Recommend me: Heater temp control for oil column heater for baby's room

FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 12:22
Last edited 22/04/2021 - 12:23

Gday

I have some small children at home who do not know how to cover themselves up with a blanket, as theyre too young.

So we rug them up in a sleep suit and cover up with a blanket, but as the night progresses they kick off the blanket and start to freeze.

So we use an oil column heater to keep them toasty.
We discovered the thermostat on the oil column heater is hard to set to a particular temperature as it does its own thing not considering the ambient temperature or how quick it cools at night, etc.

So we bought an Arlec temp control from bunnings which mostly does the job but sucks in a few key places
- Clicks each time the relay turns on or off.
- Its temp sensing ability is affected by the amount of current going through the heater. The more watts the heater pulls, the faster the arlec unit feels the room has warmed - even though it's not actually warmer! [confirmed with a xiaomi hydrometer glued to the kids cot]

we've learnt to compensate for the second point by setting the unit to 19 degrees when we actually want 18 for example.

But, it seems that the lower the range we target the less accurate the device becomes as the current draw of the heater at the lowest setting biases it greatly. Which means, CLICK on …. 30sec later CLICK OFF ….1 minute later .. CLICK on .. etc. Resulting in annoyed baby and keeping him awake.

Can someone recommend me a similar unit which doesnt click, and allows us to set the temp in half a degree increments ?

Temp ranges we use are
18 to 19 degrees for 3.5tog sleep suit with long sleeve and leg PJs
19 to 20 with 3.5 tog with short sleeve and leg pj
20 to 21 with 2.5 tog with long sleeve long leg pj
21 to 22 with 2.5 tog with shot sleeve and leg pj.

etc.

so ..

I considered the "Heatermate" but i called them and they said theirs clicks
I considered the amazon "Inkbird" but apparently they have a super noisy alarm which cant be disabled.
Link the bunnings one https://www.bunnings.com.au/arlec-temperature-controlled-pro…

Thank you.

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • djones145 on 22/04/2021 - 12:26

    do you own the place and can u install reverse cycle air con?
    oil heaters are quite pricy, especially left all night

    we could install air con, have it on the quiet setting and let it run all night when it needs too

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 12:34

      It's a rental.
      it has ducted aircon but of the most cheapest variety.
      ie:
      a) wall flick switch for zones.
      b) thermostat OUTSIDE the rooms. None in the rooms.
      c) super strong low speed. Even stronger fast speed

      Weve bought a house recently (ouch$$!) and need to reno that or blow up and rebuild - a later post of mine will ask what's cheaper, ducted with room thermostat and non-binary zones and with wifi, or cassette systems, or multi headed split)

      At 18 deg the oil heaters do not work too hard to keep the room warm.

      • Quantumcat on 22/04/2021 - 12:46

        if you rebuild consider hydronic with radiators. Great for kids as it doesn't get hot enough to burn when they touch it, and doesn't stir up dust which is good for asthma & allergies

        • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:12

          our rental has some weird boxes with water pipes and water level measureing peep-holes and a whole bunch of Korean text written on it..

          Is that what you mean? They're not on the bedrooms though.

          • Quantumcat on 22/04/2021 - 13:27

            @FoxJump: It could be! Can you ask the real estate agent to ask the owners?

            • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:29

              @Quantumcat: we call it "the weird korea box"
              how does it work?

              • Quantumcat on 22/04/2021 - 14:15

                @FoxJump: There would be a boiler somewhere that you can turn on (gas most likely, or electricity heat pump) and you should be able to turn on or off each radiator (not wasting energy heating parts of the house you're not in).

                The boiler heats water and sends it to the radiators, and the cooled water comes back to the boiler to be reheated.

        • GourmetFoodie on 23/04/2021 - 19:49

          Hydronic is Expensive. But definitely wonderful.

  • mysterytal on 22/04/2021 - 12:41

    I set it to the lowest heat setting which is 750W. Then I set the thermostat to 16.

    If the outdoor temp is below 4 degrees then I use the 1250W setting as 750W isn't quite enough.

    It doesn't click on and off so often.

    I use both heat settings 2,000W to preheat the room in a hurry.

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 12:43

      Is this with the bunnings one? Maybe the problem is the temp difference outside and indoors isnt great enough.

      currenly 11 ouside at night and i'm hoping for 18. maybe once it's 10 outside and 18 inside it'll work better ?

      • mysterytal on 22/04/2021 - 12:51

        It's a Mistral one sold at Bunnings so it could be. It's not very accurate so as you say it could be a few degrees out.

        • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:11

          link ?
          maybe it's better than the arlec bunnings one

  • mooie on 22/04/2021 - 12:47

    I haven't used any smart home devices before, but I have done some research for similar scenario with my 18month old.

