Typically, oil heaters are constructed from a number of upright metal tubes filled with oil. The heating elements inside heat the oil within the unit, which in turn heats the surrounding air. Because they heat the air around them, oil heaters are usually considered convection heaters. As opposed to radiant heaters that need a “line-of-sight” to keep you warm, convection warms your room by heating the surrounding air. Oil heaters are therefore a great choice for rooms with lots of furniture or fixtures that may block warmth from  radiant heaters.

One of the largest benefits of oil heaters is also a weakness, however. As they heat via convection, it can take several minutes to feel the heat in your room. With larger or more drafty rooms, this wait can feel like ages on a cold winter morning. However, using oil heaters in the right location makes them a very effective heating solution.

Due to their convection heating, the typical oil heater isn’t the most energy-efficient heater on the market. If you compare them to propane heaters, they have a higher cost per therm. When other heating options aren’t available, they are still a relatively efficient and inexpensive choice.

To help with their efficiency, most newer oil heaters use a built-in thermostat to regulate the heat produced. This thermostat helps to save energy that might be wasted heating an already warm room.

Generally, oil heaters are one of the safer heater styles on the market. Oil heaters, like most newer electric heaters, usually feature a safety sensor that will turn off the unit if it has been tipped over. The fire danger is also lessened as heating element is encased inside of the heater unit and thus cannot be touched directly. Regardless, be sure that you are following all recommendations from your heater’s manufacturer. Misuse can still cause dangerous conditions in the home.

One other thing to be aware of are oil heaters cool-down period. As the heating oil inside the heater holds heat very well, it can also take a bit of time to cool down. You could still accidentally burn yourself on a powered-down heater for several minutes after it has been turned off. Some units feature a built-in fan that both helps to cool the unit down faster as well as circulate heat in the room when the unit is warming.

So if you have a smaller space to heat but are low on cash, take a look at oil heaters. For a relatively low price, they can provide a steady, safe, and comfortable heat.

It’s happening right across the globe. People everywhere are searching for ways to make their home and lifestyle greener in an effort to help the planet. Construction materials such as insulation are making the walls and foundation more eco friendly, but the choices of finish, design and home décor can also make your home green. Besides positive effects on the environment, these options will benefit you in other ways.

1) Better Air Quality

The way that products were manufactured in the past didn’t often take air quality into account. There were off-gases emitted from carpets and sickness due to the use of formaldehyde and glue in cheap furniture. Because of the inferior air quality indoors, the condition called Sick Building Syndrome (or SBS) became prevalent. Noxious fumes and gases weren’t properly vented away and made people sick.

With more natural home finishing choices you will significantly reduce the risk of SBS. Sea grass, bamboo, alpaca wool and sisal carpets are natural choices, as is well made, solid wood furniture built with sustainable timbers. These options will create superior air quality and help you breathe better.

2) Light The Way

Changing small details in your home, such as light bulbs, can help in big ways. Replacing your traditional incandescent bulbs with new compact fluorescents (or CFLs) will reduce your energy use and shrink your hydro bill. Since they contain mercury and require careful disposal, CFLs may not be the greenest choice out there.

The industry is pushing for the development of LED (light emitting diode) bulbs that will work for residential standards and can be purchased for a reasonable price. It is getting closer to the mainstream. Energy-efficient LED bulbs can last more than 20 years and would save a significant amount of money even over CFL bulbs.

Solar landscape lighting systems create a safe and cozy atmosphere throughout the evening. They collect power from the sun and use it to create a soft light in your yard after the sun goes down.

3) Plant Trees With Forethought

For help with climate control and to reduce your dependency on air conditioners, plant trees around your home. In the summer, deciduous trees will shade the windows and cool the interior. Evergreens act as a wind block in the winter, deflecting cold breezes. All year round trees improve the atmosphere by transpiring water with leaves and absorbing carbon dioxide. To improve the value of your property plant healthy, thriving trees in helpful spots.

