space heater suggestions?

[simplyla]

Hi! My husband and I are considering buying a space heater and have never had one, so we don't know what to look for.

Our home has no other heating so it's been in the 50s Fahrenheit indoors this week and apparently will continue getting colder (this is our first full winter living here).

There are several kinds we've seen in stores but we want something both energy efficient (is that possible??) as well as efficient at warming - but just one small room at a time, no need to heat the whole house when it's just the two of us.

Keep in mind we live in China so we don't have products with "Energy Star Efficiency" labels, etc.

I don't know the difference between space heaters but I know our stores sell heating towers (pricey), portable heaters (small, plastic, cute), reflective fan-shaped ones (warm but ugly & bulky), and four-sided metal units (cheap but not very warm).

Any tips for what we should look for as we shop?

Thanks!

[Lilolme]

I'm not for sure what brand ours is, it is a gray metal one. Anyways, it is the only space heater we own and we love it. It gets moved from the bathroom to the living room to the kitchen and back again.

Hopefully somebody with a little more knowledge about space heaters will come along and help you out!

[HappyMama]

I love my Vornado's. To give you some background...lol ( and no I don't have stock in the company), we have a huge Victorian home with high ceilings , tons of windows etc. When we wanted to cut heating costs a couple of years ago I got one ( Vornado) , then another on sale at the end of the season. They have lasted a couple of years, have high ratings, and help get my rooms that I use them in up to 70. I keep my furnace set at 60 and move them to the rooms I am in. This year we did get a wood insert for our fireplace and now don't have the heat on much. I live in the Midwest, have had my furnace set at 60, and they help immensely. They are very energy efficient. Warning they are pricey I think my first one was 65.00 , the second on sale was about 40.00 , but they paid for themselves my first season . I reduced my gas by 50% my first year. The electric went up but was much much cheaper then gas. Surprising they have lasted when I know cheaper ones go out after first season etc. Just a warning don't get used if possible as they did have a recall years ago and you don't want one of those. I got both mine at Walmart, it was cheaper then on I saw them online. Sorry to ramble and so long just wanted to give you all the information. HTh and someone reads....lol

[shadowfax]

I have two that are fantastic. Not sure of the brand names but they are oil filled heaters. They are white and look like a radiator.

They have power up to 1,500 wats but on low are only 500 and med is about 800. They have a thermostat as well so they will kick on and off to maintain a your preffered temp.

I have had these as my sole heating source now for the past three winters and they have done a great job keeping my downstairs comfortable all winter.

[simplyla]

Thanks for the tips everyone. We live in China so only have Chinese brands available, and those oil-filled heaters aren't sold as far south as I live.

The two main options are convection and radiant heaters. Convection generally heat a room, radiant heaters heat just whatever they're pointed at. My husband thinks that since our home is so poorly insulated (it's currently 52 outside and inside alike), a convection heater wouldn't do anything. However, I think radiant heaters are quite unattractive.

Any ideas?

[Lady_V]

Can you do something to help insulate? Even if it's hanging heavy blankets over the windows and walls, rolling up towels for under the door... can you put plastic over the windows to keep the heat in and the cold out?

I looked on the ebay -China site (sorry, I couldn't translate this description because it was done as a picture) but, this is the design of the type of heater I had for several years in my basement bedroom...

Space Heater

[Katybird]

I agree with insulating your doors and windows with heavy blankets or quilts and maybe even adding a layer of plastic over your windows. When I was a kid we always added a layer of plastic held in place by thin pieces of wood over each window and it helped the house stay much warmer.

[simplyla]

Great ideas, and thanks for the link. I've seen that style of heater in the north of china - is it pretty efficient?

I sewed velvet "curtains" for our bedroom window. They're thick, heavy, and hopefully warming.