Is there a rechargeable or battery powered heater on the market?

Gaidhlig123

I have a small porch, with no plumbing to it for wall mounted radiators. It's so tiny that we didn't think to put power sockets in it either! During the day, if the sun comes in it's really warm. If not, it gets quite cold and I'm worried it will get damp. I'm looking to get a small heater (fan/ceramic/oil filled/anything really!) that can be plugged in to charge up during the day and put out there at night. Is there such a thing?

Leonard

Lithium bats are pretty powerfull now days.
One can power a pocket hand warmer or vest for maybe 6-12 hours.

It's maybe 10 watts ......... likely you need ~ 1,000 watts minimum to make a tiny room comfortable in winter.

Forget batteries.............can be done but lithium battery bank would be ~ 1-2 cubic feet and $$$$$$$. Think smaller version of electric car main bat. Heaters are about the fastest way to drain a battery.

Gaidhlig123

Thanks so much for your help!

Leonard

Hang on for the heating pros, they may have some other ideas, I'm not a heating guy, just a techie.

Jamie Hall

@Leonard is right -- the problem is that getting any reasonable amount of heat you are looking at upward of 1,000 watts. All night. That's a lot to ask from a battery bank. More than a steady 80 amp draw on a 12 volt battery... I suppose 3 8Ds -- the kind used to start really big diesels -- might do it. For a price...

nibs

Propane is the answer, you can get ventless "blue flame" heaters, as well as small chimney type fireplaces, or if you can do a small chimney there are some nice small wood or charcoal burning options.

Leonard

Know guy in Connecticut with frequent power outages that didn't want a loud generator running. He used inverter and ~ 8 golf cart lead acid bats $$$$$$$ (in series, 48V for less IR losses) to make 120VAC for small load : just TV , computer, fridge and a few LED lights for the night. Pellet stove for heat. His battery box had ~ 4 ft x 4ft footprint in cellar.....Other people use fork lift bats $$$$$$$$$.... Neither are solution you want.

Chemical Fuels like propane, nat gas, oil have a MUCH higher energy density than bats, so take less space to store a given amount of energy.

GroundUp

I built a weird little setup for my 4Wx8Lx7H deer stand a few years back using a 12V deep cycle RV battery from the winch box on my trailer, paired with a small 80W solar panel from Northern and a 12V 235W heater made for semi sleepers and such. I obviously don't hang out in there all night, but it maintains an easy 50 degree delta without frosting up the windows like the ventless LP heaters everyone else uses while I am in there. Usually 2 hours before daylight and a good hour after sundown, have never been cold since I installed it plus it's whisper quiet. Might be out of the question for your little room but works well for mine

Leonard

One winter Had to work on steering collum of my full size sedan 1991 Chevy Caprice , in driveway. Put 2 electric 1,500 watt heaters in car. Was 28 degs F outside the car, inside car was 75 deg. (3 kw = ~ 10k BTU/hr)

To keep curing epoxy from freezing I only ran one 1,500 watt heater all night, kept it 50 degs. But car windows are very poor insulators.

STEVEusaPA

I assume this is some sort of enclosed 3 season-type porch?
Is it impossible to run some electric out there? Anything you buy or make has to cost more and be a probably PIA over just running some electric and plugging something in with a timer/thermostat.
Even a small propane heater with a tank outside, Amish fireplace, etc.

hot_rod

How small is a small porch:) Need that info to determine how much heat needs to go into the space.

Plenty of insulated well houses, stay above freezing with just a light bulb.

See if you can get a 120V circuit out there, it will be cheaper than a Tesla Powerwall.

ChrisJ

Whatever happened to fuel cells?

Did they die out?

Jamie Hall

ChrisJ said:

Whatever happened to fuel cells?

Did they die out?

On no. They're still around. Not in small sizes, generally -- and certainly not cheap. And if you think old oil burners are finicky on maintenance...

Better our OP should go on line to Northern Tool and get a nice small propane ventless something, as has been suggested.

Condoman

Look into types of heaters that campers use. I had one once that ran on Coleman fuel.

ChrisJ

Condoman said:

Look into types of heaters that campers use. I had one once that ran on Coleman fuel.

Coleman fuel, isn't that known as "white gas" ?

It doesn't sound affordable, nor would I want one indoors.

Jamie Hall

Condoman said:

Look into types of heaters that campers use. I had one once that ran on Coleman fuel.

So did I Great little gadget. Coleman fuel -- yes, it is white gas -- isn't cheap. The real downside, though, is carbon monoxide... they're OK (maybe) in say an ice fishing shack or a bird blind with all kinds of ventilation, but in an enclosed porch? I wouldn't.

Leonard

White gas ....... low octane gasoline, unleaded.

Jamie Hall

Leonard said:

White gas ....... low octane gasoline, unleaded.

uh yeah... and no ethanol. That's the hard part.

Larry Weingarten

Hello, How about running a dehumidifier? Way less energy needed.

Yours, Larry

Thomas_Z

I surfed through almost all electric radiators and have not found rechargeable ore battery-powered one. If someone could name one that would be helpful for me, too.

Jamie Hall

Got a problem. There aren't any big enough to be much more than handwarmers (there are some nice handwarmers, though). Why? How big a battery would you need? Have you done the math on that?

Zipper13

I don't think I saw an answer to whether or not there is an outlet accessible or possible to add. I assume since the focus was battery powered that it's not an option otherwise you could just grab one of those big toaster oven looking heaters from a construction site, but I'll still note that we have had great luck using the Envi eHeaters for years to supplement our bedrooms when we turn down the whole rest of the house all night and my parents use them in my grandfather's in-law apartment area since he likes it HOT and he's not on a separate zone. That may be all you need? Depending on the starting temp, it can take several hours of run time to get the room up to temp, but we find it maintains quite well. I think they draw something like 500W so that's why they're slower getting up to temp, but again, we find that they help a lot. We also used them in an old uninsulated home we lived in in Salem, Ma with good results. Of course, it all come down to access to power and energy cost, I suppose.

For zero electricity, friends of ours in RI heat mostly with a wood stove, but supplement with a wall mounted propane heater. that thing can crank out heat like crazy, but I've alway been skeptical of its safety from fumes and fire.

EDIT:
Literally the second sentence of the OP says they ran no power to the porch. Sorry!

Thomas_Z

Men, there're tons of sites in the internet.. Just google it. Here is one as example houseweather.org/best-oil-filled-radiator/ and I did not even spend a minute, but that's not what I'm looknig for. Maybe I misunderstood something, what big toaster oven ones?