Cheapest way to heat garden office

united4ever

First winter in it. It's twin skinned with insulation but it's going to get cold pretty soon. 

My neighbour kindly gave me a little electric fan heater but I know they hammer the electricity. Was planning to get a plug in oil heater. Thoughts? Obviously I have the fan beater so no cost to buy anything. How much would that cost to put on for an hour each morning for example?

Looking for a plug in solution really but any other advice welcome. Will get a blanket and a hot water bottle and extra layers but I know sooner or later I will need a source of heat.

QrizB

Any direct electrical heater will cost the same amount to maintain any given temperature.

Iptions with lower running costs will have higher purchase installation costs, for example:

- a split heat pump, or

- a combustion heater

Qyburn

united4ever said:

How much would that cost to put on for an hour each morning for example?

Depends on its power.  Up to £1 per hour as a rough guess if running full power and not cutting out on its thermostat.

If this home office is for desk work, try the fan heater on low settings under the desk so it heats you and not the whole room.

MattMattMattUK

united4ever said:

First winter in it. It's twin skinned with insulation but it's going to get cold pretty soon. 

My neighbour kindly gave me a little electric fan heater but I know they hammer the electricity. Was planning to get a plug in oil heater. Thoughts? Obviously I have the fan beater so no cost to buy anything. How much would that cost to put on for an hour each morning for example?

Looking for a plug in solution really but any other advice welcome. Will get a blanket and a hot water bottle and extra layers but I know sooner or later I will need a source of heat.

The fan heater will use whatever it is rated to, but somewhere between two and three kW so 2-3 kWh over the hour, so around £0.70-1.15. per hour.

Whilst both the fan heater and the oil filled radiator will generate the same kW of output per kW of input you might find the radiator feels warmer. The fan heater heats the air, that air rises, mostly above your head. If you put the radiator under the desk it will release that heat slower and some will radiate onto your legs as the balance convecting out more slowly. 

What might be a far better option is an electric throw blanket, they tend to draw a maximum of 0.15 kW and that is more than enough to keep you warm in an insulated garden office, though the air temperature on the office will of course be much colder than when using a fan heater or oil filled radiator so you need to factor than in. An air temperature of less than 16c starts to be noticeable for many people, below 12c long periods can have a short term respiratory impact even for healthy adults (if you have ever gone for a long run on a cold morning you will know what I mean).

The other thing to factor in is moisture/damp. If you are in there for eight hours a day that could be up to a litre from your body alone (sweat and breathing), as well as atmospheric moisture condensing on surfaces. That has a potential damp issue which you will want to avoid, but also heating damp air requires considerably more energy than heating dry air as for the damp air you add the need to heat the water as well so it may be worth investing in a dehumidifier, they cost very little to operate so running costs should not hugely matter.

xeny

I use a fan heater under my desk on a low setting hooked up to a smart plug which in turn is controlled by a smart speaker. That way I can use voice commands when my toes needs some toasting.

I'm looking with interest at the idea of a heated desk pad to keep my fingers warm.

Brie

xeny said:

I use a fan heater under my desk on a low setting hooked up to a smart plug which in turn is controlled by a smart speaker. That way I can use voice commands when my toes needs some toasting.

I'm looking with interest at the idea of a heated desk pad to keep my fingers warm.

I am now imagining you sitting there and occasionally shouting "TOAST!" when your toes are chilly.

Fingerless gloves are handy when trying to type when it's cold.

markin

Most portable fans will make a terrible noise, So not great for the person on the other end of a video/audio call when they hear a buzz or white noise. Heat pumps can be as low as 35db on low but still best away from the desk.


The is no problem with a correctly installed LPG heater/fire or a wood stove.

QrizB

xeny said:

I'm looking with interest at the idea of a heated desk pad to keep my fingers warm.

Last winter I used a heated seat pad when WFH. It worked really well for me.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78949830/#Comment_78949830

If I end up WFH this winter I'll do something similar again.

mmmmikey

markin said:

The is no problem with a correctly installed LPG heater/fire or a wood stove.

I'm currently paying about 26.4p/kWh for butane in 13kg or 15kg bottles, which makes it a worthwhile amount less expensive than electricity. The key words here are "correctly installed". There are plenty of caravans that use lpg for heating and you don't see heaps of dead bodies on caravan sites! So bottled gas is a viable option as long as you have an appropriate appliance correctly installed.

And I'm paying 0p/kWh for firewood so depending on the size and location of your office that might be an option too. Again, it's important to have a wood stove correctly installed, but there are plenty of properly trained installers who will do that for you.

Miser1964

Any chance of claiming back as a business expense?

Or get a high-end PC with gaming graphics card - they can easily pump out 200W, mostly as heat.

[Deleted User]

We're not going to devolve this thread into the same argument again are we?

You do know that there is a middle ground between "OMG a candle will kill you, CO emergency" and "everyone start huffing propane for fun"?

OP, if you choose something that locally burns fuel, make sure you do your research and get it done properly, which I think you would have done anyway (otherwise you wouldn't be asking here).  That's all.