insure the weird heating element's integrity.
Or it's slightly power limited still to preserve the life of the element or something.
It'd be curious to see how it performs if you wire the element yourself and put on a different grate.
That'd also bypass the slowly starting "smart" electronics, making it more reliable in this way.
That is exacly that, the correct name is pulse skipping.
Quartz is king! Two years ago, I got an oscillating floor mounted 600/1200 watt, the two bulbs went high and low. 1200 watts is handy for warming up a very cold room, but 600 seemed too much for continuous use. Last year I got a smaller 400/800 watt quartz, for 18 or $20. This one used one, or both bulbs, and the 400 watts setting works great at 3' to 8' in a cold room. Clearly quartz is most efficient, and no compromise in my experience. One thing, line of sight to the bulb will eventually dry out your eyes, I just point it at my back. A laptop display, or something else, to block a line of sight to the bulb, also solves the problem.
getting one with two bulbs is much better -- that way it just turns on one smaller bulb on low instead of turning the whole thing on and off 10 times per second
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 I'm familiar with the digital pulse phenomenon, my quartz toaster oven uses cycling to manage cooking intensity, it causes LED lights to flicker across the house. The 600/1200 watt heater uses some other technology, probably a transformer, both bulbs appear to operate at half intensity for the 600 watt mode. While I prefer the 400/800 watt heater, it does use one vs two bulbs to manage the power level. I prefer non-flickering, low power, but product lifecycles seem 6-9 months, so caveat emptor.
There's a special circle in hell reserved for whoever realized that appliance apps are an easy way to pretend your device is sophisticated while also creating an ad revenue stream. Love having to scroll through black friday deals to check how my air purifier is doing.
I used to use an oil-filled (low setting) with a small computer type fan to blow the air a short distance. It seemed to work well for me.
Best balance between convection and radiation having it under your desk to warm you and also the air.
If Matthias did a video on picket lint I’m sure it would be fascinating.
To me, he does the most fascinating videos
One of my fav engineers
thank you, while the sunkos may not be for you, it was a great fit for my needs, and i wouldn't have known about it if it wasn't for this video
Backed the Sunkos on kickstarter, still waiting for it to arrive… from this review I’m somewhat regretting my decision :/ Thanks for your work Matthias!
its available on amazon now, so you'd think they should have fulfilled their kickstarter obligations by now.
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 You would think!
$10 pet blanket is what I use at my desk, no pwr usage and no dry eyes which I noticed from heaters. Nice coverage of all the options.
Merino wool all the things!
One of the best things I've ever done is grabbing a nice long bath robe to wear while at my desk. I just wear it over my clothes, and it makes it a lot more comfortable without using any power. Sure, that won't work in all situations, but at a desk it works great. For those worried about cold hands: I usually suffer from that quite a lot, but with most of your body better insulated, your hands stay quite warm too.
and then get a heated pad for your feet and you're set. They even sell actual desk feet warmers too
Did you also ask them about the light flicker? If yes, what was their response?
No response
How about a resistive heated jacket? Should be most efficient?
Can you make a power factor correction capacitor device for the heater! That would be cool
No, its not like its using power out of phase
Update to my earlier comment: I've received my Sunkos "early bird" Kickstarter pledge now, a month after they started selling them on Amazon.
I'm amazed they didn't even bother including a CR2025 battery for the remote. :|
I expect your issue with the placement of the controls is caused by the main design fault - if they had put them at the top of the device, the controls would get very hot!
And boy, you weren't kidding about the flickering. My Philips Hue lights are fine, but the standard LED bulbs are _not_ happy about it, no matter what power level it's at. :/
The screen is also quite bright at night, even when powered off!
Love all of these random videos.
I bought one of those garage heaters, and mounted it to the bottom of a bridge between mezzanines in my garage. This bridge is at 15* from horizontal, and the heater was angled down at 45*. It lasted about a year of occasional use before the case warped from the heat and locked the power indicator wheel (attached to the switch) into place, I pried the shell away and it worked a bit longer before the plastic part of the switch itself warped. It still worked, though. I scrapped it and bought another one, and mounted it in the same place. It warped, too. The light confuses me. It's useless - the heater bulbs are brighter.
You could maybe reduce the power from the high power heater and increase it's longevity by using a SCR based "speed controller"? I've been doing this for resistive heating elements for years with great success. Even have a box specifically for this purpose with a 3kW SCR "dimmer" in it and a thermocouple based temperature controller. It works a treat! Super useful to have that box that can temperature and power control any mains device by plugging it inline.
