The versatile new kitchen heater
Aleks’ Scottish apartment is unheated and, as reported, we make do with electric blankets. The kitchen is a little less heated than the rest; in winter it has an outside temperature of between four and ten degrees. Because it’s not practical to bring an electric blanket with you when eating (the kitchen is also very small and there are no real seats), Aleks keeps playing around with ideas for remodeling, but they don’t lead to anything.
Now, he says, he has bought an infrared heater for the kitchen. I imagine something like Marlene Etschmann’s, a large white plate on the wall. When I get to Scotland I find out that it is more of a joke item. Anyway, it looks like this:
ALT
Drinking glass for size comparison.
But after switching it on for the first time, I take the silly retro-designed device more seriously because it has 350 watts and you can now actually eat without freezing. Once again it shows that not the entire room needs to be heated permanently if only one person actually needs to be heated occasionally.
It’s a very pleasant way to get toasted, and after saying it out loud a few times, I realize that maybe I really don’t need to toast the stale bread on the stove anymore. Because the toaster was a bit broken, and since I tried to repair it many years ago, it has been completely broken. And the new heater is actually very suitable for toasting bread; it doesn’t take any longer than in a toaster. At least per page, so it’s twice as long overall, and you have to be more careful. But much better than on the stove:
ALT
Yesterday I found out that it is also the ideal device for opening stuck cell phone backs. This makes it much quicker and easier to soften the case glue than with a hairdryer. I’m now a big fan of the new heater.
(Kathrin Passig)