4) Take The Kitchen Out On the Deck

Opt for a barbecued meal more often in the summer time and you will keep the heat out of the kitchen. When the stove isn’t in use, your air conditioner won’t have to work overtime. Create a comfortable lounging area with cozy furniture like outdoor porch chairs. Gain a double advantage by relaxing in the yard while also reducing your energy usage.

5) Feel The Warm Breeze

Your home is airtight and well heated throughout the winter. When the warmer weather comes you can open up the windows and air out your home for a natural, healthy atmosphere. It’s cost efficient, comfortable and simple to do with removable screens installed.

6) Reduce Your Water Usage In the Yard

Backyard designs that are centered on xeriscaping will result in significantly less water usage. Include hardy native plants that require less frequent watering and use a rain barrel for those plants that do need to be watered. These and other conservation techniques will not only help the planet, they’ll help to save you money on the high cost of water over the summer months.

7) Buy Quality To Keep

Although inexpensive furniture may be attractive, it will generally end up in the landfill in a short period of time. Skip that disposable mindset and buy quality furniture that will last for generations. Chairs, tables and other furniture made with sustainable timbers like Western Red Cedar have naturally occurring rot and bug resistance. These pieces will be beautiful and strong without dangerous preservatives or sealants.

Natural Harmony And Grounding

Home décor convenes a feeling or mood in your space. With green décor, that mood will be peaceful and harmonious, connected to nature. With wildlife and woodland color schemes and scenes, as well as wood furnishings and finishes, your décor will be well grounded. Inside opt for wooden cabinets and floors. Cozy outdoor porch chairs or benches create a peaceful retreat from the pace of the day.

9) Opt For Peaceful Relations

The less plastic you buy, the less the nation will rely on foreign supplies of oil. This can be an important tool in the cause to promote peace and good international relations. By choosing greener, more natural products you are making it easier to work for peace.

10) Be A Friend Of Earth

We have this planet and that is all. That means we need to be as friendly as we can to earth by reducing the carbon footprints we leave and choosing green options more often. With little steps to make our homes greener, we are maintaining a healthy friendship with planet earth.

You can see that there are various advantages of making your home décor greener. From healthy air and lower bills to a better planet for all to live in, a green home is an essential first step.

About The Author

Jay Chua, the publisher of PorchSwingSets.com, enjoys admiring nature in the outdoors. Living with his wife Deisy in Vancouver, Canada, the couple can be found in the garden, on travels together or busy designing backyard retreats. Jay loves to hang out on his outdoor canopy swing with a coffee, a good book in hand and his wife snuggled beside him. For sustainable wood and metal porch swing options, visit PorchSwingSets.com where there are plenty of relaxing, durable and green choices.

Newer models on the market today make use of ceramic tiles instead of the coils that were once used. While coils were heated and could easily cause a burn, ceramic tiles do not because the tile itself does not physically heat. Instead, the heat generated is transferred through a fan in the system to be pushed out into the room.

Space heaters are made to only be used in a single room as long as it has good ventilation unless you are using electrical models that will not require this ventilation.

Regardless of the type of heaters you’re using, you should always use common sense, and place the heaters a good distance from anything flammable – such as curtains, rugs or other loose pieces of cloth in the room. This is especially important with radiant heaters, such as a halogen heater, as they get much hotter than fan or convection heaters. Most manufacturers recommend at least a 3 to 5 foot distance from anything to prevent a fire hazard.

For maximum safety you should buy a heater that has a thermostat so that it will kick on and off as needed instead of continually heating the area. The continuous running of heat can cause overheating which can greatly increase the fire risk potential.

Make sure that any time you use one of these heaters that their is a protective cover in place as well if the front surface actually heats. This protects you from an accidental burn if you come into contact with it. For models that don’t actually exert a physically heated front surface you won’t have to worry about this measure.

In closing, it is always best to follow the recommended guidelines for usage. Failure to do so could result in injury or even death in some situations, both of which are easily preventable.

Propane heaters work differently from other types of heater such as electric in that they use gas at a high pressure to heat a room. This means that they can emit a lot of heat but also means there are some extra dangers when using them. For this reason portable propane heater safety is of vital importance and should not be overlooked.

