Browse Forums Heating, Cooling & Insulation 1 Apr 12, 2012 11:11 am hi all, I am looking for an effective heater to heat an average sized bedroom that doesn't use an absurd amount of electricity. Not fussed whether it is a fan heater or not, just after decent heat. I'm in a rental house with no heater and and a landlord unwilling to install anything. Does anyone know of such a heater/effective solution? Thanks. Re: effective, efficient electric portable heater 2Apr 12, 2012 5:24 pm In bedroom: I use hot water bottle under the doona. I wear a balaclava and scarf too, in bed. On my study desk on a sitting position, I wrap myself with goose down sleeping bag. Sometimes my fingers would still freeze despite using mittens-with-open-fingers when typing on keyboard, so I have a hot water bottle nearby on the desk. Re: effective, efficient electric portable heater 3Apr 17, 2012 9:55 pm I'd recommend a Nobo. They are expensive to buy but emit a really nice even heat & are very cheap to run. Re: effective, efficient electric portable heater 4May 10, 2012 2:44 pm There's no difference in efficiency between electric heaters. They are all 100% efficient. Fan, radiators, oil filled will all cost the same to heat a room. The only way you can get better efficiency is with a heat pump, i.e. reverse cycle air con which I suppose you don't want to install in a rental place. All the portable air con units I have seen are cooling only and not reverse cycle. The one thing to look for is a heater with a thermostat on it - at least then it will auto control and not overheat the room if you forget its on. If you are looking to heat up yourself rather than the whole room, then radiators or fan heaters can be cheaper to operate, since they direct the heat right at you and you don't necessarily have to heat up the entire room. Re: effective, efficient electric portable heater 5May 11, 2012 2:13 pm @abenn, I believe your statement "There's no difference in efficiency between electric heaters" to be incorrect as it assumes that all electric heaters have the same conversion rate of electricity to heat. If this was the case for electrical items then there would be no need for the efficiency stickers that you see on electrical items. Another aspect to the running costs of heating can be when you actually have the unit running. For example as a rule of thumb if the temp in the house gets <10 without heating and you want 21 when you get out of bed then it is more efficient to run the reverse cycle air conditioner over night to keep the temp around say 14 and then having the aircon heat up the diff for the time you get out of bed than it is to not heat the house and have the aircon take the temp from <10 to 21. I think a heater with a fan that helps distribute the heat around rather than just up would be more cost efficient as I suspect that I would have the heater run cooler as the warmth would reach me better and more consistently. Cheers, Darth Teddy Bear Re: effective, efficient electric portable heater 6May 11, 2012 2:29 pm Only infra red heaters will cost you less to heat you (the ones with the glowing red bar) - because it doesn't heat the room or the air in the room... the electrical energy is converted to radiant infra red which heats nothing until it hits an absorbent surface like a body. Same as those heat lamps in bathrooms, they quickly heat your body but would take a long time to warm the room because it would need to heat everything in the room before the air in the room warmed up. But the drawback is, it only heats what it points to... your back will be cold when your front is warm. Hot water bottles work on conducted heat through contact, they are very effective... Ed "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 Re: effective, efficient electric portable heater 7May 11, 2012 4:10 pm "ECOECO" At 'EcoEco', we design windows, we design the best windows, we do it for you, so that when you’re happy we are happy. Tel. 1800 326 326 The last home I lived in didn't have a pool and when i went to sell it the agents were not happy, even telling me to put one in to sell the place. The agents weren't happy… 2 4246 Hi everyone! This is my first time posting here, and I'm looking for some advice regarding my house construction project in North Kellyville. I… 0 6695 Hi all. I'm thinking of installing an electric gate in front of this street front villa (link below). The gate would be between the bush on the left and the letter box on… 0 2778 |