PV for heat

[oil pan 4]

This instance less is more.

Here is one way I can think of that would allow someone to use something like off grid PV for a useable amount of heat and actually stay nice and warm.
I have had this large double bed heater for a few years now. The kill-a-watt meter tells me that if I keep both sides cranked up on high all night it uses about 0.1kwh.
Could use even less than that if one were to only use 1 side, or a small bed heater coupled with a lower setting.

A small space heater can use that much power in about 6 minutes.



Its nice and toasty. The area immediately around the heating wires is over 90'F. Put this only under a sheet the effect is pretty much instantaneous. If its under one of those foam pad things, turn it on an hour or 2 before bed.

No I did not make this. I bought if from wall mart for $70 in 2006 if I remember correctly.
Well worth it.

[jeff5may]

I survived my childhood in Colorado with one of those electric blankets. My parents were not big fans of insulation and kept the thermostat high in the summer and low in the winter. I believe I caught strep throat or pneumonia every winter before I learned to talk. Once my caretakers figured I was freezing all night, an electric blanket appeared to save me.

Obviously these devices are very economical. If the thing cost much to run, my parents would have made rules or would have been invading my privacy to turn that dad blame money sucker down. That never happened, except some occasional fire safety speeches, so the blanket could not have had much impact on the electric bill.

For off-grid solar homes, electric blankets are very popular. When combined with a biofuel heater, many owners can make it through a cold night on one load of wood and the blanket if the cold wakes them up late. The next best device is a good down comforter.