[Noisebridge-discuss] Heating without electricity + watt/hour meter

[Jeffrey Malone]

On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 10:57 PM, aestetix aestetix <aestetix at gmail.com> wrote:
> Time to play the Devil's Advocate.

Actually, this is just a regular argument, not playing devil's advocate.

> On the other hand, throwing down for some reasonable source of heat that
> doesn't ignite the building seems like a good plan. I know from experience
> that a small space heater or two can make a world of difference, depending
> on where it's placed. It might take a dozen space heaters to warm up NB, and
> the insulation of the space kinda sucks, but I think it's worth it until
> winter is over.

A standard space heater uses anywhere from 800w to 2kw.  Assuming we
had a dozen 1kwh space heaters running in the space for 12 hours a
day, we would pay $811 a month in heating at electricity rate of our
last bill. ($0.187880254 per kwh * 12 heaters * 12 hours * 30 days --
and our electricity rate is likely to increase).
Additionally, I don't see space heaters as at all safe.  They are
often placed too close to things like couches, and can heat them to a
point of combustion, or burning someone who is unaware of how hot the
surface got.  They can be knocked over, left on, etc.

I agree that we could use a heating solution, but I am not aware of
any option that is practical.  If someone has suggestions, I think
many of us would like to hear them.

Jeffrey