The primary – and most obvious – advantage of a portable heater is that it can be moved around depending on where it’s needed most. The downside of a portable heater is that they can be much more expensive to run. There are certain techniques that can be used to increase efficiency, however, so not all propane heaters will burn the same amount of energy to heat an area.

Propane heaters can be useful in a variety of different situations but it’s important to buy the right one. You should also consider whether buying a portable heater is the most efficient use of your money in the long run. For example, even though a portable heater may be initially cheaper than a permanent one you may find that you make your money back relatively quickly.

There are some situations when a portable heater is the only practical solution though. For example, if you only need to heat a room on a temporary basis then there is little point buying and installing a permanent heating system.

The formula for determining the proper size for a room’s cast iron radiator begins by determining the temperature of the air in room to be heated. For practical purposes this is set to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Next is determined the temperature of the cast iron radiator’s surface fins. Since there are two primary types of heat delivery this would be either 180 degrees for a water heated system, and 212 degrees for steam. This also determines the square foot “Equivalent Direct Radiation” factor as steam systems deliver 240 BTU’s per hour while water run systems only deliver 170 BTU per hour per square foot.

Then must be figured in the footage of each of the columns you are using in the room’s radiator. Charts with this information already figured are easy to locate and use. Once you have looked up your EDR for each column, you multiple by the number of columns desired for the individual radiator. Then multiply the total by the number of BTU per square foot put out by the system. The equipment dealer you purchase your cast iron radiator parts from can provide a rating sheet for how many BTU’s are required to heat the various dimensions of rooms. Thus you can determine how big your radiator needs to be constructed for each room.

You can determine the total radiant heat demands being put on the boiler by multiplying the total number of columns in all the radiators in the dwelling.

A bathroom heater installed in the ceiling has a clear advantage over small portable heaters that serve to clutter your bathroom, and which are constantly at risk of being knocked over. There’s a real fire danger from these small space heaters, as it’s very easy to place them in too-close proximity to towels or other flammable items. Getting burned by accidentally touching them is always a real possibility as well.

If you turn up the heat for the entire house you would probably eventually eat your bathroom, but no one would point to this as an efficient (or cheap!) method for simply heating up your bathroom. It also does nothing to reduce the moisture that builds up on your bathtub, tiled surfaces and even wooden surfaces that will be damaged over time if they are not adequately dried on a regular basis. Part of the function of your bathroom ceiling heater is to increase air circulation in the room as well, which is a very good way to reduce overall moisture throughout your bathroom. Neither space heaters nor your central heating can perform this task.

In addition to keeping you and your family comfortable on those cold winter mornings, ceiling heaters installed in your bathroom will actually reduce maintenance costs over the long run. Think about it: as unsightly mold and mildew builds up over the years you will eventually have to address will be a big job of replacing tiles or rotted wood.

When you balance out the cost of hiring a contractor to refurbish your bathroom (after years of enduring unsightly water damage), against the initial cost of buying and installing a bathroom ceiling heater, buying the heater starts to make a lot more sense. Look at it as an investment in your home, one will also increase your families comfort, and it’s pretty clear by bathroom ceiling heater makes sense.

Radiators are often the source of a focal point in a room’s style scheme as there are many different colours, sizes and styles to choose from. When choosing a heating system you do have to make sure the function is correct though so it is quite necessary to calculate what amount of heat the room requires. This is easiest to achieve by getting a professional to do it for you but if you want to have a go yourself then you should look at the manufacturer’s calculations for heat loss and go from there. The unit of measurement will be in either Watts (W) or British Thermal Units (BTU) and you should look to make sure that you select the right radiator for the job.

When selecting the type of radiator you want, it should be noted that a Chrome radiator is not always the most effective as they have addition metal layers around the radiator that insulate and do not let the heat into the room as efficiently. They are generally chosen for more aesthetic delight rather than for those people who worry more about utility bills.

