When the cooler winter months approach, you start thinking of ways to keep cosy and warm inside the home. However, if you don’t require anything particularly fancy when it comes to heating, you may baulk at paying for an expensive heater.  The solution is to buy an oil heater, as they are relatively cheap to buy but are good at heating the room that you are in.  If you’re not sure what to look for in your new oil heater though, we’ve put together a guide to get you started.  For any more info, just talk to your local heating specialist who will be only too happy to help.

What are Oil Heaters?

Oil heaters, also commonly called column heaters, are popular because of the warm heat that they give off.  They are made up of a series of metal columns that have hollow cavities.  Inside these cavities oil circulates and a heating element located at the bottom of the heater warms up the oil. Warming the oil makes it travel more easily through the heater. The heat then transfers into the room by a process of conduction (going through the metal) and radiation.  Oil heaters can take a while to reach temperature but once at temperature, they provide long lasting heat.

Get the Right Sized Heater

Oil heaters are space heaters, which means that they work best within a single room.  The key to heating the room effectively however lies in the size of the oil heater that you choose.  You want to try and opt for one that is a little bigger than you think you need.  This is because a bigger heater will heat the room better and you will not need to turn it up as high. Ideally, your room will reach temperature at a medium heating level.  It is important to note that oil heaters are not designed to operate at their highest temperatures for long periods of time

Look for Safety Features

One thing that you must look out for when buying an oil heater is its safety features.  Your oil heater should have something called a tilt shut off device.  This turns the heater off automatically if it detects that the oil heater has been knocked over at all.  Something else your oil heater should have is an overheat shut off device.  The purpose of this is to monitor the temperature of the heater and to turn it off automatically if it malfunctions and gets too hot.  When operating normally, oil heaters are quite safe and thus are popular choices for heaters in kids’ room

What Other Features Does the Oil Heater Have?

Finally, look at what other features your oil heater comes with.  Does it have a timer so that you can set it to start working an hour before you get up, or before you get home, or to turn off after you’ve been asleep for an hour?  Does it have temperature controls?  Looking at the “mod cons” so to speak, and choosing an oil heater that comes with the features that you need will make using it easier and more fun.