Space heaters.

[Wild Root]

Ok ladies and gents, I just picked up the steel of a life time! I'm telling you, there are perks to working at an antique mall!

Just got a killer deal on a 1940's era GE space heater! Stands about 16" tall and does one heck of a job on heating the place! You can be 5 feet away and still feel the heat coming off of this pup!

This isn't mine but, it's the same model. Mine's missing the GE badge on the front though. :cry: But, I only paid 12 bucks for it.

It still has the original cord and plug! They are MINT! This thing really works great and I love it.

Any one else using vintage heating units?

=WR=

 

[MudInYerEye]

Man that thing gives me the shakes.
My former roomate had a GE space heater VERY similar to the one pictured, perhaps the same model, in what seemed to be fine working order. He used it regularly to my dismay. Fifteen months and sixteen days ago it shorted out and then set our ground floor apartment ablaze. His entire bedroom and everything in it was incinerated (3,000 records, expensive audio equiptment, a closet full of vintage clothes, antique furniture, 7 vintage guitars, and about $30,00 in cash). I lost about eighty percent of my worldly possessions (most of what I lost was not burned but trashed by firemen). I managed to rescue my dog, but unfortunately my cat was killed. My roomate was in the hospital for a week with singed lungs. The apartment above ours was completely detroyed. The black smoke going up the hallway was so severe that the residents of the apartments on the upper floors had to have their windows smashed and be taken out of the building by rescue ladders. Three firemen were seriously injured. Our apartment and the one above ours were condemned and we were rendered homeless. I was forced to rely on the generosity of my friends for several months until I was able to regather my life.
Be VERY careful with those old things.

 

[Wild Root]

Wow man, that's a total drag!

I don't use it on carpet, I use it on hard save places; don't use it near drapes or couches. Anything flamable is away from it. I also wouldn't ever think of going to bed leaving it on. No way, no how! I use it to just take the chill off a room and boy, it does it very well!

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss and your friend?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s loss!

Any one else have a story to share?

=WR=

 

[BellyTank]

...but please get it checked out by a competent elecrician and don't leave it to play unsupervised. They are pretty, yet scary things.

B
T

 

[Biltmore Bob]

orry for your loss, Man,

Man that thing gives me the shakes.
My former roomate had a GE space heater VERY similar to the one pictured, perhaps the same model, in what seemed to be fine working order. He used it regularly to my dismay. Fifteen months and sixteen days ago it shorted out and then set our ground floor apartment ablaze. His entire bedroom and everything in it was incinerated (3,000 records, expensive audio equiptment, a closet full of vintage clothes, antique furniture, 7 vintage guitars, and about $30,00 in cash). I lost about eighty percent of my worldly possessions (most of what I lost was not burned but trashed by firemen). I managed to rescue my dog, but unfortunately my cat was killed. My roomate was in the hospital for a week with singed lungs. The apartment above ours was completely detroyed. The black smoke going up the hallway was so severe that the residents of the apartments on the upper floors had to have their windows smashed and be taken out of the building by rescue ladders. Three firemen were seriously injured. Our apartment and the one above ours were condemned and we were rendered homeless. I was forced to rely on the generosity of my friends for several months until I was able to regather my life.
Be VERY careful with those old things.

Just goes to show how fragile our insignificant and puny, little existence can be. Stuff can be replaced or forgotten...lives can't.

Until, of course, The Resurection.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

Use it only for display purposes, Rob...

Wow man, that's a total drag!

I don't use it on carpet, I use it on hard save places; don't use it near drapes or couches. Anything flamable is away from it. I also wouldn't ever think of going to bed leaving it on. No way, no how! I use it to just take the chill off a room and boy, it does it very well!

I'm very sorry to hear about your loss and your friend?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s loss!

Any one else have a story to share?

=WR=

Nice find, but it is not worth your life.

 

[BellyTank]

I had an old, Art Deco heater which was open; no guard and it had a rectangular body with a horizontal concave front- all chrome apart from black metal cabriole legs. It was a real beauty and I had it checked to make sure that it met electrical/safety criteria and standards- don't forget about possible insurance issues if you're actually going to use it... just another thought...

Oh- these heaters draw a lot of current too- not the cheapest to use.

B
T

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Maybe put a red lightbulb in it and use it for a decoration?
It is a beautiful thing though. It reminds me of the fans from the same period (of which I have a reproduction -ever notice that the reproductions of vintage fans don't have the open grills like the real ones did? -Safer for the kiddies, I suppose).
Enjoy it, but please be careful.

