With winter coming up, I have two options for home heating.

Central unit

  • I can use the central unit and close/open vents throughout the house to heat up only the individual rooms I want. This would heat up rooms very quickly. However, to make this work, the living room with the thermostat will also need to be heated so that the thermostat reads the proper temperature. The living room is by far the largest space at about 2.5 times the size of the largest room.

Oil-filled radiator

  • I can use an oil-filled radiator to heat up an individual room. This would be much slower, but I wouldn’t have to heat up the entire living room. However, the oil-filled heater might not be as efficient as the central unit. I don’t know. I plan to rarely heat up the living, no more than once per month.

Edit: The central heating unit is actually a heating kit made up of a few coils that is added to the central a/c.

Edit 2: Where I live, it might freeze once per year over night for a few hours.

Which would be more efficient on the electrical bill, and would t be considerable or negligible?

      • Mjpasta710@midwest.social
        0·
        5 days ago

        Basically yes.

        It adds some efficiency because once you have a radiator full of hot oil in the radiator it tends to release the heat for a long while after the electric is shut-off.

        Most electric space heaters send a plume of hot air arcing upwards.

        You end up with a nice heat storage device to radiate warmth at the level you want to use it for longer than a normal resistive space heater using the same energy.

          • Mjpasta710@midwest.socialEnglish
            0·
            5 days ago

            It has its uses.
            Like most bespoke items they’re good at some things, not everything.

            It’s nice if you’re trying to keep an indoor living space warm for a longer period, like overnight.

            They typically have a thermostat setting on it to maintain the temperature.

            It doesn’t make the same noise as a blowing space heater, as there’s usually not a fan. I’ve heard creaks and such from them.

            As noted, the radiative effect can last for a few hours depending on energy loss in the space.