PV Gap

Julian Said:

How can I use solar energy to power my portable oil filled heater for my room?

We Answered:

The previous answers are correct -- you really can't practically derive enough wattage from solar inverters to power inductive or resistance heating units.

However, I do have a more economical and ecological suggestion for you since you seem to indicate that the problem is a cold room while you sleep. Buy yourself an electric heated mattress pad for the bed. It is wasteful to heat the whole house or room at night when all you need is a warm bed. I have a set-back thermostat in my house that lets the heat drop to 50 degrees F during the night, but 30 minutes before I go to bed I turn the mattress pad on. By the time I turn in the bed is nice and warm. I have a down comforter on the bed that keeps the heat in so I usually just turn off the pad when I go to bed and stay warm all night. If it is very cold that night (especially if it is windy) I leave the pad on but turn the control down to "low". Doing this has saved me hundreds of dollars on heating the whole house at night. The programmable thermostat turns the heat back up to 65 in the morning so by the time I get up the house is warm again.