 

[jake_fink]

Hi Wild Root,

Please be careful with that heater, it would have been a fire hazard even when it was brand new and now that the wiring is 60 odd years old it is very likely much more so. I'd hate for you to lose the clothes and radios and ephemera you've collected in a house fire - or worse - I'd hate for the board to lose you. Also, it will suck up electricity like a hog. Play it safe and consider it decoration; some aspects of the Golden Era need to be left to the Golden Era.

All the best.

 

[MudInYerEye]

I was re-reading my post and realized I had calculated the months wrong. It was twenty months ago, not fifteen.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

I re-read mine too...

...and discovered I said 'orry' instead of 'Sorry'...sorry.

None of my business, but....did insurance reimburse you for some of your things and money? Were your guitars insured?

 

[Wild Root]

Guys, I appreciate the concern but, some of what is said is a little over board. Red light bulbs and reproduction this and that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s hummm, no offence boys but this is a heater not an Atomic bomb.

I know people who still use these and they work great. They may seem to be an electric hog but, the modern space heaters I find are more so and they don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t even put out as much heat. I also don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t plug it in where there are a lot of things plugged into. That will cut down the risk of a short.

The wiring is perfect on this little dandy. Like I said, I never use it on carpet or near flammables. I have hard wood in most of the house and linoleum in the kitchen and dining room. I also only use it to take the chill off of the room and it takes no more then 10-30 Minuets. The lady I bought it from used it in her garage for years! She would keep it on for 2-3 hours at a time! She said it saved her money to those modern ones.

I consider this just a big vintage toaster. It has the potential to being a hazard but, I wasn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t born yesterday.

It sits unplugged all day and when I need it, I plug it in for a little then unplug it.

No disrespect but, I just wanted to talk heaters,

Cheers,

=WR=

 

[MudInYerEye]

...and discovered I said 'orry' instead of 'Sorry'...sorry.

None of my business, but....did insurance reimburse you for some of your things and money? Were your guitars insured?

The guitars were my roomate's. Only one person in our entire building had renter's insurance (the actress Amy Carlson from "Law and Order"). Everybody else was ass-out as our cheapskate landlord's insurance only covered the repairs of the building. I spoke to a lawyer about recouping my losses (about $45,000) and found out that technically my roomate was liable for my losses (the lease was in his name thus he was acutally my landlord). My roomate's father died a few weeks later and I just decided to let it go. But my life has improved drastically since the fire so I'm not complaining. I now own my own apartment mortage-free and INSURED.

 

[Absinthe_1900]

I had a gas space heater in my old vintage apt. in the living room. (The apt. even had curved deco corners in the living room walls)

I was in my apt. for 10 years with no problems with the space heater, it was checked out by the gas company, when I moved in, and kept most of the apt quite warm, and really did a good job.

I moved out of the apt., and into my house in 2003, and as far as I know, it's still there & working, and the building which is a few blocks away, is still unburnt.


My 1931 house has the original gas logs in the fireplace, and they still work really well too.

Like anything else, your milage may vary.

(Okay, my house does have modern central air and heat, even I have limits)

 

[scotrace]

Variable Mileage

My old house has the charred timbers in the bathroom walls where some sort of space heater used to be.

Root, no one meant disrespect, I'm sure. I think we're all gravely concerned, with good reason, for your safety, no matter how cautious you may be. It is certainly no suggestion that you're not bright to say "Wow, neat thing, be very careful."
Consider it a compliment that so many care enough to say, "put that away, you nincompoop."

 

[Big Man]

Vintage heat sources

I've been a Firefighter for over 25 years, and I've seen way too many fires from space heaters (old and new). The words of caution from folks here on this topic are on target. Old heaters like the one you describe are DANGEROUS. Please be careful.

Now, back on topic. I remember an electric space heater almost identical to Root's that my Grandmother had at her house when I was young. It looked to have been one from the 40's or early 50's. Who only knows what ever happened to it, but most likely it burned out and was thrown away.

I also remembered (and still have, but do not use) an old kerosene heater that my Grandmother used in the bathroom during the winter. Their bathroom was on the back porch (was added to the house in the mid-1920's) and did not have heat. I still remember taking a bath and splashing water on the heater to hear it sizzle. I also remember that unique kerosene smell that everything had that was near the heater.

