Electric oil filled radiators, Any Good

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Electric oil filled radiators, Any Good

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:18:31 PM EDT

Am looking at ways to cut down on the natural gas heatting bill as it's going up 70% in the next month or so.

Was wondering if anybody has used the electric oil filled heaters & if they are any good.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:22:43 PM EDT

[#1]

Your homeowners insurance company will hate you

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:25:42 PM EDT

[#2]

Great for radiant heat, so if you like the way a warm fire feels, you'll like it.

I'm not sure it's really "great" for heating up a whole room, although it does help. I've found fan-forced heaters work better for heating up a room, although I am not as comfortable with hot-air heat as I am with radiant heat.

Give me a woodburning stove with forced-air any day, combines the room-filling heat of forced air with the fall-asleep-in-front-of-the-fire comfort of radiant heat.

Jim

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:27:48 PM EDT

[#3]

I keep one in my gun room in the basement, I love it, I also keep 2 2.5 pound cast iron weights on top of it, that way the weights help radiate more heat.

Oil filled heaters are radiant heat, so they won't provide instant heat, but they provide a heat that radiates warms object in a way similar to the sun, so it's a very comfortable heat.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:29:26 PM EDT

[#4]

I have been doing exactly what you want to do cut back on gas and they work great for me. I keep one in the den where we spend most of the time and one in a bathroom and keep those rooms warm. The rest of the house stays at 60… damn cool but you get used to it and it is better for sleeping.

The gas bill was $73 last month was $30 less than last year and it has been much colder this year and the electric bill was only $4 more.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:30:04 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
Your homeowners insurance company will hate you

\

Why?

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:31:19 PM EDT

[#6]

Are they cost effective compared to a gas furnace?

I don't want to crank up the electric bill while trying to cut down on the natural gas bill.

Would love to get a forced air wood/pellet stove of some kind, just can't afford one now & don't really have the space to put one to heat the house with either.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:31:38 PM EDT

[#7]

I tried one a few years ago. Hated it.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:32:32 PM EDT

[#8]

If you are talking about the cheap 3x4' versions that Home Depot sells, they are garbage. Customers return them by the boat load. They will not heat up a cold room as a single source of heat. This happens during every cold snap around here, people buy them to save money and end up returning them the same week. I cannot believe they still sell them.

They may work good under a desk as a leg warmer.

The round IR radiant electric heaters work great. We used two of them to heat our entire shop as a single heat source.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:33:57 PM EDT

[#9]

We keep the home around 60-63F in the winter, but that gets old & it's rather chilly in da house.

Figure I'd want one downstairs where the computer is & possibly one upstairs as well (bi level home)

How long does it take for them to heat up & start producing warmth ya can notice??

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:35:38 PM EDT

[#10]

In my experience, it's about like putting a 40W bulb in a lamp, setting the lamp across the room with the shade off and saying to your wife/gf/SO "Baby, what are you bitching about now? I got you a heater!"

I would not buy one for $3 - hell, I wouldn't take one for free. I think the annoyance consumes more BTUs than the POS generates.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:38:14 PM EDT

[#11]

I'm sitting right next to one. The switch is on the low heat setting and the thermostat is just below the 3rd of 8 settings. It's just under 75 degrees in the room. House thermostat is on about 68. Even when the heating element is off the hot oil is still radiating heat into the room.

rj

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:41:31 PM EDT

[#12]

i have 2 DeLonghi oil heaters, one is in the basement

i park it in front of the HVAC vent for more air circulation
you feel the warmth in 5 minutes

http://products.consumerguide.com/reviews/product.epub?productId=28815

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:47:18 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Your homeowners insurance company will hate you
\

Why?

Kind of depends on who your homeowners insurance is with but they are considered a hazard, along with any other heater that isn't permanently in the home.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:51:51 PM EDT

[#14]

I've been using one of those in my bird room for years. They need it about 10 degrees warner than the rest of the house

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:55:41 PM EDT

[#15]

Use one to suplement the heat in the basement. Damn toasty down there. Not good for only source of heat though.

Posted: 1/3/2006 6:58:10 PM EDT

[#16]

I have 2 in the house for the basement and spare bedroom, they are great.

Posted: 1/3/2006 10:26:16 PM EDT

[#17]

my parents have a couple of them that they use in Taiwan (gets cold, but central heat isn't a standard thing in Asia)

They're ok.... not near as instant as some of those space heaters with the reflectors.

Hope you've got a good set of breakers. The lowest setting on my folks' smallest one is 600W.

Posted: 1/3/2006 10:33:33 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
I'm sitting right next to one. The switch is on the low heat setting and the thermostat is just below the 3rd of 8 settings. It's just under 75 degrees in the room. House thermostat is on about 68. Even when the heating element is off the hot oil is still radiating heat into the room.

rj

Mrs. NMSight loves the oil-filled heater in the bedroom. Seems to work great and warms a pretty good sized room on the lower setting.

Posted: 1/3/2006 10:57:58 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Oil filled heaters are radiant heat, so they won't provide instant heat, but they provide a heat that radiates warms object in a way similar to the sun

Um...no, they aren't, and no, they don't.

Oil-filled heaters produce convective heat, just like most ceramic-block and "milkhouse" heaters. They don't produce radiant heat like parabolic or quartz heaters (or the sun), but instead merely warm up the air around them.

The oil provides extra thermal mass, which slows down the heating and cooling process as the thermostat cycles on and off. Other than that, they are no different from every other convection heater.

BTW, all electric heaters are equally efficient at producing heat. Every watt of electrical power produces exactly the same amount of heat, regardless of the design of the heater. However, some heaters are better than others at directing the heat into the occupied parts of the room, rather than allowing it to rise to the ceiling.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Electric oil filled radiators, Any Good

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