scaria197

We have just landed 3 days ago and it is cold here!! We are coming from Hot Summer weather, so I guess that adds to the impact.

We have been tucking ourselves in quilts and comforters but really would like to pickup a heater. Our house was centrally heated so we never dealt with stand alone heaters.

Which is better?

what is a good price to pay for either?

Do they sell Air Humidifiers here to avoid dryness?

Thanks in advance,

scaria197

Petals

We have central heating so and a wood fire so we do not use stand alone heating. My aged mother has an oil filled heater for safety reasons and they work very well but costs a lot to run.

Have a visit at the Good Guys and discuss with the sales people I am sure they will be able to help you.

Yes you can get humidifiers here in Aus, bowl of water does the trick too.

GarryP

If you have a reverse cycle air conditioner, it can be run in heating mode and is 3x as efficient as an electric heater.

Wol

Australian houses can be shockingly badly insulated (what's insulation?) with 2" gaps under outside doors, windows that let the wind rush through and no heating at all.

We rented for a year a brand new villa only four years ago and I've never been so cold in my life! There *was* reverse cycle heating but it was so inadequate that it shut down every ten minutes for a seven minute defrosting in cold weather.

We bought a couple of oil heaters which actually brought the inside temperature up to a liveable figure quite rapidly.

The high pitched whirring from the meter cupboard was a small price to pay!

Alfresco

Convection oil or element heaters work the best, with thermo control and keep doors and windows closed.

al150n

After a trip to Retrovision to buy a gas heater we got talked out of it by the sales guys who said our reverse cycle aircon would be more efficient to use.

Because the house is open plan (which is great in the summer) we have bought lots of pressure fit curtain poles & cheapy Ikea curtains to section off the living areas. This means we can heat the main area without wasting heat on the rooms we aren't using in the mornings.

We've also invested in an oil filled radiator which we use in the living room just for a couple of hours in the evening once the kids are in bed. Again this area is curtained off to help keep the heat in.

I do keep telling everyone that when it's cold wet & windy it feels like we're living in a static caravan

Alison x

ozzieeagle

What kind of Oil Heater Wol, Do you mean a Oil Filled Radiator, or one of those Kero Jobs ?

paulry

We've got two oil-filled radiators for the living area and they keep it as warm as toast, but they do take a while to get the room up to temperature. We also use fan heaters for the bedrooms for brief use in the mornings, etc.

...Dreading the bill

Wol

DeLonghi oil filled radiators, with thermostats. They heat up a room quite quickly, and with a high heat capacity don't cycle too often.

Alfresco

Agree.

DeadVim

Yup, we've got a small oil-filled heater for the kid's room and it works really well even on low settings.

We have an open fire for the living area which is great when we can be arsed to start it ... tonight is an exercise in layering up and appreciating the duvet when you hit it

Has to beat heat, humidity and fakking insects ...

paulry

A main fuse blew this evening. It happened while one of the oil-filled radiators and a fan heater was on and I then switched on the high-speed kettle. It was too much for place and half the house's plug points are now out. I've had to trail an extension lead to keep the fridge powered up and will investigate in the morning. From what I could see there's just one fuse box which is outside and what looks like wire fuses for each circuit single main trip switch. Strange how it's not trippable switches for each circuit. Does this mean that every time the plugs get overloaded I'm going to have to go out and buy a new fuse? Never known this kind of set up before

Alfresco

Get a mini circuit breaker...

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...46&postcount=9

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showp...8&postcount=15

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=723269

ozzieeagle

Just in case... A portable reverse cycle air con could be the go. Very useful for cooling bedrooms in the summer. Only problem is expense... circa 600 to 700 bucks and they are bulky items. Possibly a very useful solution and cheaper to run than standard electric heating

scaria197

Thanks everyone for all the great inputs.....we are off this weekend to buy an oil heater 11-fin preferably the DeLonghi brand.plus an air one for the quick heat burst....ah as I think..where do u get them?
Target/Kmart? those are the two chains close to our place.

How are the prices there? any other stores for better price?

If yes can we negotiate with cash?