Safe and cheap to run heater for toddlers room - any advice folks?

Lizbetty

Our daughter's room seems to be really cold on a night (the warmest room in summer, typical innit!) and I've been out and bought her a higher tog sleeping bag (she hates blankets) but we were thinking of getting her a small heater to kick in if the rooms gets below a certain temperature. We need it to be safe and cheap to run, as the bills seems to be huge (gas went up from £24 per quarter to £83 per quarter!!!), I've done as much googling as I can for info but the best info I've found is in Argos, which is a tiny bit about panel heaters, explaining they're from 2p per hour to run. I've never had one so I'm not sure how good/safe they are though.

We can't leave the heating on as the main thermostat (?) is in the hall and downstairs is quite warm anyway, the heating'd need to be on quite high for it to get warm enough in her room on a night, which would cost a fortune, and we can't afford to put an extra thermostat in(not looked into it but guess it would be more than we could afford) and put thermostatic valves throughout the house (they're only upstairs at the mo).

I wonder if anyone has any suggestions/advice on which would be the best heater for this? Her room is quite small so I guess a small heater would do the job, I'm hesitant to get a fan heater as I have memories of having a cold bedroom and mum buying one of these which smelt of burning far too often..

All advice welcomed, I hate the thought of her being cold in the night as she's only 17months and can't tell us how she feels, so it's quite frustrating for everyone!

Thanks lots in advance

Lucy

Cardew

Any electric heater costs the same to run in terms of heat put out for the money spent. So don't be fooled into thinking one is more economical than another.

Probably a small oil filled electric radiator fitted with a thermostat would be your best bet. It really doesn't matter what the wattage is(as long as it puts out sufficient heat to warm the room.) A 1kW heater on all the time will use as much electricity as a 3kW heater that only needs to be on one third of the time to maintain the same heat.

Lizbetty

Thanks for that. My pregnancy brain doesn't allow me to think these things through logically...I'll have a look at oil filled radiators, I don't think they're to expensive to buy, either, from what I've seen.

I might see if I can talk my already very busy husband into fitting some thermostatic valves downstairs too, I noticed on another post that this would probably be beneficial even if it does cost a few bob (after he's finished making a door for under the stairs, making some wardrobes, mending the garage roof, fixing the guttering..and keeping up with all the other bits which are dropping off the house! Amazing what seems to need doing as a matter of urgency when you've got another baby on the way...!!!)

Thanks loads for your help,

Lucy

Mrs_pbradley936

I agree with oil filled radiator idea. They cost about £25 - £35 and until recently I was using mine to warm the kitchen because I did not want the heating on all over the house. They stay warm for ages after they are turned off. You can get them with a timer as well or just plug it into your own timer. In our local Wickes they have them on offer.

adonis

We use a small electric radiator with a thermostat in our three year olds bedroom when it gets cold, keeps the room at just right temperature.