Oil heaters - effectiveness / difference between brands / good value

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Oil heaters - effectiveness / difference between brands / good value

1 | 2 | 3

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2267747 1-Jul-2019 13:04

Might do that. This one has an optional fan, which might make it a good option for both quickly warming a room and also for quiet operation. Could be a very small fan though. Anyone able to recommend a convector heater with an optional decent fan?

mattwnz

20515 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4795

#2267767 1-Jul-2019 13:50

One thing you maybe paying for is just the qulaity of the unit, including paint and metal quality. The cheap ones can rust up pretty quickly.

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2267775 1-Jul-2019 14:21

timmmay:

Might do that. This one has an optional fan, which might make it a good option for both quickly warming a room and also for quiet operation. Could be a very small fan though. Anyone able to recommend a convector heater with an optional decent fan?

get a cheap goldair (some big sales here!) and chuck it away when it breaks! or get an expensive delonghi and review it for us!

https://www.briscoes.co.nz/electrical/heating/convector-heaters.htm

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2267798 1-Jul-2019 14:58

Yeah there's the Briscoes sale, just wondering if anyone recommends any particular convector with optional fan. My 3 year old Goldaire fan heater has the tilt switch failing so may have to replace that soon, though right now it's stuck "on" which is better for me that "off".

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2267826 1-Jul-2019 15:55

put it that way. the gold air is $40 (the one with the knobs and dials). the expensive ones are say $240.

you can have 5 gold airs dying and then have a brand new 6th gold air for $240. what's there to lose eh.

mdf

3566 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1519

Trusted

#2267835 1-Jul-2019 16:10

For fan models, I've had good experiences with this barrel style of heater.

http://www.goldair.co.nz/product-catalogue/heating/micathermic-heaters/gmh360-2200w-micathermic-heater

Mighty Ape

Shop now at Mighty Ape (affiliate link).

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2267849 1-Jul-2019 16:30

mdf: For fan models, I've had good experiences with this barrel style of heater.

They look interesting. Basically something gets hot and a fan blows air over it? Is it directed like a fan heater or more general like an oil heater? Briscoes says 360 degree heating, which is fine for larger rooms, but not so good for smaller rooms with limited space.

$200 is fairly pricey, compared with a $50 fan heater. If they tend to last many years, maybe that's a reasonable investment. Goldair stuff tends to last 2-4 years for me before it fails.

mdf

3566 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1519

Trusted

#2267862 1-Jul-2019 17:02

timmmay:

mdf: For fan models, I've had good experiences with this barrel style of heater.

They look interesting. Basically something gets hot and a fan blows air over it? Is it directed like a fan heater or more general like an oil heater? Briscoes says 360 degree heating, which is fine for larger rooms, but not so good for smaller rooms with limited space.

$200 is fairly pricey, compared with a $50 fan heater. If they tend to last many years, maybe that's a reasonable investment. Goldair stuff tends to last 2-4 years for me before it fails.

It's smaller than the picture indicates. The fan is in the bottom of the base and blows air up through a heating element and convects the heat all around a room. Heating element goes in a circle so radiates heat all around. I found this heated up the room really quickly. We did tend to put it in the middle of the room rather than at an edge. Obviously a lot bigger than a space heater, but the fact its round actually made it easier to put away in a cupboard than a long narrow oil column. It's also really light and portable.

mdf

3566 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1519

Trusted

#2267869 1-Jul-2019 17:03

Actually, assuming (a) I can find it and (b) Mrs MDF doesn't have some kind of random attachment to it, you can probably have our one (Wellington, right?). We put in central heating a couple of years ago and haven't used it since.

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2267920 1-Jul-2019 19:27

mdf:

Actually, assuming (a) I can find it and (b) Mrs MDF doesn't have some kind of random attachment to it, you can probably have our one (Wellington, right?). We put in central heating a couple of years ago and haven't used it since.

That's a very generous offer, I appreciate it. I'm going to decline, for two reasons:

360 degree heat won't work very well in my office the way I have things arranged, it could do damage to cabinets or furniture
I would prefer you give it to someone who can't afford to buy their own heating

I'll look around the stores some time and try to get something where the heat either goes up, or can be directed in one direction.

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2267988 1-Jul-2019 20:38

convection heaters can be had with the heat only going up, the fan just makes it go up. just get the one with the correct orientation.

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2267994 1-Jul-2019 20:48

Batman:

convection heaters can be had with the heat only going up, the fan just makes it go up. just get the one with the correct orientation.

I guess what I want is a combo - a convection heater with a fan that blows the heat either down or sideways when turned on. It's such an obvious thing to do I guess it's impractical.

I read here on GZ a while ago (years I think) that someone just put a computer fan on top of an oil heater and made it much more effective.

Batman

Mad Scientist
30014 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6217

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2268012 1-Jul-2019 21:18

Maybe they don't want to risk lawsuits from house burning down

timmmay

20858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5350

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2268028 1-Jul-2019 21:43

A fan that pushes air sideways instead of up wouldn't be a problem, it'd be like a fan heater. You'd just need a decent design.

Jase2985

13732 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6205

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2268127 2-Jul-2019 05:55

Batman:

convection heaters can be had with the heat only going up, the fan just makes it go up. just get the one with the correct orientation.

and what happens when you blow hot air up, what happens to the air it displaces? it comes down, so you get colder air from higher up moving down which will then get heated.

1 | 2 | 3