Space heaters- oil filled, catalytic, forced air

[Ken07AOVette]

Whats the best?

I have some nice forced air units, but am wondering what is more efficient.

I was going to buy one from Bestbuy but they only have a limited return policy, as they are not sold directly by them, just a marketplace seller.

My office is cool, can't crank the furnace because the wife is over 50.

Opinions most welcome

[urban rednek]

We installed a touch safe oil filled radiant heater in the walkout basement suite. Very quiet and does an outstanding job of warming 2 rooms totalling approximately 420 ft2. Advantages over the fan forced units is residual heat output, doesn't blow stuff around, and as already stated, it is quiet. Although, it is slower to get up to temperature.
Potential downside is catastrophic failure leading to oil leakage.

Having used both, I would take an oil filled over a fan forced unit for small room heating.

[Deezel]

One of the best heaters I own is the Presto heat dish. Puts out a ton of heat almost instantly and is virtually silent. Mine is roughly 10 years old now and still going strong.

[Arty]

Mine works great. Easily takes 25 pounds of coal in a single charge. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any anthracite in Alberta yet. Anybody know who will sell me a half ton of sieved metallurgical coal?

[Ken07AOVette]

Originally Posted by Arty

Mine works great. Easily takes 25 pounds of coal in a single charge. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find any anthracite in Alberta yet. Anybody know who will sell me a half ton of sieved metallurgical coal?

Dont you mean coke?

Was asking about plug in space heaters, but ok

[Arty]

Originally Posted by Ken07AOVette

Dont you mean coke?

Was asking about plug in space heaters, but ok

Nope, I mean natural hard coal. We're supposed to be exporting 57 million tons of it a year, but I can't find enough to fill a sock.

Anyway, am looking at getting a second one too because a coal fire burns down slowly like any solid fuel does. It will certainly burn overnight, or even a couple days, but doesn't seem to put out much heat anymore at the half-way point. Using wood or fresh thermal coal, it can cook you out of the place if you want. So it works really well, but needs some fine-tuning.