Although my sister lives there, she's tougher than me and goes without heat all winter :scared: So no good me going to her for advice!

I've heard about radiant heaters, convection heaters, space heaters, but don't really know the difference. Can someone explain please what the options are, and what is a good baby- and toddler-proof heater. Something that I can keep on low at night with a thermostat so it switches on and off on its own. And also where in Perth is a good place to buy one. Or two. Or maybe one for every room

For my children I've got oil filled radiators for their bedrooms. They are just like a thick small radiator usually on wheels, which come in a variety of sizes. If it's really cold I leave them on the thermostat over night & they click on & off as required. You still need to be careful not to touch them but they don't get that hot.

Most other heaters for your main areas I would think you'd still need some sort of guard. My kids are older so I haven't needed one. Saying that friends with a toddler have got gas heaters & no guards, he has learned to stay from them. I wouldn't have a radiant with littlies (they are the ones that glow orange). I use them in our main rooms as they work really quickly & were cheaper initially than gas heaters.

Reverse cycle air con of course you wouldn't need a guard, but if you haven't got it already is pricey.

We got some good deals on heaters at The Good Guys if that's any help.

Loopy

The BEST option, in my opinion, is ducted, refrigerated, reverse cyle air conditioning.

This will give warmth in the winter, and cooling in Summer.

Pricey, but good. An example in our local paper, for a 3 bed single storey house starts at about $8,000 fully installed.

hi we have been pondering the same question over the last week or so - after speaking to loadsa different people we came to the conclusion that ducted air con (hot/cold) would be the best option - we currently have a wood burner which i was too scared to leave alight when i went to bed (i know, thats what they are designed for but summink in the back of me head kept keeping me awake ) we are having a guy to price up tomorrow but the girl in the shop quoted us a rough price of $7,000 for a daikin (sp) all singing all dancing with 6 outlets if u need any more info message me & ill ask the guy tomorrow for ya


hth

pootle26

Cheap to run too. Very cheap.

We have a friend with a wood heater who brought up all 4 kids with no fireguards saying that you can teach. I'd like to feel that we could teach our kids the same respect for fire, but we're going to use a guard just because we owe it to other people's kids, and you could always trip up ...

Thanks so much all of you for your valuable replies. Sounds like the ducted is the way to go and when we get to Perth we are hoping to buy a modern-ish type of house and hope that will be installed already. In the meantime I think the oil filled ones will be good as my daughter is very good at knowing not to touch what is hot.