Heating question

[Ness]

Hi everyone,

we recently got an oil column heater for our bedroom, in anticipation/recognition of colder temps here in ChCh and soon-to-hatch kiwi baby. This is our first winter here. We're in a rental that seems pretty poorly insulated, and there's a heat pump in the lounge, but it definitely doesn't reach the bedroom.

Someone told us that it's cheaper to keep the heater's thermostat on the lowest setting all day/night, rather than turning it on/off every evening, so it doesn't have to work as hard to warm up the room when we're in it. Is this true? It seems a bit counter-intuitive to me, and I haven't been able to find any comparisons for this kind of situation.

Thanks for any advice/insight!

[YouMeAndThree]

It's something I've heard too.

The only comparisons I've seen were based on central heating in the UK - a digital thermostat was found to be more effective left on constantly than having the heating coming on and off during different times of day.

[Familyofmonkeys]

I might be wrong here, but I think that a heater set on thermostat would only really work effectively if you are in a well insulated house that can maintain the temperature reasonably well so 'top up' costs are minimal. In a poorly insulated house (i.e. our first rental) we found the heat is all lost within an hour when the heater turned off and back to brrrrrr..........so you are best only heating the room you are using, if you don't want a ridiculous power bill.

[bob_the_engineer]

the most important thing you can do is dehumidify the place, the energy needed to heat damp air is extraordinary.

just to keep you on your toes, the air has to be warm for the dehumidifier to work efficiently, but the dehumidifier has to be in a cool place, lol does that help?

seriously the dehumidifier has a cold element that draws the water out of warm air, so don't place the dehumidifier close to a heater.

keeping an oil filled radiator running on low without a dehumidifier won't save you money, relative to turning it off, because you will constantly pour energy into the water thats in the air, and the air temperature wont go up (the SHC of water is big).

an oil heater at one side of the room and a dehumidifier at the other will warm the room efficiently.
Oh and running a dehumidifier in a room with a heat pump will save you a small fortune in electricity bills.

Bob

[Ness]

Thanks for the info/advice!

We'd been looking at buying a dehumidifier, but deterred by their relatively high cost -sounds like they're a good investment though.

Thanks again!

[Georgebulldog]

Some great info here, thanks
I'm constantly trying to heat then get rid of condensation.
A quick question, is it OK to have the windows open a little to get rid of the condensation & run a dehumidifier in the same room?

Ness if your going to buy a dehumidifier go for broke on them, we bought one but I wish I paid a bit more & got a bigger one, one on wheels as it's only little but sooo heavy to lift & the lead on it is so short I need to get an extention so it can sit on the landing & do all the upstairs not just sit in one room

[jeffanar]

the most important thing you can do is dehumidify the place, the energy needed to heat damp air is extraordinary.

just to keep you on your toes, the air has to be warm for the dehumidifier to work efficiently, but the dehumidifier has to be in a cool place, lol does that help?

seriously the dehumidifier has a cold element that draws the water out of warm air, so don't place the dehumidifier close to a heater.

keeping an oil filled radiator running on low without a dehumidifier won't save you money, relative to turning it off, because you will constantly pour energy into the water thats in the air, and the air temperature wont go up (the SHC of water is big).

an oil heater at one side of the room and a dehumidifier at the other will warm the room efficiently.
Oh and running a dehumidifier in a room with a heat pump will save you a small fortune in electricity bills.

Bob

Great "engineering" response

[mylesdw]

Some great info here, thanks
I'm constantly trying to heat then get rid of condensation.
A quick question, is it OK to have the windows open a little to get rid of the condensation & run a dehumidifier in the same room?

No, keep the windows shut otherwise the DH will be running overtime trying to dry the damp air from outside. The only exception would be in the rare case where the outside air is dry enough anyway in which case turn the DH off and open the windows.

[Georgebulldog]

Thanks
So does opening the windows get rid of any condensation? Without the use of a DH do you think? I thought it worked but now I'm begining to wonder

[mylesdw]

If the outside air is drier than the inside air (which it normally is) then opening the windows works well except that it lets the room heat out too. When it's cold outside keep the windows shut and run the DH. As others have already mentioned they make a huge difference to the feeling of warmth in the house and are not very expensive to run.