homeworking - best way to heat one room?

on6702

As like many others I am now facing a winter of homeworking rather than being in an office and this has led to thoughts about how best to keep warm in an economical way. I will likely be the only one in the house between 9 and 3pm as my children are at school and my wife's work does involve her being out of the house. 
I've converted a spare room into an office and am now thinking how best to keep it warm without the need to heat the entire house for the whole day, which seems wasteful. 
I have gas central heating with a TADO smart thermostat and am in the process of switching to Octopus Agile for electricity. 
Any advice would be welcomed.
I have the following ideas but am not sure what is best: 
1) keep the central heating off or at a low level during the day and buy a 2kW electrical oil-filled portable radiator for the spare room and run it between 9am and 3pm on the Agile tariff and then at 3pm turn it off and turn on on the central heating when kids come home from school. Simplest way but running costs could still be quite high in the long term. 
2) buy ~6 programmable TRV valve heads (e.g. Equiva model Ms (~£15)) for my radiators so that the heating in the house is completely zoned and programmable on a room by room basis. More expensive outlay but perhaps long term savings could be better. 
Any thoughts or alternative ideas ?
Oliver

Doozergirl

The cheapest way would be to turn off (or down) the existing TRVs when everyone else goes out, presuming you have some, already.   And take your thermostat into the office.   

I don't know what your tariff is, but mine is 6 times more for electricity than gas, so I think even your smart TRVs would save more in the relatively short term than an electric rad. 

stragglebod

An oil filled radiator will mean you're not having to heat your non-TRV radiators and the rest of the pipework, so take that into account. And installing a new TRV may not neccessarrily be a trivial task depending on what you have at the moment. They are probably the best value long term solution, especially if you use them in other situations. The oil radiator is the most expensive but the least faff.

nick74

If your house is reasonably well insulated you may find its barely worth worrying about. I started working from home 2 days per week just before last winter. On the days I was at home I let the heating run throughout the whole house during the day, whereas on the days when I was out the heating was set to turn off at 7am and back on again at 3pm. After a couple a months I compared gas meter readings for the days I was at home versus the days I was out, and found no identifiable difference whatsoever. 

Looking at the hourly smart meter readings on the days I was at home the boiler was tending to run a lot during the morning, a little during the afternoon, then hardly at all in the evenings. Conversely on the days I was out consumption during the day was zero, but a huge amount was used in the period 3pm to about 8pm. Over a full 24h period though the total of both was broadly equal, or at least there was no appreciable increase on the days I was at home. 

-taff

You could try the flowerpot and tealight heater thing...being very careful of course...

Raggie

Been a remote worker for a few years and my only suggestion is heat yourself not the room.
I use a selection of cheap ski base wear, thermal socks and onesie..

As no one is home I tend to go for warmth rather than style.. lol. 

troffasky

Put a blanket on your lap. Hot water bottle as well? I realise the preceding might sound a little daft, but I'll be layering up first when working from home this winter before splashing out on heating.

on6702

Thanks for the advice so far. Given Nick74's comments I think that I'll see how things go before making any heating equipment purchases. I like the idea of a hot water and blanket but the onesie may not work so well with the zoom calls!

ka7e

As mentioned, layer your clothing and keep yourself warm rather than the whole house. When the temperature is cooler outside, go out for a 15 minute walk every few hours. As well as warding off some of the health risks associated with sedentary work, the house will feel relatively warmer when you return!

Jeepers_Creepers

You can get electric heating blankets/mats which fit over your chair - they'll cover your back, bum and thighs, and consume only a small number of watts. Got one for dad-in-law when he suffered from the cold - worked a treat. We added an electric foot muff when he complained further...

The alternative was to have the heating on at a tropical setting for everyone. 

twopenny

I've worked most of these ideas between 2 houses. I found that having the heating on low (about 13C) all day kept me warmer than firing it up morning and afternoon from scratch and the two worked out the same moneywise. All day at the right temperature and well insulated house.

I now have valves. I'm finding it more expensive but it's very controlable. I tend to forget though so that may be the reason.

The oil rads I inherited on moving did nothing much to warm a house with no heating. I dumped them as soon as I could. A good convector with a timer was brilliant but not cheap to run.

The blanket/quilt and hot water bottle works. Get some woolly slippers too and a foot stool or box to keep your feet off the floor. You'd be surprised how much difference that makes. Our great grandparents knew a thing or two.

The onsie is the best for keeping warm. You can get that fabric as trousers and tops so you could just change the top for the zoom call. It's what a lot of TV people do when behind a desk. My fleecy trousers are not for public viewing but come winter they are just so lovely and warm.

I have a fleecy throw on my cream settee (or a pretty quilt) and it's toasty without heating. I can't get visitors off the darn thing when they sink into it! So maybe one for your chair. Make it a good one for warmth.

Whichever you use you can feel the cold if you are sitting for long. A short burst of exercise makes all the difference and a good walk lunchtime - that will stop you raiding the fridge which is way to near when you work from home.