I just left my soldering iron on on 350 degrees over night. Haha I bet that will show on my electrical bill 🙃

At least you had a warm night :)

though it's probably not the most efficient heater...

Yeah, that 50 watts will surely skyrocket your bill.

@netikras If there isn't also a heat pump, it actually is the most efficient heater available. It literally turns 100% of the invested power into heat (probably 90% to 97% in the heating element and the remainder in the power supply, control, display and cables).

@Oktokolo I meant financially, not theoretically/physically :)

and even from the point of physics it is not the most efficient. One of the least efficient, I'd say. Because it heats the ceilings first [convection] and warms the room top-to-bottom. Soldering iron is rather small, so as soon as it warms anything up there, the heat dissipates through thermal bridges.

Having a heater with larger dimensions and lower temp might prove more efficient. Esp if it's made out of a material that radiates ir [e.G. graphite]

@netikras It probably has a continuous output of less than 50 watts (as long as it doesn't touch a good conductor) - that should be low enough to rely on diffusion alone for heat distribution.

100% =)

@Oktokolo yeah, but it does not diffuse sideways [towards people]. Instead, it convects upwards and diffuses there.

Btw 350C really only requires 50W [so that it would heat faster than it cools down and average at ~350C]?

Hmmm now that you say it the pen itself is only rated for 48 watts 😅

@netikras It probably takes way less than 50 w to keep the temperature. Maximum power draw of many stations is below 150 w. They still heat up from 20°C starting temperature in less than half a minute.

I am not in the mood undusting my station and measuring it - but wouldn't be too surprised if it would just take way less than a thrird of the maximum power draw to keep it hot while not in use...

Also: Just don't clean your tip and it becomes black (and therefore a good radiator) pretty fast 😇

@ScriptCoded Wow, so it is an SMD only station?

I doubt it can serve as air warmer. Even though it's 350 degree, it is small sized and the heat is concentrated at one point only.

@Oktokolo smd? Not at all. Plain old digital soldering iron

Your house burnt down and you didn't notice

Good to hear that nothing burned or so

@daniel-wu that doesn't really matter much. the main variable is "how much power does it draw". 50W is 50W, doesn't matter if it's concentrated on one point or spread out all over the room.

I’d advice you freeze up the soldering iron to -350 degrees to reverse the bill!

@GiddyNaya Kelvin?

@Oktokolo efficiency goes beyond physics. While 100% of the energy may have been converted to heat, it doesn't do the job well enough to justify the energy, therefore the efficiency is very low in practice.

@AlgoRythm Yes, when you look at that layer, a heating pad worn between layers of cloth would be more efficient. But just adding more layers of cloth could be even more efficient than adding a heat pad...