    So if you use this Xiaomi temp sensor, that then hooks up to your phone, then use one of the small wall plug adaptors to plug the heater into?

    So you can see what the temp is on your phone, and turn it on manually, or program it to turn on when it reaches a certain temp?

    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001220380415.html?spm=a2g0o…

    The smart-home experts can probs verify/reject this idea haha

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:10
      +1

      Yep.
      I have the round ones of that version, with the non-baby-killing AAA battery with my favourite Ikealoop batteries. I use the MIjia Temp app on android to read the temp. The makers of that app annoy me for having picked non IFFFT integration, instead picking some obscure integration which i cant make work.

      I use the TP link wifi wall switches.

      I considered writing my own app to read the temp sensor and control the wall switch. But .. having twins means i have no time to do that.

      I did a thought experiment and realised I cant let the room get to temp X before turning off the heater as it would over shoot - being an oiil column heater it is a delayed response. So it's not a simple matter of temp X reached, no turn off. IT's more a … let's give it abit more and see how it heats up, lets try again,, and again., aah thats the spot.

      Unless of course the room is already at temp X when the system goes online then maintaining it would be easier.

      • randombrick on 22/04/2021 - 22:57

        I am planning to do this. I run home assistant though and so that opens up a heap of options for me.

        In my case, I am using a Sonoff Zigbee Temp Sensor for the sensor bit and an Ikea Tradfri outlet for the heater.

        Edit: The ikea outlet clicks though :-)

        • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 07:41

          Put it an sound insulated diy box

  • jellykingdom on 22/04/2021 - 12:51
    +1

    Exact same situation, and we just use the column heater. I would happily pay any amount for her to sleep well, and by extension I sleep well. I seriously can't overstate how much better she sleeps when the room is warm and fairly consistent temp! But we have it on the lowest possible setting so it just turns on/off and keeps the room warm, and we leave the door open a bit so it would set off smoke alarm if there were as issue

    The click on ours is barely noticeable, but we have a light White Noise generator on in the background too. Dont want to wake her up with the TV or cleaning dishes

    • wikiwiki on 22/04/2021 - 13:01

      What do you use as the white noise generator?

      • jellykingdom on 22/04/2021 - 16:13
        +1

        It's some $30 unit i picked up off ebay. Looks a bit like a UFO or even a Google Hub. It does about 10 different types of noise, though i'm not sure who would want to sleep with lighthouse/foghorn sounds…

        It runs off batteries but we just leave it on wall charge, since it doesn't always reliably last the full night, then dies, and wakes her up

      • MeesusEff on 23/04/2021 - 02:04
        +1

        I use my previous phone S8 and download the white noise app. On plane mode it can last 2/3 nights, don't need to get a machine

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:03

      Our oil column heater doesnt click. It's the Arlec wall unit that clicks. But good to see i'm not the only one suffering.

      • jellykingdom on 22/04/2021 - 16:14

        We just use the rough settings from the heater, not a fancy unit with degrees. Ours just sets to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Min, Med, Max. I just know that 1 and Min will keep the room at a nice temp overnight

  • wikiwiki on 22/04/2021 - 12:59
    +2

    I have this heater for exactly the same reason.
    https://www.delonghi.com/en-au/products/comfort/portable-hea…

    I have it set at 18 degrees in the childs room and have it on from 6pm til 8am every day.

    It does the job perfectly and i ended up buying one for our room too.. also on from 6pm til 8am every day.

    Our electricity bill is approx $80 a month.. including some night lights on til 3am every night.

    The only thing i don't like about the heater is that i thought, been electric, i could set the timer once and be done with it. But it's more like a delayed timer. Meaning i need to manually turn on the heater every night. No big deal.
    In hindsight, i should have bought the manual timer version, but i liked the look of the electric better.
    https://www.delonghi.com/en-au/products/comfort/portable-hea…

    I have both heaters on the Mi Home adapters, therefore i can control when it turns on/off with the timer on the Mi Home app. But i still have to manually turn on the heater.

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:06

      Yep.
      I considered the one you have with the fancy buttons and screen. But hated how it just HAS to beep when you press a button and that you cant turn off/on remotely with a smart wall switch (of which i have and use)

      so i bought the second one you have. But it's temperature control isnt great.

      ie: on a cold night, having it to "2" might be okay.
      and on a separate cold night, having it to "2" might not be enough.

