Energy and Construction - Clima2007

Claire Said:

Is using an electric skillet more energy efficient than using a burner on an electric stove?

We Answered:

Yes it is. The coil is in the unit and its a more precise temp control.

Maurice Said:

An energy-efficient electric fan converts a large portion of the electrical energy that enters it into...?

We Answered:

C & D
God bless you.

Terry Said:

What is more energy efficient Hydraulic pump or electric motor?

We Answered:

what is the mechanism?

Hydraulic pump is operated manually?

How will you lift lifting platform using motor? what is the mechanism between electric motor and lifting platform ?

what is the service cycle?

From your question, it seems that 0.75 kw "energy efficient" motor is better.

Max Said:

what is the best energy efficient electric heater?

We Answered:

All electric heaters are 100% energy efficient - at converting electrical energy into heat. People may have positive experiences with one or another type of heater - for example, some people will claim that an oil rad heater is more efficient - but this just isn't true. As for why heating with electric space heaters is so expensive, it's because electricity is expensive! After all, a coal-fired power plant is only about 35% efficient at converting heat to electricity, and another 7-9% of the electricity is lost in transmission to your house, so your 100% efficient heater is only getting about 32% of the original heat from the coal into your room.

Different electric heater types can be more EFFECTIVE than others at a particular heating task. For example, if you spend a lot of time in your small room sitting on the couch, a radiative electric heater works well. These heaters send out infrared radiation (perfectly safe - it's what keeps french fries warm in the school cafeteria), which heats the objects it strikes, but not the air it passes through. So you set up the radiative heater to point to you on your couch; you and the couch will get warm, but the rest of the room will stay cool. So you'll use less energy.

The main reason people spend a lot of money heating small rooms is that the rooms tend to be very poorly insulated or drafty. If you're in a rental there's not much you can do about insulation but you can seal for drafts and add window insulation by getting better curtains/shades:
- Buy a plastic window insulation kit. With this kit, a pair of scissors and a blow-dryer, you can insulate and seal your windows and cut down a lot on heat loss.
- Buy proper window coverings - curtains with an insulating layer, or draw-down shades. The key with window coverings is that you need to seal the airspace between the window covering and the window. If it's open at the top and bottom, the window coverings won't help.
- Buy a tube of clear silicone and run a bead around the wood of window frames and baseboard/quarter-round on exterior walls. This will cut down on drafts from those places.

Rhonda Said:

What is the best energy efficient Electric heater for under $80?

We Answered:

you usually dont worry about the energy efficiency of heaters because creating hear from any other energy is the most efficient conversion. the reason you talk efficiency with appliances is because of the inefficiency of turning say, electricity into motion because of heat production. electric heaters are probably 95% efficient so the only criteria i'd worry about is price and getting the right size one for your space.

Kenneth Said:

Do Oil raidiators more energy efficient than electric space heaters?

We Answered:

All electric space heaters are 100% efficient, in that they convert 100% of the electrical energy into heat energy.

The choice between different electric heater types therefore depends on how you want to use that heat.

A radiative heater creates infrared radiation (perfectly safe) which travels through the air until it strikes an object. At that point the infrared radiation is converted to heat. So radiative (or radiant) heaters are good for focused heating. For instance you could aim one at your couch, sit on the couch, and feel perfectly warm and comfortable even if the room you're in is chilly (and the doors to the outside are wide open). Radiative heaters are a good choice if your rooms are drafty, you tend to be in one place for long periods, and you want to heat only areas where people are. On the other hand, if there are lots of people in your house or you move around a lot, a radiative heater won't do you much good (except that all the times you have to move the heater around to point at the moving person will be exercise for you which will warm you up!).

Convection heaters are better for heating an entire room rather than just the object they are aimed at. A convection heater heats the air immediately around it, and then natural convection takes care of distributing the heat around the room. Your oil radiator is an example of a convection heater. Some convection heaters come with fans, to get the heat around the room faster, and these fans also help distribute the heat more evenly. This is especially useful if you are heating a large room or if you have poor insulation or drafts. If you don't use a fan in a room with poor insulation or drafts, much of the heat may escape the wall closest to where the heater is located before it has a chance to circulate through the room.

Oil radiators are a form of short-term storage heater. They provide a more regular level of heat because, although the heating element may go on and off several times an hour, the oil buffers the extremes of temperature of the heating element, so that you get a more steady temperature coming from the heater.

There are also long-term storage heaters, which are useful if you pay different rates for your electricity depending on the time of day. These heaters usually have a ceramic storage medium which converts electricity into stored heat when electricity is cheap, and then releases the heat when you want to heat the room and electricity is more expensive. These storage heaters are surprisingly cheap and there are portable models; you may want to consider one of these.

Judith Said:

Is the microwave more energy efficient than the electric cooker?

We Answered:

Yes. The microwave is more efficient for small things like that as it runs for only 1-2 minutes. Yes it uses a lot of power but for a very short time.

For cooking something larger and doing meat the cooker is way better as the time in the heat cooks completely.

So for a small item or a quick personal meal use the microwave.