This comes up as a topic from time to time but I couldn’t find a direct answer to my question.
I’m in the UK and my central heating is gas. My daughter is in a room that gets cold so I have an electric oil radiator in there which I let her set as she fits, which has proven to be an expensive mistake. She’s had it on permanently set to 21 degrees and she’s running up a huge bill. I’d like to automate this to save some money.
My first thought was to just put a smart plug and a presence sensor in her room but this particular oil radiator needs to be turned on manually after it loses power. Also worried that some smart plugs can’t handle that amount of power.
So I’m wondering if there’s some kind of oil radiator that natively works with home assistant, or at least a proven, bug-free heating configuration that is battle tested? I’m guessing a presence sensor connected to some kind of heating device, but I’ve learned that people here usually have a more elegant solution than I’m able to think up.
An electric baseboard wired to a smart thermostat? Just plugging into a smart plug leaves the option to unplug it and move it to another outlet. Obviously the real solution is to figure out why that room is cooler and update either the insulation or the central heating system. I’m assuming those are not options.
I’m in the UK and baseboards aren’t too common. More common is a convection heater which we already have and smells a bit when it heats up and clicks as it turns on. Oil radiators don’t smell but I’m struggling to find one that I like that works with Home Assistant. I know the perfect one is out there but there are a lot of options.
p.s. if anyone’s considering an Ometa oil radiator then a problem is that it seems to beep as it turns on and off, although integrates with Tuya easily. Seems quite cheaply made.
When it comes to individual room heating, it really depends on your needs. I’ve tried a few options, but for me, Night storage heaters have been a game-changer. They’re great for evenly heating up a room without drying out the air like some space heaters can. Plus, they’re pretty energy-efficient in the long run. But it’s worth considering factors like room size and insulation too.