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ER Backup Heater

2Biz

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5° last night...High of 10° today...5° again tonight...Having a backup Heater Running that requires no electric....Priceless!

 

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Lots of benefits to having one no matter where its located. Aside from the CW, I have one mounted on the backside of my fireplace in the family room at home. Also love our t-stat controlled gas logs!

I like the fact that you get 100% of the heat with no loss making them 100% efficient. The one at the CW takes most of the load off the ceiling furnace when it gets this cold. Peace of mind knowing the CW won't freeze if power goes out is the biggest benefit. Glad I took the time to install it.
 

6t7gto

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So you lose power and this style heater keeps the ER nice and toasty.
What about the lines going to the bays for chemicals?
Mine are in a heated, insulated trough. Heated by my boiler for my floor heat.
If I lose power the boiler won't work and I am in danger of everything freezing and getting damaged.
Knock on wood I have never had to experience this scenario.
 

I.B. Washincars

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Keep in mind that when you lose power, your weep goes full-on. I weep hot water, but have lost power for three days once with the temp in single digits and the weep kept those lines from freezing, even though it was cold water.
 

2Biz

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Good point about the low pressure chemicals if the power goes out. But at least the ER won't freeze. I've seen the aftermath of that happening. I have a pure sine wave generator I can get the floor heat online quickly if I know the electric has gone off and is going to be off awhile. Luckily I live 2 blocks from my CW and if I'm out at home, its a good possibility its off at the CW too. We all know the N/O solenoid on weep will keep the HP hoses from freezing. My trough is insulated, SO maybe, just maybe, enough heat from the weep lines would keep the LP hoses from freezing! Like you, I've never experienced an outage long enough to pull out all the stops! But still like the wall heater for "Some" peace of mind!
 

MEP001

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Good point about the low pressure chemicals if the power goes out. But at least the ER won't freeze. I've seen the aftermath of that happening. I have a pure sine wave generator I can get the floor heat online quickly if I know the electric has gone off and is going to be off awhile. Luckily I live 2 blocks from my CW and if I'm out at home, its a good possibility its off at the CW too. We all know the N/O solenoid on weep will keep the HP hoses from freezing. My trough is insulated, SO maybe, just maybe, enough heat from the weep lines would keep the LP hoses from freezing! Like you, I've never experienced an outage long enough to pull out all the stops! But still like the wall heater for "Some" peace of mind!
Even here in central Texas we have to worry about hard freezes and extended power outages. Some years ago we had an ice storm that broke trees and downed power lines leaving about 2/3rds of the city without power. Mine was out for four and a half days. I know several people who had to replumb their wash and replace tanks that froze and burst.
 

Earl Weiss

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Do you guys have the thermostat for this set X degrees below when the other heat would come on?
 

I.B. Washincars

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I'm using them as my primary source as well. I use to use the overhead hanging heaters, but tired of having to repair them. As they died, I just installed these wall heaters. Normally, I just leave them on the lowest setting and only crank them up if it gets very cold.
 

2Biz

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My wall heater isn't operated off a t-stat. Its manual. So when it gets to 32° or is going to dip down below 32°, I may turn on 1 burner depending on how cold its supposed to get If it gets below 15°, I turn on both burners. I keep my ER ceiling furnace set at 60°. So if the wall heater doesn't keep up, the ceiling furnace kicks on to keep it at 60°. It just doesn't kick on near as often. If the electric goes out, the wall heater will keep the ER above freezing. Just maybe not 60°. The key with the wall heater or others posted in the thread, they are 100% efficient. You get every BTU generated from the fuel (NG or Propane) and none goes up the chimney.
 

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IB we posted at the same time! Same here, I installed a new ceiling heater when I bought the wash. When it dies, I'll replace it with another wall heater or one like posted from Northern. SO far, knock on Wood, the MR Heater ceiling furnace has been trouble free. The wall heater just helps extend its life!
 

2Biz

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I have ventless gas logs and a 3 burner Ceramic propane unvented heater in my house...They have never registered on a Carbon Monoxide Monitor...Right now, its the only thing I'm heating my house with. So if you are concerned, put in a monitor to check Carbon Monoxide...But I don't think any ER is tight enough to be of concern.

Heres a picture of the one I have at my CW. It dropped to about 20° last night...So I turn on one burner as a backup...

 
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