Oil filled radiators - any good?

Kashkai

We have a young baby who goes for naps during the day. His room can be fairly cold but it seems a waste to have to turn on the heating just for one room. I was thinking about getting a portable oil filled radiator that could be plugged in to heat his room only. Are they any good at heating a room and if so what size would I need, i.e. I've seen a few 2kw heaters and one 2.5kw. The room in question is about 16ft x 12ft.

Thanks

Dempo1

Yep their pretty good and relatively economical to run. Most modern ones have thermostats and these allow the temp to be regulated. They also keep small areas at an ambient temperature. Unfortunately like anything electric, they are a little more expensive to run but ideal for your situation, a fan heater would eat electricity and would not be ideal in a room with a baby sleeping. To be honest not much of a difference between 2 & 2.5 kw, just be sure whatever you choose has a thermostat.

suitseir

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

We have a young baby who goes for naps during the day. His room can be fairly cold but it seems a waste to have to turn on the heating just for one room. I was thinking about getting a portable oil filled radiator that could be plugged in to heat his room only. Are they any good at heating a room and if so what size would I need, i.e. I've seen a few 2kw heaters and one 2.5kw. The room in question is about 16ft x 12ft.

Thanks

I have one for a few years and I use it as back-up heat in a north facing bedroom. Even though there is a rad (single one-the rest of bedrooms have double rads) I use it by using a timer with it and it is not that expensive on my ESB bill. You can get ones with timers as well or keep down low. It cuts in and out subject to it reaching its temperature. I think Lidll have them this week...you can check their website. But I must say, despite my OFCH, I would recommend them. Mine is 1.5KW and is sufficient.

Buford T Justice

Bought one a couple of years ago for exactly this purpose, and the room would be slightly smaller than yours. 2KW was plenty, and didn't even have it on half of what it could have been. It was a great job, and I still use it on really cold nights for the girls room. Would recommend it.

Kashkai

Many thanks to all for the replies.

I'll buy one tomorrow as it now seems like the ideal solution for the baby's room. I have a timer switch that I can plug it into so it can come on/off according to the timer.

danjo

Dave,
Just in case you are not aware
Check the current rating of your timer. Heaters can draw relatively high current. If timer is under spec'd it could overheat and cause fire.

Buford T Justice

danjo wrote: »

Dave,
Just in case you are not aware
Check the current rating of your timer. Heaters can draw relatively high current. If timer is under spec'd it could overheat and cause fire.

Yeah, but a 2KW heater should be fine on most timers. Its a smaller load than a kettle.

Pete67

You probably know this already but make sure the room does not get overheated, around 18C is the ideal room temp for babies and young children. Overheated rooms and/or too many blankets etc have been linked to cot deaths. An oil filled radiator is ideal for your purpose but make sure it has a thermostat built in and set it fairly low. A nursery thermometer on the opposite wall to the heater is also a good idea.

Kashkai

Thanks again for the replies.

The room the baby sleeps in has a stat on the wall to regulate the rads in that end of the house so this will give us an indication of the temperature in the room. The baby's room was an extension to the end of the existing house and thus has a double wall between it and the rest of the house so the heat in the house doesn't radiate through to this room as well as the rest of the house. In addition, as its the end room, its exposed to the wind on three sides so this also takes the heat away from it imo. Thats why it always feels colder than the rest of the house I believe. It was insulated in the walls and floors and theres a good level of insulation in the attic above it but it still feels cold. The oil filled rad might make a difference.

Buford T Justice

Prosperous Dave wrote: »

Thanks again for the replies.

The room the baby sleeps in has a stat on the wall to regulate the rads in that end of the house so this will give us an indication of the temperature in the room. The baby's room was an extension to the end of the existing house and thus has a double wall between it and the rest of the house so the heat in the house doesn't radiate through to this room as well as the rest of the house. In addition, as its the end room, its exposed to the wind on three sides so this also takes the heat away from it imo. Thats why it always feels colder than the rest of the house I believe. It was insulated in the walls and floors and theres a good level of insulation in the attic above it but it still feels cold. The oil filled rad might make a difference.

Will definitely make the difference. It'll be well worth it, especially for the baby sleeping.

Sparkpea

is it a digital stat on the wall? if not then surely u cant tell the temp of the room unless the heat is off which is what the OP is about.

I don;t know much about oil filled rads but I take it the ones with stats on them would just work like a TRV.

It would be a good idea to get a room thermostat anyway for the baby, u can pick up cheap cheap basic wall ones. I use a groegg and they are great and accurate, infact you're room is probably warmer for the baby than you imagine. Even with the heating off our babies room normally sits around 18. In our old house it was a timber framed upstairs and the heat upstairs was crazy, with no heat on during the summer the temps were sitting at a dangerous 24 degrees for a young baby. Its good tho as winter approached you should see temps dropping to 11 during the night etc. so I'd set heating to come on for his room only with a TRV. The groeggs show the temp through colour for easy reading.

neeb

I have a toddler at home and have the heat on most of the day, especially in th recent weather. I turn on the upstairs for nap time.
Is it warm enough without the heat on for normal activities? Usually you would need it cooler for sleep rather than warmer?

chrisnro

Hi. I've recently bought 3 Winterwarm oil filled rads. Whilst I understand the principle of 3 heat settings and a stat, there were no suggested settings for particular sized rooms in with the instructions. What is the range of the stat? 0 - 30/40/50 ? I've found that in my small bungalow I don't need to use the 1500w setting, particularly at night when I can turn 2 of them down to setting 1 and vary the stat. I suppose my main query is what IS the range of the stat and are there any tried and tested settings? Thanks for any help/suggestions.

littlevillage

I'm a veteran of Oil Filled Rads. I have had several of them over the last 15 Years.

Pro's - they are rads .. so the heat is radiated heat (not simply dry warm air heat)

they are also very quite so you can use them at night while sleeping.

Cons - The only ones where you can actually tell what temperature they are at is the Digital Thermostat ones. Cost €150+

with the other manual ones (60 Quid) its guess work.

After a couple of years I noticed the manual Thermostats burn out anyway, and you are left with just on at full power OR off .. and If on at full power for 20+ mins they get dangerously hot .. Would be a fire hazzard I would think if left on all night.