Cost Efficient Heating for Baby’s Room

Fake News on 20/06/2024 - 10:58

Hey everyone! I’d love some advice from OzBargainers on cost efficient ways to heat our home/rooms with a new baby.

We have a split system in the family room/kitchen area and gas ducted heating throughout our 3 bedroom house, but considering whether it would be best money wise to buy another split system or two for the bedrooms or get a portable heater (oil heater? Panel heater? Any brands/models you’d recommend?)

Currently the baby is in a basinet in our room for naps and overnight sleeps and will be all winter - but I’d like the option for him to nap in his cot and potentially move him in there later in August as he’s a noisy sleeper!

We currently have been setting the gas heating to 16-17 overnight and for naps, with the split system on in the late afternoon/evening to around 19. Bub is in a 2.5 TOG swaddle suit overnight with two layers underneath which should be suitable for these temperatures. For context, we don’t have solar on our property, live in a 20 year old brick house in Melbourne with decent insulation - we’d usually just suck it up and just put on an extra layer/puffer jacket until it got cold and then use the heating in the evenings if necessary, but need warmer temps with the baby.

In the early weeks we were doing naps in the family room with the split system on, but the baby now will not sleep with the noise and light so this has necessitated heating the bedrooms.

I’d love any advice… I’m slightly terrified about what our next gas bill is going to be 🙃

Financial

Comments

  • Archi on 20/06/2024 - 11:04
    +2

    small portable heaters wont help your bills.

    if you consider these portable heaters you wont use them next year as your kids will start to walk and be a safety issue. you'll probably put them away and bring them back out again in a few years time.

    i'd be focused more on a longer time solution

    • Fake News on 20/06/2024 - 11:22

      Yeah I figured the smaller ones would be power heavy. I’d heard okay things about oil heaters … there’s so many conflicting things online though!

      • Archi on 20/06/2024 - 11:26

        anything a kid can walk up to and touch probably not a good thing to use until maybe after 4 when they can comprehend basic instructions… even then accidents can happen. kids will be kids,

        dyson hot and cold fans are great as they are bladeless but these cost heaps.

  • bemybubble on 20/06/2024 - 11:14
    +2

    Hot tip - heat pack in the bassinet before you lay them down to sleep. Real game changer…

    • Fake News on 20/06/2024 - 11:23

      We’ve been doing that, sometimes it works for an amazing sleep… other times he just fights and fights the nap 🤣

  • FoxJump on 20/06/2024 - 11:21
    +3

    Oil heater with temp controlled wall plug is what we use.
    We pick a temp appropriate to their sleep suit, and will run the AC before bed time to pre-cool the room if needed - so that bub room temp is constant.
    also a bt temp sensor on the bubs cot.

    and downstairs we had the ac programmed to turn on from 6am till 10am while they were bubs. not anymore though - theyre 4yo. unless it's 11 deg downstairs, then i'll do it. if it's 14 / 15 - meh. put on a jumper

    • Fake News on 20/06/2024 - 11:25

      Thanks :) do you find the oil heater impacts the power bills?
      We have a room temperature sensor plus the monitor does it too.

      • FoxJump on 20/06/2024 - 12:39

        i put one of my energy measuring devices. I think it was $1 a day. but ihave twins, so $2
        but the A/C was the bigger sucker of energy as heating a swiss cheese AU home costs more

        yes a/c is more efficient, but the oil heater does ONE room so … possibly more efficient vs heating the whole house.

      • FoxJump on 22/06/2024 - 20:53

        ok last night 20240621 both kids room set to 17, one used 1.3kw and the other 1.9kw

        the 1.9kw one has a manhole so is less efficient

  • seanfoite on 20/06/2024 - 11:23
    +2

    Whats the plan for AC in the summer? As in, will you need something in that room for the baby when it starts getting hot?

    If you'll need the cooling, then might as well just get a small split system for the bedroom. They are pretty cheap to run and honestly not that expensive to get installed

    • Fake News on 20/06/2024 - 11:26

      We’re in Melbourne so anything is possible, haha!
      This room gets the morning sun, and our house is usually not too bad but having the option for cooling would be good!

      • barge-in hunter on 20/06/2024 - 14:00

        We did this for our little one in our old place. Worked a treat.

