Saturday, November 20, 2021
Weight training: prone leg curl, prone leg lift. Yesterday I received and installed a new Royal Soverign RPH-260G radiant panel heater for use at my standing desk at home. Here is my review. Setup was simple: read the manual, attach the feet, and plug in to a wall outlet. The heater provides very localized radiant heat at 260 watts on high or 130 watts on low—only two settings. The panel is larger than the smallest space heaters, but smaller and thinner than most oil-based or radiant non-panel heaters. The panel is relatively lightweight—about 5 pounds. The thinness is surprising in a good way: about one inch, not including the feet. The case and feet are made of a hard, metal-looking plastic. The grill seems to be made of metal. The heater seems much more durable than somewhat similar three-panel carbon crystal heaters which seem to have cardboard-like backings. After powering on you can feel warmth within 30 seconds. After it has been on for some time, the top edge gets too hot to touch for more than a few seconds, but the sides and corners remain relatively cool. There is no handle for lifting, but the cool sides make it easy to reposition with two hands even when on. To reposition it hot with only one hand, try an oven mitt. The heat is very localized and is barely helpful at an arm's length. Heat can be felt about one foot away, and at greater distances it is not useful at all. A lot of heat escapes upward. This makes it suitable for under a desk or, as I am using it, at a standing desk. I was dubious about the tip-over safety feature. From the manual: "The temperature control button when tipped over will be pushed in as the unit falls, to automatically turn the heater off." But I tested it, and it does indeed work, but here's the thing: if the unit is off and it tips over, then it automatically turns on and will likely burn the floor! The way the feet are designed, it's very unlikely to tip over backwards or sideways, so this tip-over safety feature does seem sufficient to me except for the unwanted auto-turn-on effect. To mitigate or eliminate risk, use the physical on-off switch or unplug the heater when not in use. The manual also claims it has overheat protection and a fuse as safety features, and while I could not verify these claims I also have no reason to believe they do not exist. The unit feels well constructed and well designed. The point where the power cord attaches to the unit has an enhanced strain relief bushing indicating an attention to safety design. The unit includes a non-electric on-off switch, also probably for safety. The unit includes a wall-mount bracket that is unfortunately not VESA but a welcome option nonetheless. I did not use it, but it looks like it would work fine. On the low setting, the manual suggests you can place it on the ground like a footrest and rest your cold feet on it. When I tried this, even the low setting seemed too warm for me to safely rest my feet for very long. I'm not sure I will keep it, but if I do I will be using the manual switch to turn it off and maybe also unplugging it when not in use. Patrick and I chatted with Tina on Zoom for about 90 minutes. Late breakfast: medium bowl of oatmeal with milk, blueberries; water to drink. Later, our landlord stopped by to let us know that all tenants in the upstairs unit were moving out by the end of this month, and the landlord and his brother are uncertain whether to continue it as a rental property. We have been here for a very long time, and he has always been good to us. So while our future is now uncertain, I am confident that things will work out even if that means we have to move. Late lunch: pita with pulled chicken, mixed greens, dried onion, and ranch; water. Completed an application. Dinner at home with Patrick: Patrick's jambalaya (previously frozen), leftover focaccia, water. I washed dishes. Cocktails: Aviation using Aviation gin, fresh lemon juice, Luxardo, and creme de violette—delicious. We watched 1h40m of Army of Thieves on Netflix instant watch with microwave popcorn. Patrick also had a mendiant. Patrick went to bed. I washed dishes.