[Me]

I am looking for some advice on which heater to chose for my Cinema/music room garage conversion. I have worked out what size heater I need, the problem is which I should go for, convection heater or oil filled radiator. Does anyone have experience of either of these and which would be the cheaper to run. Both would be fitted with thermostats and mounted on the wall. I would be looking to leave the heater on all the time on a low setting hence I need something that is cheap to run, any ideas or advice would be welcome.
Thanks.

[ched]

I take it you can add an extra radiator to your house ones. Realistically both the other heaters will work and I think they both are as efficient as each other.
Central heating rads are very easy to install and a lot cheaper to run.

[Me]

Thanks Ched, no unfortunately I can not add to my central heating system, that would be ideal, I am looking for the next best thing and cheap to run.

[welshbrad]

I would have the oil filled radiator as it will hold its heat for longer where the convection heater would be turning on and off more often.

[bolert]

Oil fired is what we use in our garage leave it running all the time on a low heat and keeps the damp and cold out and then just turn it up when needed. As previous poster, it keeps the heat well.

[shahedz]

in my loft i have tried both, and settled with the oil.The oil rad retains heat for longer ( takes longer to warm up but as you're leaving on all the time that shouldn't be an issue) the oil rad heat feels more natural as opposed to an electric convector which just turns on and off so is hot and then cold where as the oil rad seems to be more constant. I would go with the Oil

[Me]

Thanks for all the advice, I think I will go and buy myself and oil filled radiator today.

[MarkP80]

Hi,

See if you can get a unit with a timer built in, or get a timer adapter to plug it into.

I use a convector heater, and find it to be fine, it gives a lot of heat out and soon warms the room up. I'm sure oil filled will be fine too. However, it makes no sense to keep the room at temperature 24 hrs a day. With a timer you can set it in the same way as you do your central heating, and the savings will be much more than any differences between the two types!

Cheers,
MarkP

[Me]

Thanks MarkP80, I already have a convection heater and was wondering if the oil filled would be cheaper to run. I need to keep the room at a reasonable temperature all the time. The room will be used as a music/video production suite and cinema and contains loads of equipment that would be damaged if the temperature dropped to low or condensation was allowed to build up.I was considering one of those tube heaters that just keeps the room at about 10 degrees and use the convection when extra heat is needed, not sure though as I have not had any experience of them.

[Ambulance Andy]

Personally I love underfloor heating it is superb!

Granted it is not the cheapest, but it is quite energy efficient if you use a thermostat and takes up zero space.

It gives a radiant warmth, the type of heat you feel when you walk past a building or brick wall after a long hot summers day. Touching the floor is not hot, but the radiant heat is incredible and very snug, and controllable.