While the modern looking thing might be one, I'm missing the generic modern infrared heating panels. I think they're by far the most comfortable. Also, infrared is quite a wide spectrum with different wavelengths producing different effects w.r.t. absorption and reflection (and burning your skin, similar to UV!) and the way you experience it. It's ultimately the latter that matters. Infrared radiation is often divided into 3 different parts (just like UV radiation) with IR-C being the most comfortable and safe while IR-A ages the skin and IR-B also but to a lesser extent. I think those bulb-based heaters produce all kinds of IR and may not even be healthy for long exposure. I strongly suggest you repeat the test with a more representative medium (e.g. yourself) and include a modern IR panel heater that's specifically made to radiate IR-C. The goal is not to get things - especially not cardboard - as hot as possible, quite the contrary in fact; the goal should be to get you comfortable with as little power as possible.
which models have you found that emit IR-C, primarily?
@@unionse7en I believe most slowly warming panels are primarily IR-C (which is also why I doubt the modern looking thing Matthias tested was an IR-C panel; it got hot instantly). A random example is the Trotec TIH series and it looks like a popular North American brand is Ducoterra (at least their stuff looks like IR-C panels).
@@zmoocThanks!
I've seen IR divided into near-, mid-, and far-, as well as shortwave, mediumwave, and longwave, but never A, B, and C. Is this a new thing?
@@IDoNotLikeHandlesOnYT It was new to me too but I noticed IR heating manufacturers use these terms so decided to use them here too. I had a bit of a Google and apparently the ABC-thing comes from the International Commission on Illumination and is commonly used for IR heaters. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infrared#CIE_division_scheme
The beauty of this time of year is that I can burn the wood scraps from the previous day in my stove, and it keeps my shop warm enough for most of the day.
You should try a (Herschel) infrared panel for your office. We use them in our bathroom, they even have some that are built into a mirror which is pretty cool. Since they don’t have bulbs they are pretty much indestructible
Yes, these far-infrared panels are more common in Europe and are mounted on walls or ceilings, I would love to see a comparison.
The Dreo one reminds me of the small wall-mount heaters that are for bathrooms, but those are mostly just a small "milkhouse heater" in a wall mount form. I don't think many people use the wall-mounted bathroom ones, but they have bathroom ceiling vents with heaters. I'm always thinking those will melt the cheap plastic vents.
I personally like the older option, sweater and socks. No electricity needed.
Really interesting stuff indeed, Matthias! 😃
I'm thinking about getting one of those... But next year, it's almost summer here in Brazil already. 😬
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
If they get the light filcker sorted with a different screen on the front, I wonder if they would think about doing a ceiling tile-mounted option.
I imagine even 500w pointing down onto a desk would keep you nice and warm.
3:50 Does the Sunkos damage other devices in your home?
Is the flickering just a superficial annoyance? Or is it a sign that other electronics' lives are being shortened?
just an annoyance
I was considering a heated floormat for at my computer, or maybe next time I see one of these IR bulbs at the thrift store for keeping a chicken pen warm for underneath my desk as an experiment.
I also ordered some 150 watt infrared bulbs, but they arrived too late for the video. The catch is, they also need some metal thing to go into, and I should put some sort of metal screen in front so I don't burn myself if I accidentally tough them. Also, ideally they point down so as not to lose too much heat from convection.
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 Use off the shelf brooder lamps. Get the one with the ceramic socket
Hi Matthias I really love your vdeos! Could you come up with a lithium drill battery that can have replaceable batteries? Like an opening flap and you just slot in batteries like the old days? The lithium batteries wear out but everything else is still ok, seems a waste!
its not so easy, the cells have to match, otherwise the cell balancing circuitry can't keep them balanced. Also, cells of different wear level or capacity will cause problems in that the emptiest cell gets reversed and ruined.
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 For someone like me that cant check the individual batteries couldn't I buy all new batteries or does that not save any money?
@@neila9251hi,
It used to be do-able until the replacement individual cells doubled in price, at least where I live. I've replaced individual bad cells (in their parallel pair) but it's not long before others fail.
I think another issue is the high current/power draw off the cells; the connection would need to be beefy enough not to burn out.
I really like the ceramic PTC heaters since I don't have to worry about them getting too hot. I have 2 Dreo branded ones and a few of the Honeywell branded ones. I've yet to find one of the IR heaters I'd feel comfortable leaving under my desk.
Thanks for the great video. Do you have any suggestions for an infrared heater for the bedroom that doesn't light up the room at night? I mainly want it for nights and near my bed and I hate fan noise that's why I prefer infrared.
Thanks again.
