Author Topic: heating a single room (Read 3983 times)

velosam · « **on:** 23 November, 2018, 10:37:24 am »

I work from home a bit and it seems more efficient to simply heat the 1-2 rooms I use.

Is it best getting an oil heater or one of those halogen ones.

The heater will be on for most of the day.

thanks

sojournermike · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 November, 2018, 10:48:41 am »

Hi Sam

We have water based central heating controlled with a Honeywell evohome system that allows individual time and temperature control of individual rooms. Not a cheap system, but might be worth looking at.

Mike

jiberjaber · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 November, 2018, 10:53:32 am »

I've used oil filled radiators before to good effect to keep my workshop at a suitable temp over winter. They can be had for a reasonable price and I 'feel' they are safer than halogen or other direct radiant options.

Some good info here, make sure you compare apples with apples in terms of heat output when looking at the running price.

https://www.cse.org.uk/advice/advice-and-support/room-heaters

Paul H · « **Reply #3 on:** 23 November, 2018, 10:59:21 am »

Those halogen ones are great for standing in front of for a bit of instant warmth, but inefficient as room heaters. I live in a flat with electric storage heaters, when I get it right and predict the need correctly it's cheaper to heat the whole flat with them than a single room with the oil filled radiator I have as back up. The oil filled is fine, does the job and if you need a mobile electric heater probably as good as they get, I just wouldn't want the cost of running it every day.

ian · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 November, 2018, 11:01:25 am »

I use an oil-filled radiator in my remote command centre. It's a largish room but I sit next to it, so plenty toasty. Seems more efficient than firing up the boiler to heat a single radiator in a distant part of the house. I aim to keep me warm rather than the entire room, but it does a decent job.

Greenbank · « **Reply #5 on:** 23 November, 2018, 11:59:59 am »

Quote from: ian on 23 November, 2018, 11:01:25 am

Seems more efficient than firing up the boiler to heat a single radiator in a distant part of the house.

Bear in mind that heating something with electricity is 3 times as expensive as with gas. It may still be cheaper to heat all of a small flat with gas powered central heating than to heat one room with an electric heater.

ian · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 November, 2018, 12:46:56 pm »

It's possible for a smaller place. But this is a four-bed large detached house and my remote command centre is an elevated extension off the side (rather splendidly, the heating pipes go outside the actual house to get here¹). I can't imagine sparking up the big boiler and pumping the hot water to my distant domain would be more efficient though.

I'm in the cold at the moment in a jumper and two sweatshirts, it's a rather balmy 18 degrees (I'm not sure if it's accurate, it feels colder) in the RMC. I usually only fire up the radiator when my fingers and toes start to go numb, which if the thermomobox is to be believed, sub 17.5 degrees, or when my wife shouts at me because she's working at home²).

¹I wish I were joking, the come out from the side of the house and up into my office. They weren't even insulated. Now boxed-in and snug. That's British workmanship for you.

²Not told her about the Alexa thing and she doesn't know and probably won't learn to work the new themostat. It's for the best otherwise it'd be 25 degrees upstairs.

Kim · « **Reply #7 on:** 23 November, 2018, 01:09:51 pm »

All electric heaters are ultimately 100% efficient. The difference is that halogen heaters are faster at warming humans, fan heaters are faster at warming the air, oil-filled radiators are better at maintaining a steady state without blowing hot dust around, and computers get useful work done while they heat the room.

Electrically heating one room vs running the gas central heating is a tricky one, and will depend on all sorts of hard to quantify thermal properties of your boiler and house.

Hot Flatus · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 November, 2018, 01:20:34 pm »

Maybe I'm being a bit thick here, but can you not just turn off the radiators in the rooms you don't use?

rafletcher · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 November, 2018, 01:53:50 pm »

Quote from: Hot Flatus on 23 November, 2018, 01:20:34 pm

Maybe I'm being a bit thick here, but can you not just turn off the radiators in the rooms you don't use?

Indeed, my wife does this all the time.

ian · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 November, 2018, 02:00:17 pm »

You still might be pumping a large volume of water – which has to be heated, and it's all about specific heat capacity – around the house even if it's bypassing the radiators. Plus, in my experience, I'll have to spend the rest of my life trying to rebalance everything.

velosam · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 November, 2018, 03:05:24 pm »

I think I may get a single oil filled one and try it.

I usually do what ian does, wrap up but its not productive and I hate the cold!

thank you all for the responses.

any recommendations around £30-£40 or are they all much of a muchness?

T42 · « **Reply #12 on:** 23 November, 2018, 03:26:52 pm »

Best option for me is to warm the air. I tried radiant in my workshop, but it's not much use having your head at 20°C and the tools at 7°C, especially the all-metal ones. Currently I'm using a bottled-gas combo air/radiant up one end and an electric fan heater up the other, with about 5 metres in between. I put a fan on top of the gas heater to distribute the heat a bit better. Hint: the dogs prefer the gas heater.

