Portable Oil Filled Electric Radiator

[Givl Reggin]

I'm at my parents place through the holidays and it's been 60's for a high with it dipping into the 30's at night... dad has one of these electric oil filled radiators in his upstairs office to supplement the forced air heat and says it's not heating like it did last year.

According to him; "Last year I used it on the lowest setting in the middle of winter and it now I have to use high and it's not even that cold out yet!"

How much oil should be is in there? If i pick it up and tilt it from side to side it sounds like about a cup or two at most sloshing around in the bottom.

With the unit on 'high' a clamp-on AMP meter says it pulling 11.5A which is in the range of ~1500 watts that it claims to produce.

The fins when measured on top with an infrared thermometer reach about 215-220 degrees Fahrenheit after about an hour of being 'on' in the highest setting.

I'm thinking some (or almost all) of the oil leaked out of it.

The unit about 8 years old.

TIA

 

[BillK]

Givl,
I would think that if the oil leaked out it should be pretty evident. Not sure how hot they get but 220 sounds reasonable. I have two of them in the garage and if nobody else answers I might be able to turn one on and check the temps this evening.

 

[nehog]

...

How much oil should be is in there? If i pick it up and tilt it from side to side it sounds like about a cup or two at most sloshing around in the bottom.

With the unit on 'high' a clamp-on AMP meter says it pulling 11.5A which is in the range of ~1500 watts that it claims to produce.

The fins when measured on top with an infrared thermometer reach about 215-220 degrees Fahrenheit after about an hour of being 'on' in the highest setting.

I'm thinking some (or almost all) of the oil leaked out of it.

The unit about 8 years old.

TIA

1. They all slosh... Were it to have been leaking, you'd see it, either as a stain or oil on the unit. I doubt it leaked.

2. I measured mine, after one day a friend who was over grabbed it and said "wow, that thing is hot..." I disagreed, so we checked. Mine read about 180 or so, and I know it works fine (I have four of them and all are the same.)

I think you are dealing with perception, or you have a heat loss that you didn't last year?

 

[Givl Reggin]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I can relate to perception playing tricks!

After I posted last night we tried it in another room - placing the radiator in the doorway about a foot into the room. Starting temperature was 66 and after an hour it read 69 and after two hours it only raised the temperature another degree - outside temperature was ~45 - this was a room about 15'x15'x8.5' in 3-year old construction (very well insulated) with spray foam insulation... does that sound about right for a 1500 watt heater?

The reason I think it may have lost it's oil load (keep in mind I have never seen another one of these before) is that the oil is definitely only in the bottom trough... upon second thought it might only be 1/4 of a cup of it - I had thought it would be filled to the top of the fins with a small space for thermal expansion.

Also the unit doesn't really cycle on-off the way I think it should - if you set a temperature it will cycle off for about 20-30 seconds and then it will come back on for a good 45 minute to an hour or more.

Like I said I have no experience with these things and for what they sell for (~75 bucks) it's not worth messing around with too much... as a matter of fact I almost stopped and bought a replacement on the way back home today. I might just go out and get another one so I have something to compare to.

 

[Givl Reggin]

Just to put a cap on this....

I ran down to the local ACE hardware and picked up the only electric oil filled radiator they had in stock - made by Pelonis - it has 3 setting just like the old one and claims 1500 watts of heat output.

In comparing the two units the old one is definitely missing the oil, no doubt about it. Where it went, when it happened who knows, but the new on is filled to the brim.

The new one pulls 4.6A on low, 6.6A on medium and 11.2A on its high setting (1500w). Temperatures after one hour of 'on' time reads when measured at the bottom fin is around 220 and the top fin is about 185.

The temperature control cycles on/off regularly (as expected)... several minutes off then several minutes on.

I guess now the question is whether these things heat the room better oil filled or empty? Because the empty one drew about half an amp more and had a higher fin temperature.