Portable heating, convection vs oil fin radiator cost?

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TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#173550 27-May-2015 11:43

Watt for watt is their any difference in price of heating of these two types of heaters.

A convection heater gets the room warm fast if it has a fan where as the oil heater keeps a nice steady temperature.

Just looking for a heater to move from living room to bedroom to be timer set for morning chill.

rendezvous

194 posts

Master Geek

#1312641 27-May-2015 12:08

They should create the same amount of heat per KWhr of use. Like you say, the convection ones are quicker because they heat the air, rather than oil.

This might be useful:

http://www.energywise.govt.nz/products-and-appliances/heating/electric

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

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#1312645 27-May-2015 12:13

yeah thanks man, primo post

Jeeves

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1312659 27-May-2015 12:40

One thing to be wary of if you want to buy a heater to use in your bedroom is how noisy they are. I don't know about you but I'm a bit of a light sleeper. When we had our baby we put our microthermic heater in the bedroom... well that only lasted a couple of nights before I went out and bought a wall panel heater.
Oil heaters are noisy, microthermic heaters are noisy, fans are obviously noisy, radiant are noisy.

The only ones that are really silent are the panel heaters (But don't get an 'eco' one...get a proper 800w+ unit).

TeaLeaf

6325 posts

Uber Geek

#1312667 27-May-2015 12:50

The problem is its a rental :-(

You find oil heaters noisey? I never have. Maybe when the first start bubbling.

But certainly a convection fan heater in the bedroom would be.

But we dont plan to run heating at night, we like it nice and chilly with thick blankets and in bed heating. But do plan it to start up in the morning before waking.

Niel

3267 posts

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#1312979 27-May-2015 17:55

I would go either oil fin or ceramic panel. I'd stay far away from any form of open element heaters, can't stand the smell of dust burning.

You can never have enough Volvos!

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1312995 27-May-2015 18:22

We use oil filled ones in our kids bedrooms. Silent as a mouse, not sure where the noise would come from? Perfect for just taking the chill off.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

nakedmolerat

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#1313017 27-May-2015 19:06

Niel: I would go either oil fin or ceramic panel. I'd stay far away from any form of open element heaters, can't stand the smell of dust burning.

We have the Dyson am05. It's pretty good. No burning smell and fast heating.

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Niel

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#1313224 28-May-2015 07:02

nakedmolerat:
Niel: I would go either oil fin or ceramic panel. I'd stay far away from any form of open element heaters, can't stand the smell of dust burning.

We have the Dyson am05. It's pretty good. No burning smell and fast heating.

I would not spend $600 on a fan heater.

You can never have enough Volvos!

nakedmolerat

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#1313232 28-May-2015 07:30

Niel:
nakedmolerat:
Niel: I would go either oil fin or ceramic panel. I'd stay far away from any form of open element heaters, can't stand the smell of dust burning.

We have the Dyson am05. It's pretty good. No burning smell and fast heating.

I would not spend $600 on a fan heater.

I have two of them - and wouldn't trade with anything else.

The fact that you can use it as a fan as well is nice.

richms

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#1313236 28-May-2015 07:33

Both oil fin heaters I have tried have had a horribly noisy thermostat on them, and absurdly bright lights in the switches so I can t put black tape on them and still be able to switch it, If I do put black tape on there is still a light that shined out thru the vents.

But it was the CLUNK everytime it cycled on and off that did it. There is a small hum from one of them when running. But at the other end of the room thats ignorable.

The micathermic one I have is silent other than the thermostat. Why cant they put a nice quiet triac based controller on them? Would allow for totally variable power control too.

Richard rich.ms

Jeeves

301 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1313288 28-May-2015 10:00

Maybe we just bought cheap heaters - both our microthermic and oil fin heaters make expansion and contraction pinging/tinking noises - as well as the relay thunk when they turn on and off.
You can buy free standing panel heaters - so being in a rental isn't a major.

I wouldn't get an oil fin anyway, as they would be too slow to just do a quick warm up in the morning.

jpoc

1043 posts

Uber Geek

#1313734 28-May-2015 21:17

TeaLeaf: Watt for watt is their any difference in price of heating of these two types of heaters.

No, and yes.

Unless it is a heat pump, all heaters work at the same efficiency - 100% - which means that any 1KW heater will produce the same amount of heat as any other and will cost the same to run. So, in that sense, there is no difference.

That is not the end of the story. You are not really interested in the amount of heat but in how warm the different heaters make you feel and that is where you get very different results from different heaters. Even then, there is no one type of heater that is best because a lot depends on what kind of warming you want and what your house is like.

You experience warmth in two very different ways. The first is in the temperature of the air that surrounds you. The second is in the flux of infra-red radiation that hits you. (Think about standing in front of a flow of hot air from a fan heater or standing in direct sunlight.)

Fan heaters work almost entirely by heating air and chucking the heated air around the room.

Radiators will warm the air that is in contact with their surfaces but they also emit lots of infra-red. You will feel some of that but mostly, they will heat the walls, ceiling, floor and furniture and you will feel the effect from the infra-red that is then sent out by those surfaces.

Pure radiant heaters (bar heaters that glow bright orange or the infra-red lights that you often see in bathrooms) just send out infra-red radiation - usually in a directed beam - that makes you feel warm when it hits you.

You also need to consider how your house will lose heat.

If you have poor insulation in your walls, a conventional radiator will warm your walls by means of infra-red radiation and then you will lose that heat rapidly through the poorly insulated walls. If you live in a draughty house then a fan heater will heat the air but the warm air will leak out through the gaps around your doors and windows.

Windows play a part as well. Glass will not do a lot to stop infra-red from leaking out which is why we have curtains and it will also conduct away the heat from warm air which is why we have double glazing.

After all of that, we have to consider the kind of warmth that you would like to experience.

In the living room, you want to stay there for long periods of time and feel warm. That means that you will have a heater that will be on for long periods of time and you will need to consider the properties of your home so that you can choose between a radiator and a fan heater.

In the bedroom, a radiator is a poor choice if you just want to feel warm when you step out of bed. You would need to have it on for a long time to warm the fabric of the room so that you would then feel warm when you get up. A fan heater there will work much faster. You do not need to turn it on before you wake up - just make sure that it is blowing warm air at you as you get out of bed and all will be lovely. That will almost certainly cost a lot less to run than a radiator. A radiant heater might be best here. A beam of infra-red will work instantly and will warm you directly. You only need that heat in the bedroom for a very short while. The use case is quite similar to a bathroom where you want to be warmed up while you brush your teeth or dry yourself off after a shower and there, the pure radiant heater has long been the best choice.

If you have double glazing and good draught-proofing then you may be able to use a fan heater on a low setting for the living room in the evening and on max for the bedroom just when you get out of bed and are dressing but otherwise, it may be a lot cheaper to have (say) a radiator in the living room and a fan heater or pure radiant heater in the bedroom.