Option to Heat Single Room

dudley72

I have an elderly relative moving into our house for the foreseeable future, we have done up a little second sitting room for her and she uses that during the day etc. Thing is she finds it cold, have topped up the insulation, the walls are already insulated, have radiators installed etc. Installed smart thermostat so she can turn on/off the oil heating if she wants but she refuses to because she says its a waste to turn on to heat a single room.

What she does use is an electric heater, drives me mad but I say nothing.

I am just wondering what is the best option for a situation like this? I can see the units flying out the window when she has it on. Even in the middle of summer she would turn it on.

Any cheaper way to heat a room like that? its not huge or anything

Thanks

Murph85

A super sir or whatever they are called ? That or infrared panel heater...

Cuddlesworth

Older people tend to like it warmer. You could pick up a thermostat controlled electric heater, so it would turn off when the rooms at temp or when the other radiators are running. But it would be a long time before you saw a return on the investment. I think a 1000 watt heater costs around a tenner a week to run continuously(keep in mind, once its heated up it doesn't run at 100% power draw, it has to be able to disperse the heat). The other methods like gas powered heaters can run cheaper but your going to be the one changing fuel on it.

Wearb

Note with stand alone gas heaters, the ventilation requirements are sometimes more than user would like. Those requirements are absolutely necessary.

Dial Hard

Plug-in oil-filled radiator? They're much cheaper to run than the electric heaters, AFAIK.

Irish Steve

depends on the number of radiators involved, if there's a nest thermostat, it should be possible to fit nest controlled thermostatic valves on the radiators, which can then be set to have different temperatures at different times of the day, so it can then be said with some justification that the boiler is only running one radiator at certain times. Might be expensive if there's a lot of rads to upgrade though.

Dempo1

I often wondered about this very topic, particularly the cost of running an oil filled radiator per hour (Currently paying 0,18 cent per unit with electric Ireland). Online calculators a little confusing.

I've actually just purchased a portable gas heater , just to experiment ( obviously taking into consideration ventilation etc) I purchased one with ceramic plates and have to say the heat , even on lowest setting , excellent. Basically I was looking for something for early morning , so will only use it then or perhaps for a while when I get home .I don't think I'd recommend it for all day use . I have a stand alone solid fuel stove and C/H , oil as primary heat sources.

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117957902#Comment_117957902

I don't like the idea of superser, gas bottle in house in case of fire plus fumes etc. I would prefer a different route is possible

Thank you for response

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958055#Comment_117958055

Not nest but I use Drayton Wiser, she can turn on/off the rads in the room with a twist of the controller. Done the whole house and not cheap but worth it.

I set the room temp higher than the rest of house etc. Stil this heater is fired up :-)

Wearb

What is the room temperature near where she sits, if only heated by rads?

Maybe infra red is way to go if she likes the feel of direct heat.

maestroamado

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958012#Comment_117958012

I agree with this as i know someone who has this and leaves on all night on the lowest setting when needed... 3 settings and temp dial....

An electric oil filled radiator with thermostat, we have one in the living room, its on constantly at 21 degrees in the Spring and Autumn evenings, not noticeable on the electric bill. These usually come with 2 or 3 different power settings, just use the lowest one eg 800W rather than the top one eg 2000W.

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958272#Comment_117958272

I tried one of those infrared heaters, the one below. I didn't find it great. Now I was using in a sun room but it didn't seem to work much better than a standard heater. Maybe its the wrong thing?

https://www.hifi-tower.ie/Home-Living/Heating/Infrared-Heater/Hot-Spot-Wave-Heater-2000-Watts-4-Heating-Elements-AntiDryAir-Heat-2000-W.html?force_sid=9ilo3duc6e871geuhqku2cqf2v#

Wearb

They are not meant to be room heaters. they only heat what they are pointing at rather than what's around them. That's why that I suggested it. If the room is already warm from the rads, then that might give the feel of direct heat that she wants.

silver2020

Cheapest and simplest solution is a 650w oil heater.

Light enough that she can move it about easily

Will give enough supplementary heat and will switch off once the temperature has reached the required level.

At 650w and assuming you are on a discounted electricity plan. it will cost about 12c per hour of operation. And it will be substantially cheaper than turning the oil heating on.

We use them in individual offices as some people like a little more warmth than the set ambient temp of the building

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Warmlite-WL43002YW-Adjustable-Thermostat-Protection/dp/B07XYJ3K1F/

dudley72

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958870#Comment_117958870

I guess this baby is a bit big :-)

https://www.hifi-tower.ie/Home-Living/Heating/Oil-filled-radiator/Thermaxx-Retroheat-Oil-Radiator-2500W-Floor-Rollers-Green-Green.html?force_sid=9ilo3duc6e871geuhqku2cqf2v

silver2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958969#Comment_117958969

what you want is an inability to go higher that a certain level.

2500w = 60c an hour! It would also be quite heavy.

So a "I'm thinking of you dear and here's a nice lightweight heater that you can move beside you easily" 650w heater will be more than sufficient for what is needed and you won't see the units dial speeding. They are also very simple to use which is another point to think about.

cruizer101

Oil filled rads are no more efficient than other electric heaters, a 1kW heater will use 1kWh of electricity in an hour and supply that much heat no matter if it is oil, convection or fan heater. They will modulate the heat output a bit better as the oil will absorb the heat and output it more slowly but the heat output per unit electricity is the same.

A superser may be an option, some people don't like them much.

You could get an air to air heat pump, which will give more heat output per kW of electricity, this unit has a SCOP of 4 meaning in theory for every kW of electricity you get 4kW of heat, very efficient but more expensive and requires installation and a unit outside. There is also units like this which don't require any unit outside but more pricey.

Then as other have said you could look at getting smart trvs to only turn on that single rad.

meercat

https://www.meteorelectrical.com/atc-lifestyle-750w-electric-thermal-radiator-ls500.html?IE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_6qazb-n8wIVy-vtCh3g6A3SEAQYAiABEgL5hvD_BwE

silver2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117960833#Comment_117960833

Only €365!!! 😮

You'd get a 650w - 800w oil heater and 1600-1800 hours of operation at full blast for the price of the unit before usage cost of that is taken into account 😁

But it is a nice attractive unit with a good programmable system - but rather expensive

Cuddlesworth

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958143#Comment_117958143

I think you might be dealing with something done out of habit, not out of need. Like my grandmother, who turns off the central heating because she always has.

Would the best option no be to find the lowest wattage electric heater you can find(oil or convection, same thing) and have hers "break" first(pop the fuze), then swap it out?