You may also wish to choose a radiator that radiates heat rather than one which will work by convection as these models work by circulating air and this can be especially difficult for consumers and their families who suffer from allergies or breathing problems.

When you think about radiator placement, a wise move is to place it underneath a window or other opening so that the air that comes into the room can be heated and not cool down the ambient temperature too much. If you already have some sort of central heating system installed then it could be a good idea to utilise some of the existing pipe work to save on plumbing bills and having to refit the whole system.

All of this highlights why it’s important to consider general decor and color tone when it comes to a room. Usually, those rooms that are dark in color may not do as well with a white fan as those that are lighter in color might do. Consider a fan of this color to be appropriate for certain kinds of bedrooms (including girls rooms) and rooms that may be pastel or even brightly colored, generally speaking.

Ceiling fans of this color, then, tend to look good as well in certain styles of kitchen, especially those where the cabinetry and appliances are of the same color or at least very light in color. They don’t do as well in darkly-colored kitchens with stainless steel or black-colored appliances. In fact, they stand out fairly garishly, to tell the truth.

Additional considerations as far as the kind of ceiling fans and where they should go have to do with light kits and it still be attached to a ceiling fan. If so, the light kit itself should be matched up with the decor or atmosphere of the room. For example, if the room is contemporary or modern, attaching an antique-in-style lighting kit probably wouldn’t be too smart.

It’s probably best that a photo of the room be taken and that it be brought along when it’s time to head to the lighting store or other store where the fan will be purchased. This is so that the fan itself can be compared to the interior decor of the room, for one. For another, it will help in keeping the room from being over-styled or under-styled in terms of the exact fan going into it.

For the most part, a white ceiling fan makes for an excellent addition to many different kinds of rooms, and almost nobody would dispute that. But, it’s a good idea to try to match up such a fan with a room where it will blend and add to the style, not stand out garishly and detract from it. Once that’s accomplished, the only other considerations are usually price ($50 to $200 is the norm) and the style of lighting kit.

During summer months, a fan that hangs from the ceiling can help to costs associated with cooling a home. Such a fan can cut by 40% the amount of money that would normally be spent on air conditioning expenses. Now, having offered those facts, this writer would like to offer a couple suggestions to anyone who wants to decorate a room that has a combination ceiling fan and heater.

First, think about calling attention to the room’s ceiling fan heater. Purchase a mirror block table. By placing one or more of such low tables in a room, a room decorator could encourage a guest to take an admiring look at the room’s source of well distributed air and heat.

If that combination of fan and heater were supposed to hang in a room that would serve as a retreat from cold temperatures, then the room’s occupant could be expected to bring a heavy coat into that room. Why not equip the room with a stylish place for hanging a cold and wet overcoat? Consider placing an N.A.L. coat rack under the fan in the ceiling.

Since the presence of a combination heater and ceiling fan reinforces any efforts to include at least a hint of “green” in a room decor, it belongs in the room of anyone who has expressed a concern for environmental causes. The owner of such a room might want to furnish with items that have “sustainable” materials.

The most common problem in ductwork is that it was not properly lined up or installed or it has become loose over time. Home duct systems are a series of pipes that are intended to fit together tightly, but these connections will come undone over time if there is stress on the pipes or their supports begin to rust. The pipes may also begin to open up if they are struck or jostled during construction or repairs. Any holes or poor connections at the parts where ductwork tubes connect allows hot or cold air to escape into the areas between floors, which wastes energy. These holes also permit rodents and other undesirable invaders a place to live and a means by which they may get around inside a house quickly.

High quality ductwork using rustproof materials can last for decades, since it has little exposure to the elements or mechanical forces. The ducts should be made out of metal since metals such as aluminum and nickel are able to expand or contract with changing air temperatures instead of giving in to the stress. They need adequate supports and may need to be built into floors and walls to ensure they are protected from wear and tear. When properly installed, ducts need only to be examined every few years for leaks and holes, many of which can be patched using duct tape. For more information on heating and cooling in your home, check out the Heating and Air Guide.