How to Assemble an Electric Heating Element from Scratch
12 comments
·October 19, 2025amelius
teeray
> It looks like someome actually made an effort to reduce the quality of the images. For artistic effect, probably.
They did, and it’s part of the footprint-reduction techniques used to host the site off solar full-time. https://github.com/lowtechmag/solar/wiki/Solar-Web-Design#im...
mysteria
That's fine for the main article but I think there should be a way to get higher quality images should the reader request them. If power is a concern those can be hosted elsewhere.
I think it's acceptable for the drawings to be compressed this way but the photographs are very unclear.
AmosLightnin
There is. Click the small pixely looking X at the end of the photo's caption.
amelius
I don't know, they are making electric heaters.
Might as well use your server to generate some of that heat ...
chuho
Images aren't like that for artistic effect, but for lower energy consumption.
> We further apply default typefaces, dithered images, off-line reading options, and other tricks to lower energy use far below that of the average website.
amelius
Ok, I didn't read that. But I still think it's _not_ a good idea to do that for a topic where personal safety is at stake. And besides, the quality is really too low anyway. I can barely recognize the thermocouples in those images.
LooerCell
About the quality of the images, it's on purpose:
> By dithering, we can make images ten times less resource-intensive, even though they are displayed much larger than on the old website.
This is needed because the website is solar-powered and self-hosted on low-tech hardware, read more here:
throwaway173738
Why not use cast or wrought iron and fire bricks for a higher temperature rating? What you’d have then is basically a wood stove except with the wood replaced with electricity.
1970-01-01
ElectroBOOM had the idea first and did it better.
alphazard
Of course, most of us are more familiar with a different heater design.
cenamus
Some solution with a maximum power point tracking inverter would probably be a whole lot more efficient. But probably depends a lot on the exact resistances and panels involved.
But I guess that would go against the "low tech" spirit. And if panels aren't the limiting factor why not
No short-circuit protection?
[Also, I don't like the quality of the images. How can I take their advice seriously if the images are barely viewable. It looks like someone actually made an effort to reduce the quality of the images. For artistic effect, probably. Don't do that.]