Other Heating

Explorer87

HI
So I'm currently house sitting for a family member and there house can get cold at times. Is there any recommended heaters out there that are cheap and enough for one room?

I don't need to switch the heating on for the whole house and I don't really want to start impacting on their bills.

Ta

Ebe_Scrooge

If you're only talking short-term, and it's only one room, then a cheap fan heater from Argos or the like for a tenner or so will do the trick.  Yes, we all know that electric heating is relatively expensive, and it wouldn't be my first recommendation for a full central heating system.  But as a quick and temporary fix, it's probably the simplest option, and it's not going to cost a fortune to run in the grand scheme of things.  More efficient would be one of those old-fashioned Calor gas heaters, but it's probably not worth the out-lay if you're only there for a short period of time.

clive0510

what about one of those oil filled radiators. we had one of those when we 1st moved in here, because the heating wasn't finished. it was thermostatic so it switched it self on n off. we also had it on a timer. that was nearly 40 yrs ago!

neilmcl

Layers is the way to go.

Ectophile

My preferred heater is a little oil-filled radiator.  They produce a gentle heat, and are less likely to burn the house down if left unattended.  But they are more expensive.

Convector heaters can be picked up dirt cheap.

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Explorer.

There isn't a heater - as far as I know - that'll convert leccy into heat more efficiently than another; they just have different ways of transferring that heat to the room and to you. (I'm talking about normal domestic heaters, not weird stuff like black IR, not that I know if it's any better...)

So, make yer choice.

Fan - noisy and blowy. Horrible things.
Convection heater - gentle but will take longer to feel the effect.
'Bar' heaters inc 'halogen' - they work well, but heat only one side of you.
Oil-filled - like 'convection' only slower. Mind you, they tend to maintain a more steady heat output.

I'd go 'oil', I think.

Is the house currently gas? If so, why not turn down/off every rad in the house except your living space and loo?! That would be by far the best call :-) The £20 you've saved on a leccy heater will give you a month's gas-power. 

Homer_home

Turn on the  gas central heating , gas is 3 times cheaper than electric and as they would be normally be using the central heating anyway they won't notice any difference 

You buy a 2kw heater they will notice that in their electric bill and ask why you simply didn't turn on the central heating.......

FreeBear

Homer_home said: Turn on the  gas central heating , gas is 3 times cheaper than electric and as they would be normally be using the central heating anyway they won't notice any difference

Keeping the whole house fairly warm will help to prevent condensation & damp - Turn the thermostat to around 17-18°C and open up any TRV valves.

kdotdotdotdot

It's super unstylish but those onesies, coupled with wheat-filled heat pads that you warm up in the microwave, will help.  Choose one that has a hood on it - nothing like toasty ears to make you feel warm and snuggly.  

Explorer87

Cheers for all the input, I suppose putting ut on has benefits that outweight the rest. 

David28

FreeBear said:

Keeping the whole house fairly warm will help to prevent condensation & damp - Turn the thermostat to around 17-18°C and open up any TRV valves.

I totally agree.
Last year I was on holiday for 2 weeks in October (when all it did at home was rain, it rained on holiday as well) and I left my heating at 15 deg C 24 hours a day for the whole fortnight.
The gas used on average was 10 kWh a day, so 140  kWh costing about  £3.40 
I came home to a house smelling of damp and condensation everywhere.
It took 2 days before the house felt normal.
Next time I go away (if ever) the thermostat will be set at 18 deg C and the timer left as it is.
I work out that will cost me a max £10 in gas.  
At the moment I am using 35 kWh a day to keep the house at 21 deg C for 15 hours