Oil filled radiator - advice needed please

jackieblack

I need a heater for my baby granddaughter’s bedroom when she stays overnight (one night a week). I put the (old, not very efficient) heating on when it starts to get dark so her room is warm enough (18-19 degrees) when she goes to bed but obviously the temperature drops overnight and it was 13.1 degrees at 6am this morning 🥶 - fortunately she wasn’t here last night! 

I have ordered a small oil filled radiator - I will experiment with the settings when it arrives, but was hoping for some advice from those who use one already. I am nervous about leaving anything switched on overnight so am hoping that if I heat it up during the later evening, it will release warmth over the early hours and keep the temperature elevated enough to keep her comfortable until she’s ready to wake up because she’s had enough sleep and not because she’s cold - is this right?

Mstty

jackieblack said:

I need a heater for my baby granddaughter’s bedroom when she stays overnight (one night a week). I put the (old, not very efficient) heating on when it starts to get dark so her room is warm enough (18-19 degrees) when she goes to bed but obviously the temperature drops overnight and it was 13.1 degrees at 6am this morning 🥶 - fortunately she wasn’t here last night! 

I have ordered a small oil filled radiator - I will experiment with the settings when it arrives, but was hoping for some advice from those who use one already. I am nervous about leaving anything switched on overnight so am hoping that if I heat it up during the later evening, it will release warmth over the early hours and keep the temperature elevated enough to keep her comfortable until she’s ready to wake up because she’s had enough sleep and not because she’s cold - is this right?

Have you bought one with a temperature dial so you can set it to the right temp not just a min to max dial?

In this situation probably a good compromise for one night a week. When you say small did you consider the size of room when purchasing?

pochase

How long Do Oil Filled Radiators Stay Warm?

Generally, Oil Filled Radiators take time to warm up and the same in the cooling down process, it also takes time. How long an oil-filled radiator stays warm, it depends on the external temperature, it may stay warm from an hour and a half to two and a half hours. The main reason for stay warm is the diathermic oil that is used to evenly distribute the heat to the surroundings. It has a great capacity to absorb a lot of heat without rising in temperature, that’s why it can radiate out heat for a long time without cooling down.

So the radiator will do not much to keep the room warm over night once it is switched off.

TheGardener

Is there anything that can be done to slow down the heat loss - perhaps a blanket over the window behind the curtains?

thriftytracey

We purchased an oil filled radiator which is in our bedroom and we put it on an hour before bedtime.  We don't have our GCH on at all.  It certainly takes the chill off.  We switch it off when we go to bed and rely on lots of extra blankets which keep us warm during the night.

I used the TAPO plug and on the maximum setting for one hour it used 0.5 kWh.  It may be quite a bit less on a lower setting overnight.  The bedroom is a very large room with two windows and two external walls and I am quite impressed with the output.

jackieblack

Mstty said:

jackieblack said:

I need a heater for my baby granddaughter’s bedroom when she stays overnight (one night a week). I put the (old, not very efficient) heating on when it starts to get dark so her room is warm enough (18-19 degrees) when she goes to bed but obviously the temperature drops overnight and it was 13.1 degrees at 6am this morning 🥶 - fortunately she wasn’t here last night! 

I have ordered a small oil filled radiator - I will experiment with the settings when it arrives, but was hoping for some advice from those who use one already. I am nervous about leaving anything switched on overnight so am hoping that if I heat it up during the later evening, it will release warmth over the early hours and keep the temperature elevated enough to keep her comfortable until she’s ready to wake up because she’s had enough sleep and not because she’s cold - is this right?

Have you bought one with a temperature dial so you can set it to the right temp not just a min to max dial?

In this situation probably a good compromise for one night a week. When you say small did you consider the size of room when purchasing?

This is the one I’ve ordered https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-analogue-oil-radiator/p5023342#product
It has a thermostat and 3 heat settings - once I’ve had a chance to experiment with it hopefully I’ll be able to figure out the optimal settings I need 🤞🏻

Truthfully, although I did consider the room size, budget and reviews were my main criteria for choosing this one. The location for it within the room will be fairly  close to the cot (but not within reach, obviously).

jackieblack

pochase said:

How long Do Oil Filled Radiators Stay Warm?

Generally, Oil Filled Radiators take time to warm up and the same in the cooling down process, it also takes time. How long an oil-filled radiator stays warm, it depends on the external temperature, it may stay warm from an hour and a half to two and a half hours. The main reason for stay warm is the diathermic oil that is used to evenly distribute the heat to the surroundings. It has a great capacity to absorb a lot of heat without rising in temperature, that’s why it can radiate out heat for a long time without cooling down.

So the radiator will do not much to keep the room warm over night once it is switched off.

I thought the whole point of an oil fired rad was that the oil retains heat for a while after heating is turned off? Unlike, for example, a blow heater.
I’m hoping that by raising the temperature within the room for longer during the evening the room will remain a few degrees warmer overnight

jackieblack

TheGardener said:

Is there anything that can be done to slow down the heat loss - perhaps a blanket over the window behind the curtains?

I’ve added extra thermal linings to the curtains and the door is closed when she’s in there (to keep cats out) which should hopefully help retain some warmth 

matelodave

jackieblack said:

pochase said:

How long Do Oil Filled Radiators Stay Warm?

Generally, Oil Filled Radiators take time to warm up and the same in the cooling down process, it also takes time. How long an oil-filled radiator stays warm, it depends on the external temperature, it may stay warm from an hour and a half to two and a half hours. The main reason for stay warm is the diathermic oil that is used to evenly distribute the heat to the surroundings. It has a great capacity to absorb a lot of heat without rising in temperature, that’s why it can radiate out heat for a long time without cooling down.

So the radiator will do not much to keep the room warm over night once it is switched off.

I thought the whole point of an oil fired rad was that the oil retains heat for a while after heating is turned off? Unlike, for example, a blow heater.
I’m hoping that by raising the temperature within the room for longer during the evening the room will remain a few degrees warmer overnight

 An oil filled rad is slower to heat up than say a convector heater or a fan heater  and  wont cool down quite as fast.  However, it certainly wont retain heat for very long after it's been switched off.

TBH @pochase estimates sound a bit optimistic to me. I would have though half to an an hour is closer to the mark

redbuzzard

TBH they go cold fairly quickly, they aren't storage heaters.

They are designed to be used unattended. They are radiators, designed to radiate, the fins provide the surface area to do it.  Test it before she comes.  I can't think of anything safer unless you want to leave the CH on all night.

If you really are worried about it, put a smoke alarm in there.

chris_n

One of the benof an oil filled radiator is that there is no very hot element exposed anywhere so they are inherently safer than things like convector heaters etc.  The oil dampens down the heating and cooling time but doesn't store any appreciable heat.