electric heater - safe for kids?

boyohboyohboy wrote: does anyone use an electric space heater?
we need one for the upstairs for the kids rooms, but i always heard such bad things about them. i think they have improved them over the yrs...but does anyone use one they can recommend?

MommyToAshley replied: I don't have one, but I think I would be scared to use one in the kids room.

Ed might be a good person to ask.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: We have an electric oil filled heater in Andrew's room - there isn't a heat vent in his room so it would get too cold in there without something. I just make sure that it's not close to any blankets or paper or anything like that. I'd rather not have anything in his room but since he needs something this type seems like a good one to me.

coasterqueen replied: We have an electric oil filled heater too in all the bedrooms in our house. They are safe to the touch, I do know that. Everything I've read said they are safe, but I could be wrong.

mom2my2cuties replied: They have some, you can buy them at Walmart, they are about 2 /12 - 3 ft tall, get VERY warm and they are safe. I think they are roughly $40 each here. 3-4 can heat an ENTIRE 3000sqft home from what I am told.

msoulz replied: We have a ceramic heater (it is electric too, not sure what the "ceramic" really has to do with it) that we used in Erin's room last winter. I was a bit nervous about it too. It is very small and I set it up on a dresser. We are in the process of replacing the windows in her room to avoid it this year (if that works well enough. She happens to have a room with two outside walls)

The one thing I recall is that they should never be plugged into extension cords, only directly into the wall.

I too would like Ed's opinion on the subject!

redchief replied: Oil filled space heaters are generally safe for use around children. I most like the Farenheat oil filled baseboard heater. This sits low to the ground much like an installed home baseboard heater and is lees likely to harm a child if it were tipped over. All of the oil filled heaters produce a comfortable heat similar to hydronic baseboard or radiator heating, so the heat won't tend to dry the air like a standard resistance electric baseboard heater does. The trade off there is slight loss of efficiency (the heater doesn't really exchange heat well until it is approximately 10'F over ambient). In my opinion, that's a small price to pay when weighed against the fire safety aspects of electric resistance heating. Those get very hot very quickly and have been known to cause burns and ignite combustibles in contact with them. Since the oil filled units have internal thermostats that shut off the units at much lower temperatures there is little chance for ignition of contacting combustibles.

If you're considering purchasing an oil filled unit, I would try and borrow a similar one from someone first, if I could. Since the internal workings are electric resistance coils they draw heavily on the power system in the home, so there tends to be some build-up of heat in the cord. Also, some of the larger units will cause nuisance breaker trips, especially if the room is a fair distance from the main electrical panel.

boyohboyohboy replied: jakobs room is the only room in the house that is cold, and its icey cold. we had the hvac guy come look at it and he said its just a poorly built house, that the vents are on the floor and so are the out take vents, so the heat comes out the vent then gets sucked right out the out take, and doesnt have a chance to sit in the room...
so that being said, we have in the pasted just turned the heat up, but the bills were over $300 a month last yr. so to avoid that, we thought it might be more cost efficent and warmer for jake if we got him a space heater.we got one at lowes today that is an oil filled space heater, (so glad that is what everyone happened to be recommending..)
my worst fears are for fires...and now the space heater is between me and jake in case of fire, and it scares me.

msoulz replied: We have one of the oil filled ones too - it stinks a bit when it first turns on!! It is good to know that one would be better for Erin's room if necessary. Thanks Ed!!

kimberley replied: do not buy electric! so dangerous and killer on hydro. they get really hot, suck as much energy as an appliance (blows fuses easily) and i had two that i had to throw out a few years back because the cord was crazy hot. total fire hazard.


my electrician told me to turn on the oven or boil water on the stove or turn on the dryer. he said it uses the same amount of hydro and is much safer.

Boo&BugsMom replied: Don't know if this has been said, but they do make ones that when they tip over they automatically turn off and are cool to the touch. I don't have any personal experience with them though.

Hey Stacy....all the more reason to buy a house!

mom21kid2dogs replied: If you own your home it might be worth your while to look at a single room installed heater. (sorry I don't know the "real" name of them! )My sister has one in her house. It was installed in the wall (looks like an air conditioner, actually) in her boys room. It was over the garage and far too cold to use in the winter. It keeps the room very warm. In fact, she turns it off when she goes to bed so their room doesn't get too warm.