# Heaters?



## mackers26 (Feb 25, 2013)

What are the best kind of heaters to use to heat your house? I have my wife & children arriving in from Ireland in 3 weeks & i'm keen to have the house nice & warm from them.
Ideally i would want something economical but also it needs to give good heat. At the moment i have an oil filled heater in my room which i leave on 24/7 after some advice from a friend who also said they were the most economical because they don't have a fan. 
Any advice would be great 

Thanks in advance


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## anski (Aug 17, 2008)

I bought a 7 fin oil column heater with fan from Briscoes when they were on special for $69

I use it in the hall & it spreads heat to 3 bedrooms. It is set on a timer & economical heat setting, the other half of the house open plan living area is heated by a heat pump set at 22c & on virtually every hour we are awake on cold days. The house is also insulated.

Using these 2 heaters our house is dry warm & cosy & last 2 winter months bills were $275 & $260 in summer it is $120

I always use exhaust fan when taking a shower or cooking, this also helps keep the house dry & warm


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## mackers26 (Feb 25, 2013)

anski said:


> I bought a 7 fin oil column heater with fan from Briscoes when they were on special for $69
> 
> I use it in the hall & it spreads heat to 3 bedrooms. It is set on a timer & economical heat setting, the other half of the house open plan living area is heated by a heat pump set at 22c & on virtually every hour we are awake on cold days. The house is also insulated.
> 
> ...


Hi thanks for that. I think i'll buy an oil filled heater, they are on offer at the warehouse. i'm hoping my energy bill won't be so high as we are out of the house at least 10 hrs everyday during the week. Unfortunately our house (rental) isn't insulated.


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## Liam(at)Large (Sep 2, 2012)

Panel heaters are the cheapest, but least effective, providing radiant heat (good for kids rooms, not for heating big open spaces).

Column oil heaters are next most cost effective and are convection. They are also relatively slow to get a room up to a desired temperature. If the heater is going to be off all day and turned on when you get home (when it's starting to cool off) it may take a while to hear the room to temperature.

Then there are fan heaters, which are costly but heat the room very quickly.

We use a combination, and have either a fan heater or convection element with fan heater in the room to get it to temperature fast, and then the regular convection oil column heaters to maintain the temp at a quieter and more cost effective rate.

I wouldn't leave the bedroom heater on all day, waste of electricity. We turn ours on about an hour before bedtime 

(We are also in an uninsulated rental.)

Here's a good article:
Electric heating | EECA Energywise


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

Hi anski, unlike the other comments, I found the oil column heaters were not worth the expense (for me). They have to run for long periods of time to achieve heat, in fact, you are pretty much obligated to run them 24/7 to achieve any rise in temperature because of how slow they heat up in the first place. My first winter here a few years ago our power bills were running $400 to $450 in winter because of using a few oil column heaters and a dehumidifier. My kiwi husband was nonplussed by this, whereas I almost dropped dead upon seeing the power bill. I made him get rid of the column heaters and dehumidifier. Our energy bill dropped to about $150-$250 a month in winter. We purchased a few small electric space heaters which quickly warm rooms up (if you keep the doors closed), and that have thermostats on them so they automatically shut off. I came from California, so it is shocking cold here for me in Chch; for me, heat is a requirement, and was met best with electric space heaters--they blast the heat out hot and fast to quickly warm a room and can then be set to pop back on when the temperature dips back down.


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