For heat in the rest of my Grandmother's house, they relied on a coal-burning fire place. The "golden age" in rural America was tough by today's standards.

 

[Biltmore Bob]

I won't even use modern electric space heaters.

While growing up we lost a total of two houses and a Mobile Home to space heater fires...really.

I didn't think it got that cold in "The Land Of Milk and Honey", Root.

Just don't want to hear of any tragedies, Rob...

 

[Wild Root]

Thank you guys for caring. And yes Bob, it doesn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t get too cold here in CA that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s why I keep telling you guys I only use it to take the bite off the room. When ever I use it, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m right there, never leave it unattended. I never have any flammable substances around I plug it into it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s own socket in the wall, I never have many things running at the same time to cause a short so, rest assured my fine friends that Root will be safe and sound for many years vintage heat or not.

Fires happen and the cause of them can be many different things. People can be vary careless and that?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s how fires start with heaters of any variety. Some one will turn it on and just leave the room wile not realizing it?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s too close to a pile of clothes or the drapes or, maybe a small spark comes off of the coils and starts the rug a blaze. Most accidents happen because of neglect. Heck, I had a friend demonstrate a 1928 Atwater Kent radio once for a customer. He played it for a wile and then turned the volume down for a minuet. Well, things got busy and he forgot that the radio was still on. He left for home and came back the next day to his shop to smell a very strong smell of burning tar. It then dawned on him that he left the radio on. He shut it off before anything major happened. The radio was toast because the tar in the filter capacitor box was melted and so were the components. That radio was just seconds from becoming a fire! He was lucky and learned a lesson with out serious loss other then ruining a 70+ year old radio.

Life is dangerous period! Blenders, radios, toasters, vacuum cleaners, TV?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s, lamps, heaters and fans can short out for what ever reason and be potential electrical problems. I use vintage appliances every day and find they are better made then our modern equivalences. A friend told me that his family buys a blender every two years. He couldn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t believe I have a 60+ year old blender that works like new!

Please don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t lose any sleep over me using a vintage heater gents! I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m a very responsible vintage appliance user. One of my best friends only uses vintage appliances and has for over 10 years and he has never had any fires! Lucky? Maybe, but things happen to people that will never happen to some. Just the curious way life works.

Be well gentlemen,
=WR=

 

[Michaelson]

Sorry, Rob, but toss my concern on top of the pile with everyone elses. These were constantly improved year after year to keep ahead of the insurance company claims, as these started fire after fire...especially if it's an original cloth covered cord. That draws heat as well, and most fires start at the cord. WAY to many things can go wrong with these units, and like you said, new ones don't even put out NEAR the heat as the old ones, and we have had no less than 5 fires in our area from NEW space heaters due to some silly thing that was to close and caught fire in the last couple weeks. Doesn't take much.

It's one of those items that, if you HAD to use it for heat...well, be careful...but if you DON'T...why take the chance? No, it's not an atomic bomb, but it's kind has probably killed as many as any bomb dropped of that make.

No doubt, though, it's a neat item to own in this condition...but to use it....

Regards!

Michaelson

 

[Sefton]

I won't even use modern electric space heaters.

While growing up we lost a total of two houses and a Mobile Home to space heater fires...really.

I didn't think it got that cold in "The Land Of Milk and Honey", Root.

Just don't want to hear of any tragedies, Rob...

I don't know if San Francisco counts as the" land of milk and honey" but I've lived in 3 1930s or older buildings and it gets very damp and cold in S.F. Everyone I know there has at least one space heater. Many times I would come home from work to see my apt. building still standing and think to myself 'Well, glad to see it hasen't burnt up yet'. The last place I was in had the original fireplaces blocked up by the landlord. Crummy 1970 electric heating units were installed, one to a room at the baseboards. They did nothing so you had to use a space heater. I had to use a dehumidifier also to keep my vintage movie poster and LP collection from getting moldy...

It's kind of amazing that back then you could assume that people had enough sense to use things like that safely (obviously some then didn't have good sense...)
Products now have to come with an attached essay on why you shouldn't use electric items near bathtubs, sinks,don't stick your fingers into the moving blades of the fan etc,etc.

Back to topic...Root, I'm glad you enjoy your vintage heater. Like everyone
else here I hope it remains a safe thing for you. Please use it with caution...or better still as a display piece! Best regards, Sefton