Cold days can be cruel, but you can combat them with layered clothes and turning up your home’s heating system. If you have a furnace in your basement, you can control how much heat you want to be distributed across all rooms. It is a solution that many homes employ due to its simplicity. You can also double its purpose by placing a water boiler beside it so everyone in the house can enjoy having hot showers.
The furnace is a centralized solution that encompasses your whole house. But if you want a smaller-scale solution, you can look at portable space heaters. As the name suggests, these can be carried practically wherever you want, and these can provide warmth to a small area. These are perfect for bedrooms and desk spaces. There are different types you can choose from, and here are four of the most used ones.
Micathermic Heater
Mica is a material that falls under the silicate family. It is known for its thermal and conductive properties. This can be processed into sheets, and the end product can be made to look opaque or transparent. For the latter, it can be turned into the base material for a panel with a surface that can accept electrical charges and yet able to contain its heat. This is the principle that is used in a micathermic heater—people like using that for its rapid heat-up time and its flat, compact form.
The micathermic heater works by using directional radiation. This means that if you want something to be heated up, you have to point the heater to its direction. If you are in a hurry to get yourself warmed up, this is the device that you are looking for. Fire it up and get in front of it right away.
Oil-Filled Heater
The oil-filled heater is a self-contained system that combines a reservoir, radiator, and a heater in one small package. It works by heating the oil contained in the reservoir. This then heats the pipes that coil around the radiator. After all that, the warm air is usually ejected to the top vent of the device. The air will become hotter, and it will envelop the whole room later on.
Though the oil-filled heater will need some warm-up time to start, its heat can linger on even after you have turned it off. It is a bit heavier than the other ones due to the weight of the liquid inside it.
Ceramic Heater
Ceramics are not just used to create beautiful crafts like vases, bowls, and plates. They are known for their tough characteristics. Some are processed to become so hard that they can withstand immense pressure. Believe it or not, they are used as brake pads in some vehicles. Equally as impressive is their heat resistance, and this is the reason why ceramic heaters exist.
If you use an electric stove, you will notice that its heat source is from a coil. This is usually made out of a metal alloy called nichrome. This is a combination of nickel and chromium. When you connect it to electricity, it gets charged and heated up. This then becomes the heat source when you start cooking. The same principle applies to ceramic heaters, except for the coil being made out of ceramic material and can also come in the form of a row of tubes. It uses convection to raise the room temperature, which means that it needs a fan to distribute the heat.
Halogen Heater
Halogen lamps are used in vehicle headlights, floodlights, and spotlights. It is used for purposes where you need a high-powered light source. The bulbs used in them usually have a filament made out of tungsten, which is one of the strongest metals around.
A halogen is a group of elements consisting of astatine, bromine, chlorine, fluorine, and iodine. The special thing about these elements is that they produce salts when they are combined with metals. Heaters that incorporate halogen in their bulbs can produce high levels of heat. This makes them ideal for outdoor heating purposes. So the next time you go out camping with your friends, you can bring one with you so no one will worry about the cold nights ahead.
Having a heater gives you a degree of control over the temperatures inside your house. These portable types are compact and can serve as a backup when your central system goes down. You no longer have to worry about the biting cold wherever you are at home.
