Heating your home room by room can be done with halogen heaters, oil radiators, convection heaters, and fan heaters. There are various advantages and disadvantages to each, and some are more energy efficient than others. If you’re considering using a halogen heater, here are some of the benefits, and commonly addressed concerns about them.
Halogen lamps provide a very hot radiant source of energy which heats up quickly, and stays quite hot while it’s powered on and for several minutes after it’s turned off.
The high temperatures produced mean nothing should be touching the lamp or coming too close to it. However this high temperature also provides superior heating for a room, and is ideal for very cold locations or poorly insulated buildings.
Knowing the lamps can be a fire hazard, manufacturers built in an automatic shut off when the unit has been dormant for several minutes. This safety feature also turns the unit off if it falls over.
Another advantage to a portable halogen heater is their light weight. As with most units this size, they can be taken anywhere, a huge benefit over using an oil radiator. The small size of these space heaters means a small source of energy exactly where you need it. The benefit of heating only the space needed, combined with the automatic shutoff feature, make space saving portable heaters a cost effective choice.
Choosing the right size to heat your room is important. Comfort level is considered just over 70 degrees. To attain this temperature, you will need to know how large the room is, and choose a heating element producing enough wattage to get to the desired temperature. This will typically be between 750 and 2000 watts, for a room from 3 square meters to 30 square meters.
Other factors determine how effective your heating choice will be, such as the thickness of the walls of the room, but you can compensate quite a bit by using the built-in temperature controls on your halogen heater.
The popularity of these products stems from their energy savings. Because they heat up so quickly, and warm a room so effectively, it uses up less energy in the process. Because it is a radiant heat, no fan is necessary, and you are less likely to have uncomfortable hot spots from a directed heat source. For the minimal cost, usually starting around $50 for a small unit, halogen just might be the best value for your money.