Need a cheap running heater for students room?

[ssd]

Ds student flat, private rental, is cold. They don't want to turn the heating on as too expensive. Live in Scotland.

Can anyone recommend a small heater than isn't too expensive to run?

Electric blanket will make the bed lovely & cosy. Plug in oil heaters are pretty cheap to run, but a heated clothes airer sounds like a good plan if they don't have tumble drier.

I bought this oil filled radiator for my home office from Screwfix online. Cheap to run, compact, so tiny footprint. Heats up fast, but shut the room door for maximum effect HD907-7Q Freestanding Oil-Filled Radiator 1500W Item Number 7166P www.screwfix.com/p/hd907-7q-freestanding-oil-filled-radiator-1500w/7166p.

And seconding not drying clothes without airing the house. Guaranteed damp, especially with no central heating.

Are they assuming it will be too expensive? Have they actually tried? I had storage heaters in a new build property once and they were actually very effective and cheap to run on the overnight Economy 7 tariff. The only downside was you couldn't turn them off if you were too hot, as the heat was slowly released during the day.
In Scotland in winter you really do need to have the heating on. Can the various parents not agree to help with the bill, while they try to see how much better it is when switched on? If it doesn't work then complain to the Managing Agent, a property you rent is supposed to meet certain standards:
From Shelter website:
'The repairing standard
Your landlord must make sure your home reaches a standard level of repair called the 'repairing standard'.
To meet the repairing standard:
the property must be wind and watertight
the property must be fit for you to live in, meeting the 'tolerable standard'
the structure and exterior of the property (for example, the walls and roof) must be in a reasonable condition
the installations for the supply of water, gas, electricity, and for sanitation, space heating and heating water must be in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order (these include external installations such as drains)
any fixtures, fittings or appliances provided by the landlord (such as carpets, light fittings, white goods and household equipment) must be in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order
any furnishings provided by the landlord must be capable of being used safely for the purpose for which they are designed
the property must have suitable smoke/fire detectors - they should be mains powered or lithium battery powered, check our fire safety page for more information
the property must have suitable provision for for giving warning if the carbon monoxide levels are hazardous to a person's heath.
If your home doesn't reach this standard and your landlord refuses to carry out the necessary work, you can report them to the Housing and Property Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal.

If you're moving into a new home, your landlord must make sure that the property meets this standard before you move in. If it does not, and they need to carry out repair work to bring it up to this standard, they must let you know about this before your tenancy starts'.

Thermal type tops and leggings are great. Plus blankets and hit water bottles. Even now I make a hot water bottle and use a throw rather than put the heating on if just me at home.

Re hot water bottles, one of those filled with grain (?) that you heat in the microwave - if they have one - are great.

Thanks, I think I'll buy him a heater like the one from screw fix as posted above. I wonder how much it costs to run per hour?

I'm think a heater rather than like an electric blanket, as he studies at a desk.

@ssd

Wall mounted electric storage heaters that take ages to warm up and are expensive and old

They need to learn how to use them. Storage heaters are great - they offer constant heat, unlike gas which is only warm when it's on. My mum has them and her house is always warm and her heating bills aren't ridiculous at all.

Why are they not turning on the heating?

An oil-filled electric radiator retains the heat for a long time when switched off. I had one in my non-central heated home as a child.

@ssd

Thanks, I think I'll buy him a heater like the one from screw fix as posted above. I wonder how much it costs to run per hour?

We had 2/3 in our old house (combination of oil and convector) that ran roughly from 4-8pm everyday, the bathroom one a little more and our electric bill was £300 a month. I don’t know how much was just normal living and how much was those heaters. But we didn’t have a tumble dryer, one load of washing a day. Using a slow cooker not the cooker a lot. Nothing screamed excessive.

Iirc, if they are on an 'Economy 7' type tariff, but all their major electricity usage is outside the 'economy' hours, then it will be more expensive than being on a tariff not designed for major use (such as heating up the storage heaters) being on a cheaper rate? So everyone plugging in their additional heaters for much of the daytime (assuming most university contact / self directed learning being done in the home) may well be rather more expensive than running the storage heaters properly?