      • wikiwiki on 22/04/2021 - 13:25

        Yes the beep is annoying.. but only when i forget to press it before the baby is asleep lol

        • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:28

          haha

  • jv on 22/04/2021 - 13:12

    they kick off the blanket

    just get a bigger blanket and tuck it under the mattress real tight…

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:17

      :/

    • GourmetFoodie on 23/04/2021 - 19:50
      +1

      Yeah I don’t understand how they can kick off a big blanket that’s tucked in well enough.

  • Zenith84 on 22/04/2021 - 13:20

    I use a oil heater for the exact same reason.

    I use Home Assistant to control it, but originally I was using a xiaomi gateway, xiaomi temerature sensor and xiaomi smart plug. Inside the Mi Home app you can configure your own automations like turn on the smart plug when the temperature drops below 18C and then off again when it gets over 20C.

    Just make sure the oil heater you are using turns on and off when power is switched at the wall. If you need to press a button on the heater to start it wont work.

    Cheers

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:28

      With my xioami bt temp sensors, id need the xiaomi gateway crap i didnt want to buy.

      but okay .. maybe I can repurpose an old laptop to read the bt xiaomi sensor and tplink smart swtich.

      Will it pick up the HS100 and the round bt xiaomi hydrometers on windows?

      • Zenith84 on 22/04/2021 - 13:38

        If you have a spare laptop then install home assistant. It can talk to the xiaomi ble temp sensors and the hs100
        https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/mitemp_bt/
        https://www.home-assistant.io/integrations/tplink/

        • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:40

          Lovely!
          does it also run on Android? "would be nice" if the baby monitor tablet could also handle the temperature duties.

          if not, it's ok i can use an old laptop to manage it. It could also become the baby monitor too. Just need to find a place the kids cant smash it.

        • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 13:52

          doh my tplink switches also make a click sound switching on /off.

          but given the bt thermometer is separate i can probably put the tplink switch in a box with padding to suppress the noise.

        • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 14:45

          I just tried now.
          i couldnt get virtualbox to present the computer's BT to home assistant's VM. SO i couldnt use the mitemp_Bt module

  • apple2016 on 22/04/2021 - 14:15

    I use a dyson hot+cool. it does a good job of maintaining the temperature but its a bit expensive. so it depends on how much you can spend.

  • Third_Gear on 22/04/2021 - 15:17

    Ebay: Inkbird Pre-wired Temperature Controller Thermostat ITC-308 NTC Sensor Reptiles

    That should do the trick just fine.

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 16:11

      I looked up their website and manuals. The ITC-306T with Wifi should work. as longs as it's a quiet one.

      i prefer the 306T as i can turn the alarm off.
      but on the 308 i can set it too 100C which means it doubles as a fire alarm :D

  • lgacb08 on 22/04/2021 - 19:11
    -1

    mate, you need to toughen your baby up. Unless you live in Blue Mountain I don't think heater is even needed if the little one is wearing sufficient clothing, not short sleeve and shorts. If the little one is sensitive enough to be awoken by that clicking sound he won't be frozen to dead but will bug you. On the other hand if you want it warm, you're overthinking it, just leave the oil heater on and it will keep the room toasty. The oil filter is cheap for a reason but it's settings is more than sufficient for most need, unless you want precise temperature to hatch a turtle into specific gender.

    • FoxJump on 22/04/2021 - 19:19
      +1

      We do rug them well with sleepsuits and we're only targetting 18 deg at the lowest.

      We don't live in the blue mountains but I appreciate not being woken up at night by a cold baby or one thats been distributed by clicking. I neeeeed more sleep!

      I'd rather not have the heater set to inferno mode and a baby in shorts and t-shirt.

      I lolled at your turtle hatching example :)

    • morse on 22/04/2021 - 19:44

      We heat our bubs room in winter using reverse cycle air conditioning. We’re in QLD. It helps with his sleep - so it’s worth it.

      It’s not necessary for survival, but helpful for parents.

  • magic8ballgag on 23/04/2021 - 08:08

    Please?

    • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 10:24

      Yes, sorry - Please

  • Trung on 23/04/2021 - 08:30

    Had the exact same problem with the bunnings thermostat. Bought one of these from ebay for about $20. It works much better because the sensor is not inside the device.

    It does beep quite loudly when you press any buttons to change any settings, and does click on and off, but the clicks aren't any louder than the clicks on my heater.

    • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 10:35

      Interesting. I wonder if i could take it apart and rip out that buzzer

  • HeWhoKnows on 23/04/2021 - 08:33

    OP is being far too fussy.
    I had the same problem with my kids
    Thermostat on column heater is just fine
    You need to play around with it till you get it right.
    You really need to just set it on LOW to keep the room from cooling too much.
    Forget about targeting a specific temperature.
    Same with any thermostat controlled heater

    Other than that OP needs to install air conditioning at great cost

    • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 10:35

      we initially tried with just the built in one on the delonghi heater.
      We found that the numbers of the thermostat there seemed to not be an absolute temperature selection but rather a relateive temperatue selection. So it was hard to figure out what to dress them in or where to dial the heater at each night.

