US & English/European heating systems.

[Titan1a]

We have hot-water heat here in Nebraska. It's rare but quiet and never blows dirty air into a room from the ventilation pipes. No blowers or water pumps: just turn on the gas!

[Telecolor 3007]

Originally Posted by centralradio

I thought the voltage was 220 volts 50hz over in Romania .

As I sayed before, there many different standards. Afterwoods, 220/380 Volts, 50 Hertz (Cycles) becamed the standrad. Nodways is 230/400 Volts.

[Colly0410]

When I was a kid we had pre-payment coin meters for gas & electric, you had to put a shilling coin in to get so much electricity or gas, later (early 70's) it was changed to 50 pence coins. When I rented a house in the early 90's (the one with the mixed up heating system I posted about earlier in the thread) it had a pre-paid card meter for the electric, you'd buy a £1 or £5 card at the post office. Did or do they have pre-payment meters in America? They still have them here in England as some neighbours are on them. I now pay by monthly bank direct transfer, you get a slight discount for paying that way..

[OvenMaster]

One house we lived in in Canada had gas-fired forced warm air. The installers were smart enough to use a millivolt system, which enabled us to still have some heat when the power went out in an ice or snow storm. The millivolt thermocouple generated enough juice to open the gas valve, and the hi-temp limit switch would shut it off. Brilliant.

Now, we've got an H.B.Smith coal steam boiler about the size of a small fridge that was converted with an oil burner by the original heating contractor in 1939. The radiators in the rooms take up ungodly amounts of space. With the temp swings in winter, the upstairs went between stifling hot and drafty and cold. A couple of electric baseboards solved that problem when we shut off the radiator valves. Now even in winter the upstairs never varies more than one or two degrees.

My dad would love to rip it all out and put in gas-fired hot water with baseboards but he doesn't have that kind of money. $$$

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by Colly0410

Did or do they have pre-payment meters in America?

I've never seen or heard of that. I guess if the paid power ran out it sent you scrambling to put in more money even out in cold rain or snow.

[Ed in Tx]

Gas fired forced air heat here. Part of the HVAC system. Very common in these parts. Just fired it up a couple of days ago. As far as dust, the way the return ducts are set up and with the Tridek 3-layer filters I use it's like a whole house air cleaning system.

[Colly0410]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

I've never seen or heard of that. I guess if the paid power ran out it sent you scrambling to put in more money even out in cold rain or snow.

Yes, when I was a kid I've often sat there watching TV when the electric ran out, then chaos in the darkness as you hunted for a coin to put in the meter. If you didn't have the correct coin you'd go to the local store to see if they'd change some for you, they'd often refuse unless you bought something from them..

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Colly0410

Yes, when I was a kid I've often sat there watching TV when the electric ran out, then chaos in the darkness as you hunted for a coin to put in the meter. If you didn't have the correct coin you'd go to the local store to see if they'd change some for you, they'd often refuse unless you bought something from them..

That sounds like a comically bad payment system.....It's hard to imagine people still put up with it with all the equipment that needs to be set back up every time power goes out.

[Geoff Bourquin]

I grew up in Southern California. Our heat was forced air, from a gas-fired firebox. Gas was plentiful, and most of us had 60amp electrical service so we didn't have the capacity to use electricity. I didn't pay the bills because I was a kid, so I have no idea what the cost was.
When we moved to the Pacific Northwest 35 years ago, we had baseboard electric heat. Not a terribly efficient heat source, but with electricity costing about a nickel per kilowatt-hour it was a good choice.
Now I have forced air from an electric heater. Still economical, since power is still under 7 cents per kilowatt-hour, but I think I like baseboard better. Baseboard is easier to regulate, and no ductwork to clean out every fall. Forced air can be noisy too (at least ours is)

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by Colly0410

Did or do they have pre-payment meters in America?

Probably the closest thing to that now I know of would be prepaid electric service. People who have no or bad credit may have to opt for this. Ideally one would prepay enough to overlap with the next payment time so they don't get cut off.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Ed in Tx

Probably the closest thing to that now I know of would be prepaid electric service. People who have no or bad credit may have to opt for this. Ideally one would prepay enough to overlap with the next payment time so they don't get cut off.

Here, it's against the law to cut off, any of the utilities between Nov 1st and IIRC Apr 1st. That's all I know and that's all, I'm going to say.

[Ed in Tx]

Originally Posted by dieseljeep

Here, it's against the law to cut off, any of the utilities between Nov 1st and IIRC Apr 1st. That's all I know and that's all, I'm going to say.

They won't sell prepaid electric to those depending on it for life support...
"Prepaid service is not available to customers who are officially designated as a Critical Care Residential Customer or Chronic Condition Residential Customer."

Was just looking there are only 2 plans like that available in our "deregulated" electric market...

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by Geoff Bourquin

I grew up in Southern California. Our heat was forced air, from a gas-fired firebox. Gas was plentiful, and most of us had 60amp electrical service so we didn't have the capacity to use electricity. I didn't pay the bills because I was a kid, so I have no idea what the cost was.
When we moved to the Pacific Northwest 35 years ago, we had baseboard electric heat. Not a terribly efficient heat source, but with electricity costing about a nickel per kilowatt-hour it was a good choice.
Now I have forced air from an electric heater. Still economical, since power is still under 7 cents per kilowatt-hour, but I think I like baseboard better. Baseboard is easier to regulate, and no ductwork to clean out every fall. Forced air can be noisy too (at least ours is)

Electric heat is 100% efficient, nothing goes up the chimney.
Homes using electric heat have to be super-insulated, to be competitive with other heat sources.
Florida is another state that has very reasonable electric rates.

[Colly0410]

Just about all electric & gas suppliers in England do pre-payment plans, none of them use coin meters anymore. Some are done with a re-chargable credit card style card: You give the post office clerk your card & cash, (say 10 pounds) they enter the amount on the card, you swipe the card in your meter & you get 10 pounds worth of electricity.

I went to Spain on vacation, the rented apartment had a TV with a meter on the side: You had to put a 1 euro coin in to make it work for 2 hours. I didn't bother with it... Been in many rented apartments & hotels in Tenerife, England, America & Malta but never been charged for the TV..

[Olorin67]

Electric heat is only 100% efficient at the point of use. The best thermal power plants have maybe 50% efficiency, plus there are transmission losses. Even solar panels only convert a small fraction of sunlight to electricity, not that it matters much when sunlight is free.
Coin operated radios were once common in hotels, I have a 1940s Karola (made in Minneapolis) coin operated radio. I think it gives you an hour for a dime. The cabinet is heavy steel to deter theft.