Electric oil-filled space heater VS all electric space heater (mattress, house)

[BrittyBea36]

Oh! And for those of you who also have a Toyo, where do you keep the sensor on the wall? I have read so many different places that are supposed to be "correct". The owner has it placed behind and to the left of the toyo about 4.5' from the floor. It is also placed on the same wall as ALL the big windows (chalet).

[warptman]

Buy thicker blankets.

[AK76]

Originally Posted by BrittyBea36

The fan was actually going the wrong way. I just flipped the switch, so maybe it'll make a difference? I also bumped it up to medium speed. We also all sleep with fans in our rooms for the "white noise" so maybe I should turn them around where they are facing out the room instead of inside?

Yes, place the fans on the floor near the doorway so that they pull the cold air from the floor inside the room and blow it out and up toward the ceiling at about a 45* angle.

[keyman51]

Fans can end up costing a few dollars a month to use. you might want to check into electric blankets. I know a long time ago I was able to buy a wall picture that had a heating element on it and you could turn it on a few hours before you were going to use the room. Unless the room is being used a lot, electric blankets might be the way to go.

[JasonAndJulie]

What are you using the loft for currently? Maybe the kids can sleep there.

We live in Texas so our temps are nothing like yours, but we have a wood stove. In the room with the wood stove the ceiling is vaulted. We could not believe the different when we turned the fans backwards it is even a thousand times better than the blower on the stove.

Our main issue (like you) is that some rooms heat better than others. For those colder rooms we use heavier blankets but in your situation I would use electric blankets and put the kids to bed in lots of layers including wool socks. It seems like younger kids don't keep their blankets on very well so you may have to do the space heater if they are young.

I am a huge penny pincher so I would probably just make them sleep in the loft to kill two birds with one stone.

Good Luck and I hope you report back

[Nonesuch]

Originally Posted by BrittyBea36

The oil company we use recommended that we get electric oil-filled heaters ($44 at a local hardware store) for our bedrooms. Does anyone else use these? How energy efficient are they?

The "oil-filled" electric are exactly as efficient at turning dollars into heat as any other resistive electric space heater, with the added excitement of sometimes exploding.

https://www.heaterrecall.com/have-yo...ement-program/

[mojo101]

once we get in bed and covered with warm blankets ,does it make that much a difference how cold the room is?
do your kids wear wool underwear?
Or is it different in Alaska?

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by mojo101

once we get in bed and covered with warm blankets ,does it make that much a difference how cold the room is?
do your kids wear wool underwear?
Or is it different in Alaska?

No, it isn't any different...and it wasn't any different 8 years ago when the OP first asked the question. What you want is to keep body warmth close to the skin. Wool is one way to do that but there are others. Not everyone can wear wool as a base layer. I can't. Wearing wool underwear in bed would keep me broken out in never ending itch and rashes. I wear some sort of cotton, quick wicking fleece, or silk blend head to toe instead. Remember nightcaps? There was a reason they were invented...unheated houses. Putting something on your head can keep you quite a bit warmer. The main drawback of trying to stay warm while wearing cotton is getting it wet. Shouldn't be an issue under covers, in a bed, surrounded by a functional house.

I sleep better in a chilly room so I don't heat my bedroom. It hovers around 50F in there in winter. I have an old fashioned feather bed on my mattress, thick fluffy flannel sheets, either a wool blanket, a down or synthetic poly fiber comforter in a non-slippery cover on top. All those materials share one characteristic...they all loft well (lots of tiny air pockets throughout), so they are all good at trapping and holding on to the warm air my body heat creates. Creates a snug cocoonlike nest. If you have a slithery fabric comforter cover it will tend to slide off. You can get covers with corner ties to help keep them on your bed. It is important to keep your bedclothes dry, so pull them off the bed every morning for a while to allow accumulated body moisture to escape.

[rodentraiser]

I have a small space heater, an oil filled space heater (I think that's what you guys were talking about), and one of those looks-like-a-Franklin-stove space heater.

I use the small heater and the stove heater and turn both off at night. I did try to use all the heaters at one time but that blew a fuse, so right now I just use the two heaters above, mainly because I can slide the small heater under the table and keep my feet warm.

I was almost going to give away my oil heater but from what I'm reading here, maybe I'll hang on to it. I didn't know they worked so well.

[RocketDawg]

Anybody use an electric blanket?