Cheap Oil Heater?

[Zoom7000]

So, the freezing weather has hit us with a bang! We don't have heating in our bedroom and are starting to feel the chill from the air vents that our landlord has drilled in the bedroom to sort out condensation.

 

The wife and I don't have too much of a problem wrapping up, but I don't want my daughter to get ill. Can anyone please recommend me a cheap electrical oil heater that I can buy to heat the room up. I'd prefer an oil heater because it is covered and therefore "child safe" as opposed to a regular electrical fire heater.

[Simcfc73]

Its 1.38am and I have excruciating toothache trying to take my mind off it..

 

I got a £35 one from argos which was suprisingley good, it has a thermostat too. Obviuously the more powerful the better but this kicks out some decent heat

 

Buy Challenge Oil Filled Radiator 1.5kW. at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for .

[kylewilliamson]

Don't forget you cant use more than 3KW on a 13amp plug.. and not to use these things on the end of multi-plug adaptors/extension leads/etc.

[SYNACK]

You may be better off with a fan heater which will warm the room quicker and be safer in the long run. Oil heaters do still have hot surfaces which can still cause damage, they can also fracture - something that I have seen - where extremely hot oil spills out under pressure. If it hits someone the damage can actually be far worse than a direct burn from a resistance based heater.

 

A fan heater so long as the vent is not completely covered over is probably the safest solution available and cheaper than an oil one.

[dhicks]

I'd prefer an oil heater because it is covered and therefore "child safe" as opposed to a regular electrical fire heater.

 

I've bought one of those oil-filled electric radiators from Argos in the past for my ex (very old) landlady, and it seemed to work just fine. You might also consider an electric storage heater. My current flat is all pretty much uninsulated roof space but I have a storage heater in each room that stores up heat overnight at a cheaper rate and releases it during the day, and the place doesn't really get cold. It doesn't get that hot, it just releases a steady background heat, so there's no hot bits for small children to burn fingers and whatnot on. I'll try an remember to look and see what model they are, but they're quite old and (knowing my landlord) cheap and seem to work a treat.

 

--

David Hicks

[Dos_Box]

I have 2 spare in my garage. Do you want them? All you have to pay is postage.

[Andrew_C]

For night long back ground heat go oil filled. You will only need a fairly low wattage <1kW. A fan heater is good to get the temp up quickly, but will disturb sleep if left on. Clothes dropped over a fan heater will cause problems much faster than an oil filled rad.

[torledo]

For night long back ground heat go oil filled. You will only need a fairly low wattage <1kW. A fan heater is good to get the temp up quickly, but will disturb sleep if left on. Clothes dropped over a fan heater will cause problems much faster than an oil filled rad.

 

I agree with Andrew. We've got two small oil filled rads and they are far better than fan heaters for consistent background heat. They aren't even that slow to heat up compared to fan heaters, so i don't see fan heaters having any advantage over them....the ones we have cost £15 each and output a decent amount of heat, don't know what kW they are.

 

Haven't had the first electric bill yet, but the ones we have are thermostat controlled so i'm assuming they are not constantly drawing power?

 

Also i was a little bit concerned about any leakage issues, can this happen out of the blue or do they need to be knocked about for something like that to happen, i've no idea on the lifespan of these things but i personally think they are great.

[Andrew_C]

I threw one away last year that had lasted 30 years. OK, it was a Dimplex all metal job, not some cheap c*@p from Argos, but they should outlast the OPs immediate need!

[Zoom7000]

the ones we have cost £15 each and output a decent amount of heat, don't know what kW they are.

 

Where did you get yours from?

[Sirbendy]

try your local branch of Charlies Stores...I have a big grey oil-filled one from there for about £20. I also have a fan heater that was £15.

 

They really don't tend to leak.. I also like thermostat control - you're right, when they get to temp, they draw no load.

 

I'm not using ours yet..the radiators are doing well..although the C/H is leaking onto my garage floor.. The fan heater gets used if I'm in the garage working on the car.