heating a very very tiny room (when the CH is off)

[fasterthanthewind]

DH now works from home. He's a chilly mortal, and he can't cope with the house at the temp it is. Thing is, it's a long tall London house, and he works in the teeniest room imaginable, and it's INSANE to have the central heating on, just to heat his wee room. (There's no way on earth he'd go round turning off every other radiator btw - simply won't happen.)

So, I think it must be best just to heat his room. It's about 5 x 4 x 10 foot high, so exceptionally tiny. There's space for a built-in narrow desk, and a chair. If someone is sitting in the chair, you can only partly open the door.

My plan is to get a heater as a Christmas present - but what to go for?

Ideally, I'd like to get something that has a timer and a thermostat, and which can keep the room at (say) 22/3 degrees at particular times of day. I don't want something that heats the room up way beyond that temp, and I think most heaters will be far too powerful to be appropriate. Nothing radiant (can't get far enough away; dangerous). May need to be wall-mounted (if so, it'd be under the desk).

Any suggestions? I'm inclining towards a cupboard heater like this but I'm afraid it'll be so UNDER-powered that DH is still freezing all the time...

Go for oil filled if he knows he is going to be using it every day - they use more energy to warm up but then keep warm longer -so if on most of the time are more cheaper to run.

When it gets really cold and I'm not going out I heat the whole house because it is a 'cold' house and it takes a long time for the house to heat up. For children home from school at 3.15 it needs to come on at 1.30 anyway to feel warm but I do set it to go off early 8.30pm at latest.
I also tend not to be just in one room all day and also DP works shifts and has various days off in the week - so it is for two of us.

I also have an electric convection heater for my office/junk room in late autumn, early spring because I work part time, as and when I can, so might not necessarily be in there. Just in there because as others have said it is sitting still that makes you cold and usually your extremities. At my desk I have a pair of microwave slippers/hotwater water bottle for my feet and hand warmers and wear an outdoor fleece and have been know to put a blanket on my knees...and when I am still too cold I put the heater on to take the chill off.
(Sitting on the sofa I have a duvet and hot water bottle)

' antimatter Wed 03-Dec-14 09:31:57
I think people who think it is possible to be happy with 18 C and under whilst using keyboard never had to d oit day in day out.'

Well, I do, and I'm fine. But people have different tolerances to cold and given that it's not that expensive to heat a small room there's no reason at all why he should suffer needlessly.

I'm so dozy though - I thought when people talked about oil-filled radiators they meant something that you lit.

I work from home too and have a Dimplex heater. Similar to this one:
www.amazon.co.uk/Dimplex-Convector-Heater-Turbo-Fan/dp/B00011FW7O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417602065&sr=8-1&keywords=dimplex+electric+heaters
It was about £50 a few years ago, it has a timer on it and you can adjust the heat settings. Does the whole room remarkably efficiently. I also wear woolly slippers and ski socks as it's my feet and legs that get a bit chilly. Heaven forbid if I ever have to have a video meeting, I'm quite bundled up (at least two scarves of various thicknesses).

I found an oil filled radiator didn't give out much heat - and they aren't cheap to run. I have used a little halogen heater before - instant heat and cheap to run too.

the room does have an external wall, but it's mostly window (double glazed, with a draught excluder on the top of the bottom sash), then there's about 4 inches of wall, then bookshelves - so no insulation possible there. The door - yes, definitely true that heat will get out through that, as it's half glazed, and only an inch thick, and doesn't fit (victorian original, not in great shape). But actually, I'd be nervous about making the room too air-tight - it's SO tiny that I'd begin to fret about ventilation etc.
Let's hope the oil filled radiator does the job - I think he will be able to put his feet on/against it, which will be cosy. Blow heater I think wouldn't work because there's just not the space for it to blow, if you see what I mean. He'd need to be out of the room (which slightly defeats the object!)