those oil heaters are considered relatively safe compared to alot of others....it would probably be cheaper to run the oil heater at low (750)watts,than having the electric back-up heat running constantly.the electric back up heat is alot larger than oil heater,so you should save money. I would leave door closed as those heaters rely on the natural flow of the air around the fins to distribute heat. if it is really cold out,at some point your main heat from compressor will become disabled,and the only heat you will get is from the electric elements....

you are only going to get back-up heat

I use the oil-filled radiators in a couple of rooms. I feel they are just about the safest form of electric heater there is, as long as your receptacle is in good shape (plug fits tightly into it) and not overloaded.

As far as the actual cost of heat, your heat pump on emergency heat is producing heat at the same cost per BTU as your oil-filled radiator, but by putting the radiator in the room where you need the heat and then turning the thermostat down (or not turning it up) the radiator heater could still save you quite a bit of money. The reason is that the heat pump on emergency heat is probably drawing 15,000 or 20,000 watts, while the radiator (on the high heat setting) is drawing 1,500 watts. On the low settings these only draw 600 or 900 watts.

You can try running the heater with the door open, but the heat will stay in the room better with the door closed. As for the positioning of the heater, I would put it about a foot from the wall in the coolest part of the room. I think this is the safest, because in the center of the room it would be more likely to get tripped on or knocked over, and also because your receptacles will be on the wall, and I would not want the cord running across the floor.

I agree with SeaBee. I have an oil-filled radiator and they work great. No fan so they are quiet. The newer ones have a digital t-stat. Put it on the lowest setting for a bedroom. It doesn't have to be in the center of the room - I keep one near a wall and it works fine.

PS: Your back-up electric strips are either 10 kw (10,000 watts) or 15 kw (15,000 watts). If they are 15kw, you have to run the oil-filled radiator for 20 straight hours (15,000/750 = 20) to equal the electric consumption of the 15kw strips for one hour.

Good luck.

thanks all. Last night I did notice that little blue light on my stat was on and still the second floor was cold. I knocked it back two degrees and the blue light kicked off. I did not see it come back on and the upstairs did not get much if any colder. Maybe if I left it set at 70 with the blue light on (emerg heat I guess) then the upstairs would have eventually warmed. But at what cost? Of the three bedrooms we used, only my son was uncomfortable. Yea, ours could have been warmer but my wife and can live with it.

I bought a Kenwood (Delongi I think, at least the instructions say that) today at HD. It was half price ($23). I hope its not junk but there is limited stock at this point. It has 3 temp settings and a mechanical timer. My thought is to try it tonight and try to get it to keep the room at 68 or so.

In truth, he always complains even why the temp in his room is 67/68. If it works well, I'd consider letting him use it each night and turning the stat down a bit. As I said, my wife and I like it colder and my daughters room is always warmer anyway. With this, perhaps we could all be more comfortable. I would only it at bed time and unplug it in the morning when I wake him; that way I know there will be no roughhousing or anything around it. I plan on only using it on the low setting. His bedroom is 11 X 13 so I think it should be able to handle that. Out bedroom is 12 X 20---not sure it would cut it in there. Thanks!

Andre:

Assuming your heat strips in the air handler are 15kw and your electric prices are 10 cents per kw-hr total, then:

(15 kw) x ($.10 kw-hr) = $1.50 per hour to run your aux electric strips only.

Running that oil filled radiator on low (assume 500 watts which is .5 kw):

(.5 kw) x ($.10 kw-hr) = $.05 per hour to run = 5 cents/hr.
Running it on high (1500 watts) would cost 15 cents/hour.

Have you stopped using the ventless logs because of the smell?

Take care.

Gary,

1) Andre:
Assuming your heat strips in the air handler are 15kw and your electric prices are 10 cents per kw-hr total, then:

(15 kw) x ($.10 kw-hr) = $1.50 per hour to run your aux electric strips only.

****Actually, I seem to recall the guy who did my estimate for the proposed new trane system saying that the numbers he calc'd called for 15kw strips where as now I only have 10kw. I think it was about $150 upgrade. When I asked him what that would get me, he said at extreme temps the emerg/aux heat I now have might now be able to keep the house 68+ degrees. I guess he was right! Of course the little portable appears to be far less expensive but if the emerg/aux heat is cycling on/off infrequently it might not be worth the effort. In these temps, it likely is.

Based on your second calc it appears it is better when the temp hits some really low number to simply turn the stat down and use portable where needed--so long as it is not needed in a dozen rooms I guess! If only 1 or 2 though it should be cheaper allbeit a bit of a pain in the butt.

Running that oil filled radiator on low (assume 500 watts which is .5 kw):

2) Have you stopped using the ventless logs because of the smell?
The smell is not apparent when the damper is half open. It does add enough heat over a few hours in this mode to cause the heat pump to shut off. Of course the upstairs then gets colder. I posted in hearth.com and did some research. It may well be that the prior owners years of burning wood has left a coating of black gunk in the fireplace and this is actually what is being burt and giving off the odor. I am not sure. It would have been nice if they mentioned that and maybe I could have somehow cleaned the area first...maybe not though.