  • Joshrogan on 23/04/2021 - 08:46

    Hello

    I went through the exact same thought process about a year ago and got the heatermate (not the wifi model). Key motivation for me was keeping power bills low as the heater thermostat tended towards keeping the room too warm.

    It works great - keeps the temperature constant much better than a thermostat. Clicking has never been an issue. It is about as loud as flicking a light switch. If you cover household noises with white noise it definitely is not an issue.

    Hope that helps. Again, no issues with heatermate clicking.

    • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 10:45

      Thanks for the heatermate upvote

  • Maifun on 23/04/2021 - 08:57

    We have a column bar and a heatermate. The heatermate click is very soft and doesn’t really cause any issues with noise. Rather, it’s something the column bar heating up that makes a louder noise.

    • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 10:34

      Our older column heater had the warming-up-clicks. The new one doesnt.
      good to know the heatermate click is soft vs bunnings dropping-a-screw-on-a-wooden-floor click.

  • freebees on 23/04/2021 - 09:37

    I'm in the same situation. Baby doesn't understand blankets yet.

    I can recommend the Heatermate. I've used it for 10 years… first for myself, now for baby for the oil heater. It works great… yes there's a click, but not often and it never disturbs the baby.

    I monitor everything with Xiaomi + homeassistant and the Heatermate does a decent job of maintaining stable temperature. Would like to move to homeassistant actually controlling the temperature, but haven't found a solution that can work offline/standalone (i.e. if the homeassistant controller or zigbee link drops) but also let me adjust and monitor temp set point remotely.

    For now the Heatermate works great. Yes I have reverse cycle air-con and love its efficiency but it dries the room so much that I hate sleeping in it… so I don't subject the baby to that either.

    • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 10:32
      +1

      ok good to know its click is not as loud as the bunnings click, which is quiet loud especially in a quiet room when no one is making noises as all are asleep (except the baby)

      Ducted reverse cycle sucks in this rental due to sensor being outside of the room. Also being a two storey house the downstairs aircon cooks the upstairs and the upstairs one is too loud. It's a shitty implementation of ducted aircon here.

      So i feel the oil heater is actually more energy efficient as it doesnt try to heat the whole house with all of its poorly sealing windows and gaps under doors, etc.

      Thanks for the heatermate+1

  • OzHunterNSW on 23/04/2021 - 12:05
    +1

    They may actually be too hot. Do you know what you are doing?

    Stop being a helicopter mother and let them sleep in appropriate clothing and bedding.

    You don't need a heater going day and night.

    • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 12:09

      Yep, we know what we're doing.

  • peteru on 23/04/2021 - 12:15

    Inkbird ITC-306 or ITC-308 series

    I have been using a bunch of Inkbird controllers for years and they are by far the best option on the market. If you want to go really high-tech, they now have a WiFi model too.

    Inkbird Australia eBay store, I have bought from there before and they are good. They actually support various communities by giving away products in forums.

    The Inkbird controllers have loads of settings and can be configured to do things that are trickier than keeping kids warm. As an example, you can set the low and high temperature alarms to whatever you like. For example, you can set your target temperature to 20.8C with a hysteresis of -0.2C and +0.5C, low alarm at 13C and high alarm at 33C. Disabling an alarm is as simple as setting it to a temperature that is unlikely to be triggered - for example 75C, although in term of safety I'd leave it near the 30C ~ 40C mark.

    • FoxJump on 23/04/2021 - 12:24

      So I have asked on Amazon and inkbird 308 doesnt click.
      Does the 306T wifi one click?

      • peteru on 23/04/2021 - 12:36

        BTW: I updated my original post above with more detail - you may want to give it a second look.

        I have 308 and 310 series (I need both heating and cooling control to keep temps within a very narrow range and have a temperature profile that varies over time), so can't comment on the 306 series. Having said that, I suspect that all the units are built on the same basic platform and the variations are minimal. It's highly likely that the 306 series will work the same as 308, just without the cooling control.

        You can download the manual for a model you are interested in to see how it works. Although it may seem a bit complex on first read, these are actually easy to use in practice.

  • GourmetFoodie on 23/04/2021 - 19:58

    If you buy warm enough tog sleepsuit and they wear pajamas inside it they really shouldn’t need a blanket? I thought the point of a sleepsuit was to avoid blanket? My kid used to just wear a nappy and tog sleepsuit as pajamas as well would have overheated them.

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