I did try an oil-filled electric radiator in the dim & distant: the effect was more psychological than anything.

Kim · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 November, 2018, 03:31:22 pm »

I find radiant heaters have the same problem as wooly jumpers and thick sleeping bags: I might feel warm - possibly even to the point where I can feel my toes - but I'm still breathing cold air, with asthmatic consequences.

grams · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 November, 2018, 03:53:28 pm »

I recommend pairing any electric heater with an external thermostat placed a little way from the heater - you can buy wireless ones for £15-20. I’ve found they do a great job keeping the air temperature stable.

Quote from: Greenbank on 23 November, 2018, 11:59:59 am

Bear in mind that heating something with electricity is 3 times as expensive as with gas. It may still be cheaper to heat all of a small flat with gas powered central heating than to heat one room with an electric heater.

Not so great if you give a damn about your carbon footprint though.

Greenbank · « **Reply #15 on:** 23 November, 2018, 04:37:38 pm »

Quote from: grams on 23 November, 2018, 03:53:28 pm

Not so great if you give a damn about your carbon footprint though.

If you give a damn about your carbon footprint you might already be using a green/carbon-neutral energy supplier (although it would still be better to minimise your usage regardless).

Electricity also has a bigger (almost double) carbon footprint than gas for the same energy usage (even once you factor in the fact that gas is not as efficient as electricity for heat production.)

https://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

0.31 tonnes: 1000 kWh of electricity at 0.3072 kgCO2e/kWh
0.18 tonnes: 1000 kWh of natural gas

ian · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 November, 2018, 04:40:15 pm »

Quote from: velosam on 23 November, 2018, 03:05:24 pm

I think I may get a single oil filled one and try it.

I usually do what ian does, wrap up but its not productive and I hate the cold!

thank you all for the responses.

any recommendations around £30-£40 or are they all much of a muchness?

Mine says Dimplex on the top and has wheels. I can't imagine it was too expensive (oh, I'm sure you can get internet-enabled ones and stuff, MLIR applies). They're quite heavy so the latter is useful if you plan to reposition (I wheel mine out when the need arises). They suck up a lot of electrical juices, so probably better not to buy the cheapest one going off eBay unless you plan a for-one-night-only house heating event.

It's currently 17 degrees in my office (Hive says 18.0 in the hallway). Another 20 minutes till the heating kicks in and I'm on the road to Toastiville. Actually not too bad, considering it's 6 degrees outside, and it's a 1960s house.

Hot Flatus · « **Reply #17 on:** 23 November, 2018, 04:46:23 pm »

Save money and just smear yourself with Tiger Balm

Greenbank · « **Reply #18 on:** 23 November, 2018, 04:53:16 pm »

Quote from: Hot Flatus on 23 November, 2018, 04:46:23 pm

Save money and just smear yourself with Tiger Balm

For infinite adjustment up and down:-

grams · « **Reply #19 on:** 23 November, 2018, 04:57:32 pm »

Quote from: Greenbank on 23 November, 2018, 04:37:38 pm

If you give a damn about your carbon footprint you might already be using a green/carbon-neutral energy supplier (although it would still be better to minimise your usage regardless).

If you read the small print of those tariffs (at least the ones I’ve seen) the renewables part only applies to the electricity, since renewable gas is very small scale at this point.

gonzo · « **Reply #20 on:** 23 November, 2018, 04:59:26 pm »

Quote from: Greenbank on 23 November, 2018, 04:53:16 pm

For infinite adjustment up and down:-

Nothing constructive to contribute, but I wanted to highlight that by reading this post I managed to sputter hot coffee on my hands via laughter thus warming them up.

sojournermike · « **Reply #21 on:** 24 November, 2018, 07:43:10 am »

Quote from: grams on 23 November, 2018, 04:57:32 pm

Quote from: Greenbank on 23 November, 2018, 04:37:38 pm
If you give a damn about your carbon footprint you might already be using a green/carbon-neutral energy supplier (although it would still be better to minimise your usage regardless).

If you read the small print of those tariffs (at least the ones I’ve seen) the renewables part only applies to the electricity, since renewable gas is very small scale at this point.

I don’t think it usually small print. It’s pretty obvious really.

I had grand plans for a lower CO2 heat source, but it became somewhat too capital intensive (expensive).

One day I’ll get to it and the system will work with relatively simple plumbing in, but I suspect it will cost over £10k. Not a short payback period.

Similarly, if I was buying a new cooker I’d likely go for induction hobs, but retrofitting a perfectly functional gas cooker is expensive and would need a new circuit and distribution board.