The thermal time constant of that "nanofilm" is probably very fast. But it may be a good candidate for two mods: 1, revised control to avoid blinking and 2, revised screen (with more open/closed ratio). Maybe window screen?
I'd love to see you tear them all apart, cobble them all together in one long sheet metal tube, and mount a blower and air filter at one end, so it blows past all those heaters and becomes a home-made forced air system for the basement. You could use the smartphone app to trip a relay to make them all come on.
I can purchase with confidence now. Ty
I do not need an auxiliary electric heater, but I’m certainly willing to hear Mathias’ opinion!
bold of a company to send free stuff and it be worse in almost every way to something you can pickup online for about $60, also agreed for switches/knobs, I don't think it's old fashioned to hate the sleek buttonless modern designs for new products these days, obviously it appeals to some people but a simple knob is far more useful.
A heater is useless if a power blink will cause it to turn off. It can cause plants or chicks to freeze. Unfortunately, those nifty modern designs don't recover from even a 1 second power blink or outage.
I bought a DREO tower fan and liked it so much i sent my friend one! All thanks to your video. I take your climate control videos seriously... Considering buying that infrared camera in the video!
that one is unfortunately a bit expensive. I have another video about those topdon infrared cameras coming out later this month
I've used those thin flat panel wall mounted electric convection heaters (Amaze Solo is one model, I'm sure there are others), they work pretty well, you should test one of those. Also used a rug heating pad (a Hot Carpet - highly recommended) in a previous house that had really cold floors, those would be nice under a desk, just not sure how long they'd last under a rolling chair...
Note, I have zero relationships with any of these and don't use any of them anymore, but I did buy a Dreo fan based on Matthias' review... ;-)
7:28 I need several front screens like that one to make a screen door.
I try to avoid heaters with the controls on top; they get quite hot in that spot, and I have one that is very glitchy as a result.
Glad I’m not the only one who hates smart phone apps to operate things!
I imagine someone hacking the sunkos one to put glass in front of the element, turn it upside down, and build their own discrete electronics to drive it.
Try to eliminate your drafts in the basement. I did that and it is always warm now without heating
No drafts. Just cold.
Of course I don't see this video until AFTER I purchase the Sunkos heater. :D At least I got it over 50% off.
:p
The sort of stuff I'd do if I had a bunch of heaters and time. Figuring out what's best. Nice.
Good timing. I've been thinking of infrared near my workbench in the unheated garage. BTW apps suck.
The waveform is almost surely due to a zero-crossing PWM switch circuit, designed to reduce the amount of power burned in the power mosfet or IGBT or whatever driving the heater. By doing the switching at the zero crossings of the AC waveform, the transistor won't dissipate any meaningful power during the time when it's turning on and off and is in an intermediate high-resistance state: when the current is actually flowing it'll either be in a fully conducting or fully open state. Of course this type of circuit can get into degenerate states where it's only grabbing half waves, leading to what you saw on the scope.
I expect the heating element is probably actually pretty low tech: just a PCB heater but with a flexible PCB substrate for less thermal mass, and graphite conductors instead of copper.
IR heating bulb! THAT is the smartest way for only you to be heated. kinda.
oh,you did it!
I would suggest a airco
very interesting, thanks for making this video
I use the garage heater also. Can't figure out why the light though(Itook mine out as well), first click is the light, then the second is 1heater
Have you looked into getting a wood burner for the basement
i was hoping the heater would come apart! haha
Now make an array of parabolic infrared heaters that track you as you move around your workshop 😂
Deep emotional shower thoughts: I don't want to be warm. I want to be warmed up.
"Challenge accepted"...love it
That dreo looks like you might be able to mount it to the side of a workbench or something, to keep all your tools from being blocks of ice.
I work at a bank with a hundred or so odd offices. Over half the people here run heaters, mostly 1500w oil electric. Very few have heating pads/blankets which would probably be the best option with the most human-heating per watt. There's probably a reason for this, but I don't know it. Maybe cords.
I wonder if someone out there sells a sticky-back heating pad similar to a 3d printer heating bed that you can stick to the bottom surface of your desk, right under the mouse and keyboard... You know what I'm just going to buy a seedling heater and glue it to my desk. lol
adhesive stuff doesn't stay stuck very well over time. Doubly so if its holding something up, and that thing is warm.
Some older or special 3D printer headbeds have standard silicone heater modules glued to them.
Which you can order separately and just stick under your desk, wiring it to a self-made switching cord.