I am tempted in the spring to open all window, shut the damper and run the sucker for a few hours to see if the extreme heat might burn away whatever residue is in there from the prior owner burning wood for years.

Andre:

Have you had the chimney inspected and swept to try and remove the creosote?

We had a sweep out for an inspection and cleaning. He was thorough, explained a lot but siad it did not warrant a cleaning. I do not want to portray the fireplace as some sort of pit of filth. I simply think the normal act of burning the wood has blackened the inside of the firepalce, as I have seen in most wood burneres. I am just wondering / thinking that this is what is outgassing as heated and giving off the fumes.

Andre:

I have a woodburning masonry fireplace and it is fairly clean similar to the way you describe yours. I have noticed that the smell tends to be more pronounced on damp or rainy days. Not sure if the moisture in the air is reacting with the creosote to make the odor stronger.

When I close both the flue vent and the glass doors, I do not get the odor. I must be making an air seal when I close the flue and doors.

you are on the mark about the humity I think. Before this cold spell we had a warm spell...60 degrees but rainy. With my damper fully closed I could smell a whiff of that nasty smell now and then...and that was just with the glass doors closed and coming from the pilot light alone. Well I cranked open the damper a turn and the smell went away. A half our or so later I am smelling a firewood smell! I shut the damper and pilot light and all was fine. I'd swear that instead of the air going up the chimeny, it was coming down, perhaps attrubtable to the warmer weather.

Well, the oil fin worked great last night. I shut my stat back to 66 since at 68 teh aux heats imply was not going off nor was it getting warm upstairs. I put the little guy in my sons room, set it on medium and and set thermostat on high. Once his room warmed from 65 to 69 (30 minutes or so) I set it to LOW and click the stat until it shut off. It was still 69 in the morning. I'd like to believe we saved a bunch of $$$$ by NOT running the aux heat all night, especially since it could not warm the upstairs anyway. Maybe I should have bounght one for our bedroon!

I use oil filled radiators in my bedroom and my office at my house. I keep the temperature set back to no more than 68, but it's always several degrees cooler upstairs.

Plus, with the TV on, it keeps the thermostat from kicking on, so it can get quite chilly in my house.

I sleep with a down comforter (not to mention a furry 100 pound dog who likes to cuddle!) and have the heater set on a timer so that it comes on about an hour before I get up in the morning.

Keeping your thermostat set back and spot heating almost always saves you money.

Just follow all of the standard safety precautions.

And, be sure to check your home stores as these devices are normally on end-of-season clearance right about now.

Yes, Istopped for a second heater at HD but they were sold out. The weather was warmer as was the house but I left the heat pump stat around 67. Our bedroom was 64. I put the heater on the low setting with its stat on 3 out of 6. Within an hour or two the room was 69 and my wife unlugged it. The room was 68 this morning without the thing even running...defintitley something to play with next month.

I have a 11 fin oil heater. when I bought it the guy told me that they are the best heaters. It won't heat the room instantly but have to leave it on for sometime then it will heat the room. I keep my heater on for 24 hours but still the room does not get heated. I can feel some heat only when I am sitting beside the heater. Can anyone please sugest me what should I do so that the room gets heated?

is the room real big or under insulated? Is this the only heat source? My experience was that I could lower my heat to say 65 and set the fin heater at 68 and within and hour it was 68 and maintained that until I shut the unit. It did not appear to impact my electric bill. It definitely took th ecold edge off the bedroom.

Are you leaving the door to the room open?

If you are, most likely all of your heat is simply going out the door.

What I do in the winter to keep the heat in my office and my bedroom is hang curtains across the doors.

I'd close the doors, but my dog takes a very dim view of that.

My room is a small one and I run my heater on maximum but still it does not heat the room.
I don't know if my room is under insulated or not.
I also keep the door of my room tightly closed but still the room does not get heated.
I tried putting the heater near the door thinking that it will heat the air which enters the room from the small gap below the door but even that did not work.
How can I know if my room is under insulated?

Are you sure the heater is working and that the thermostat is turned up?

yes the heater is working. When I touch the fins they are hot.

Usually those heaters are 1500 watts. Typically they have two settings, 900W and 600W (meaning a med and a low power setting) with both switches on being high or full power.

The result is, on high the maximum heat output is 5,119 BTUÂs. Depending on size of room, insulation factors, # of windows and on how many walls, window quality, storm windows present, heated or unheated space below or above which all effects heat loss and infiltration, the heater may be too small.

Keep in mind that a 4x14 floor register, fed by a 6" round pipe with 110 cfm has about the same heat output as your electric radiator.

That being said, not knowing the specifics of your room, IÂm positive that your heater is too small, since you say it works fine.

what is the exact size of the room? How many windows? How old are the windows? Is there supplemental heat...ie from a running heat pump or something or is there NO HEAT in this room other than the fin heater? Is the room over a garage?