OT---Depression Electric Heaters

The discussion of the Amish etc heaters brought back memories of the Depression heaters...
Usually a ceramic light bulb holder, or two, mounted on a board (probably had some air clearance), a 75 or 100W bulb, and a large tin can siting over the bulb.
The can had places cut out at the bottom and the top, the theory apparently being the bulb heated the metal of the can, the warmed air rose, pulling cooler air in the bottom, circulating warmth. I remember the cutouts in the top of the can making patterns on the ceiling.
Had a big kerosene heater in the living room, turned down at night, and this was apparently to help keep our bedroom a little warmer (Chicago winters).

When I was a kid we had some of those small non vented natural gas room space heaters. There was a shut off valve sticking up out of the floor with a hose barb and the heaters had a simple small red rubber hose you stuck over that barb NO CLAMPS I RECALL then you turned the valve n lit the heater with a match NO PILOTS OR SAFETY SHUT OFFS as I recall either. Wonder we all survived, where was OSHA and Child Protective Services I wonder?? Do that today and you go to jail for child endangerement.

John T

I'll tell ya they killed a lot of people back then. These Kero heaters STILL kill a lot of people. I was in the HVAC/refer industry for a number of years, and DO NOT recommend unvented heaters except in rare cases, like shops or construction areas.

Yup. Push on soft rubber hose, manually lighted, no pilot and no safety, and no vent.

You get that in a small little bedroom, doors and windows closed, it's a tragedy waiting to happen.

Heres the thing: A properly adjusted gas heater DOES NOT produce CO. But if you put one in this situation, the air starts to turn more and more CO2 from the burning heater, and pretty soon, the heater IS producing CO because it's effectively getting less air.

Meanwhile, the victim, having fallen asleep and now peacefully REALLY "out of it" due to a high CO2 level, just won't ever wake once the CO starts

There's many many documented cases of this. In this area, it is illegal to put ANY gas appliance in a bedroom, unless it's "so big" AND it MUST have a sealed burner with "outdoor air" for combustion intake.

In my service life, I've also run into a number of dangerous situations with VENTED appliances

example (I've seen three of these)

Very small house, small bathroom, has gas water heater in small closet in bathroom, no outdoor air.

Person goes into bathroom, closes door, takes nice long hot steamy shower, but has vent blower on.

VENT BLOWER and heavy steamy air causes gas heater to NOT vent, it fires up and spills vent gases right out the diverter and into the bathroom.

I don't know WHY it is so difficult to convince people that these things can be a problem

I heard of an older couple that were going to live in a RV parked in a pole barn for a while. The gas heater did not vent outside the barn. Their son found them both dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.

John T - That brings back memories of the electric radiant heater my grandmother had in the basement bathroom to provide heat for the shower stall.

Heater element was an exposed coiled "toaster" wire wound on a conical ceramic core and fitted with a standard light bulb base. The element screwed into a socket in the center a polished metal reflector. An wire grid - with openings a kid's hand would fit through - "protected" the element/reflector.

The power cord was a 2-wire cloth-insulated lamp cord (no ground conductor!). The heater sat on a damp concrete floor and was turned on whenever someone was in the shower. (GFI outlets were still 40 years in the future...)

In retrospect it's amazing none of us got electrocuted by that thing!

440: We"re talking late 30"s/early 40"s here-- our Kero heater was about the size of a medium "frig, had it"s stovepipe and, I think, it"s own cold air supply from outside the house (20x30, as I recall, gable roof with two 1-window dormers upstairs, turned into our bedrooms later. These should show up in any period Wards catalog (Sears was always a little more modern).

It really is amazing how many of us survived such a horrific time!!! I mean after all, what were these people thinking?? Ok, I'm being sarcastic. It was the best we had, and we did really good, much better than today I think. Baby seats were hung on the back of a front or rear seat, and the child just sat down in it. I have no idea of how much lead contaminated paint I chewed off of wooden furniture. Most of the baby swings had parts that today would cut off a major limb, but all we got was pinched, and after a couple of times, we learned to keep our hands back... And today, something as simple as a cell phone can kill several people at one time. Oh, and the cars were much heavier. I know, there is someone out with the ultimate EXCUSE for it all, but we're going back to a better and happier time in OUR life. I was not raised to fear, and have done the same with my kids. If you sue, it is to make something better, not to put someone out of business or work.
Paul N Texas

Unvented gas in all barber shops in detroit 1950 and earlier. Rubber hose and shut off. Not even a pilot. Still have one collecting dust.

What if you didnt have electricity. Many places rural didnt get wired till later stages of WWII.

Saw a news story, older couple w/ grandkid left their car running in basement garage. All dead.

All of us were just lucky. There wasn't smoke or CO2 detectors back then either, or GFI, you got some in your house?

I knew a shade-tree appliance man who put a wire cage around a dryer coil for an electric heater a few years ago.

(quoted from post at 09:03:26 01/11/10) I knew a shade-tree appliance man who put a wire cage around a dryer coil for an electric heater a few years ago.

Click to expand...

A few years ago, down around Worley/ Plummer, Idaho--might be still there--was a smokey old Cafe, had an electric furnace "hung" up by the ceiling going into the mens toilet

There was no ductwork or even a grill, just an opening, and YOU COULD HAVE STUCK YOUR HAND RIGHT UP IN THE COIL

Now bear in mind for those who are unaware, when an electric furnace is "off" the elements are normally only switched in one leg of the 240V so this means that the coils are ALWAYS HOT TO GROUND