I know there is some danger to it, but a convection heater under the desk is the best way to stay warm. Your lower body is always in warm air and your upper body get's constant warm wind. Or you can be even cheaper and work in a sleeping bag like me :)
yes, but at this point I'm worried about cooking the standing desk electronics :(
really want a galvo scanner tracking me with a sizeable IR beam from the ceiling.
I would love to see what would happen if you removed the flimsy carbon element and installed it in one of those metal tube heaters.
0:18 Love this picture.
Smart phone app means your Smart Assistant (Alexia) can probably control the heater. "Alexa turn on heater" which is convenient. I picked up a tv remote for Alexa so when my kids leave the TV on i don't need to hunt around for the remote
Fascinating!
Yup oil heaters are objectively the best ,so expensive though
Radiant heaters seem rare in England, but I do have an Oil filled room heater. Do you have any Gas fired Central Heating with radiators or warm air ducts?
depends where. Here in new brunswick, few people have gas because its only slightly cheaper than electric heating.
One option for when sitting would be an electric blanket.
Is there such a thing as a room heater that uses induction like my stovetop? That's supposed to be the most efficient production of btus per watt. Did you or could you check that? Thanx.
If you wear chainmail suit it would work well.
Matthias, being the expert builder that you are... Have you considered making a Rocket Mass Heater ? Or a simpler Rocket Heater / Stove ? They are extremely efficient, and burn clean (no smoke exhaust). I read that a guy that was using a typical fireplace, switched to a rocket mass heater... and he went from using 4 Chords of wood... to a Single Cord of wood, for the entire Winter.
doesn't make sense when we don't heat with wood.
Also, modern high efficiency wood stoves achieve the same thing. There is no magic to it. You just need an insulated high temperature burn chamber, like like modern high efficiency wood stoves have. So I would just buy a newer wood stove.
Is reverse cycle aircon an option in the Canadian cold? That kind of climate is a bit foreign to me since I live in a sub tropical zone.
called a heat pump, and we use those. But you can't very well direct that at your desk. And you need slightly warmer temperatures when sitting at a desk. So a small heater to heat at the desk still makes sense in terms of saving energy
The best desk heater - you can't beat it-
wrap up inside an electric blanket, with jammies on.
Truth.
Most efficient and cheap, while being the best comfort level.
For that DRIO rather than a pedestal base you could hang it from your ceiling. I wonder how well those infrared heaters would work if you hung them from the ceiling aimed at your computer chair.
its my legs that get cold. Also, infrared heaters that aren't meant for ceiling mound will usually not work for ceilings as they rely on convection to keep themselves physically cool.
Anything from Intel or Nvidia should be enough no?
How do you manage the combination of having solid below 15°C and no problems with mold?
I can swap the air as much as i like, if it gets bleow like 16°C on an outside wall, water might condensate :(
dehumidifier
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221 Thanks. I thought those were basically a hoax since I've you open a door all new moist air will come in. I'll try that.
@@antraxxslingshots When it gets cooler outside, keep in mind that cold air holds less moisture, so ventilation is sufficient to avoid this issue. Dehumidifiers are only needed in extreme circumstances.
@@aliasgharkhoyee9501 thank you for your reply. ventilation is in my case easier said then done. it's a dead end long narrow cellar room... just leaving a window open all winter is no real solution
I agree, I don't like things that have smartphone apps. I wouldn't mind if they give a remote, a app and physical controls But very rare they do they ever give all of them.
I really want a 500W quartz / IR dish heater that I can set on a pole behind me shining down on my shoulders/upper back.
Does anyone has the link to the oil filed heater video test ? Thanks
I did, from the end of the video
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221I missed that, thank you!
Smartphone app buy itself is of very limited use except when it comes to automation or being triggered on or off by google assistant via voice or routines.
Wish now a days of something that has reliable presence detection when you enter / exit a room.😢
"why don't you just take the screen off?" Cuz you made the product, smart guy
What if you keep the screen on, and paint it black on the inside? In steady-state it cannot stay cool, and will radiate, eventually.
it absorbs the infrared even with its white color. And it will radiate a little bit, but you don't want that screen to absorb infrared, cause it will just mostly release it through convection. If you want a lot of infrared, you need something hot.
I have seen people measuring flicker with an oscilloscope and a solar cell
4:14 that's some transition there.
Can you build a chopsaw?
Maybe you can home assistant them, and auto power on while the PC is on?
I can't be bothered with home assistant
@@matthiasrandomstuff2221it is definitely a big time spender, but at least you don't need a different app for each home appliance.
Words we can all relate to...
But at least it doesn't have a fricken smartphone app.
-Matthias Wandel 2023
How about the resistive heated seat covers they do aftermarket for cars? Conductive should be most efficient for heating.