        FWIW, if you're considering moving away from your gas ducted, you might be able to get a decent rebate on a new split/multi-split system - as long as you use an accredited provider, who also cuts off the ducted system.

  • foxmulder on 20/06/2024 - 11:58
    +1

    Putting more blanket wraps the baby and the head cover?

  • rumblytangara on 20/06/2024 - 12:03

    Serious question here- do newborns really need all winter heating? They spend most their time swaddled up in clothing, and they also have a very specific type of fat cell that exists purely to convert chemical energy to heat to keep them warm (it's a crazy efficient system, worth reading about- brown fat).

    In winter, we used heating more for the adults because the babies were just constant bundles of warmth.

    • mskeggs on 20/06/2024 - 12:16

      No they don't, of course, but new parents have enough to deal with besides trying to convince aunty it will be fine.

      • rumblytangara on 20/06/2024 - 12:23
        +1

        I had assumed that the 'need to heat the room for baby' approach was a much more recent approach from new parents. All of my older generation grew up without air conditioning or central heating and would have scoffed at the money wasted for running heaters all throughout winter :)

    • frondono on 20/06/2024 - 12:18
      +1

      In some of the northern european countries they leave the babies outside in their pram during winter so they can get a better sleep.

    • MS Paint on 20/06/2024 - 13:04

      We raised a newborn while renovating a single fronted Victorian weatherboard house in a Melbourne winter. It was often warmer outside than inside. Our daughter grew up to be just fine.

  • JimB on 20/06/2024 - 12:05

    Long term, get a small 2.5kw Split system, which will also be handy in Summer for cooling.

    Pity they are so expensive these days.

    I remember buying small Panasonics for $600 after ebay/cashback promo's here on OZB.

  • DannyC on 20/06/2024 - 12:39

    We use an oil heater overnight for our 20 month old bubs since our house gets a bit chilly with those very low temps during winter here in melbs. We really should have maxed out our insulation. O well. Verses keeping our ducted system on all night. We can handle the cold and use electric blankets instead for our beds so doesn't make sense to have the ducted system on all night.

    ANYWAYS the oil heater uses about 1.3kw an hour to keep it at a relatively comfortable temperature and he has the appropriate sleep sack n clothing on as well for around 19°c ish. It isn't too bad in the scheme of things vs forking out about $2000 for a split. However, for those heaty summers a split would make much more sense to keep the room warmer during winter and cooler during summer. It's definitely something to consider and is a decent investment for the room.

  • AustriaBargain on 20/06/2024 - 13:33

    Gas is on the way out according to the news. If you own the house and that child will be living in that room until they are 25 (judging by rents/house prices atm) then another split system will be cheaper in the long run compared to a standard electric heater.

  • Frederico Z on 20/06/2024 - 16:25

    Ceiling fan on to winter mode + a safe heater. Maybe a wall panel one. Works for me and it's efficient.

  • bargaino on 20/06/2024 - 18:24

    unless the baby is pre-term, the appropriate cost-effective heating is a blanket.

  • backpaqer on 21/06/2024 - 08:36
    +2

    I measured the ambient temp in the hospital when my daughter was born and it was 23C. So I cranked up our gas ducted to keep our leaky 50's home at that temp for the first month after bringing her home. I gradually backed that off as winter progressed. After the first couple of months babies start to become more resilient. Bit of cold, they seek warmth, bit of noise, they're interested in what it is. We'd heard stories about kids who had to be tiptoed around because the smallest noise would disturb them. We'd put our daughter down for a nap and start doing the vacuuming! Result… She could sleep through a cyclone! We could tromp around the house without worrying that she'd wake up or get upset.

    If you change your lives to suit your child you create a rod for your backs, better to force the child to adapt to your way of life it is far better in the long run.

    As for heating, split systems push lots of air around and expensive to install. If you're going to replace carpet in the room you could install under carpet heating. Even cheaper is under rug heating with just a heat pad and a rug. I've got a massive rug in my lounge with the biggest heat pad I could find. Cost about $500 and only draws 500W. So about 10c/hr to run.

    Check out my efficient electric home on Facebook.

  • Showmethebargains on 21/06/2024 - 09:21
    +2

    We never heated our babies rooms. They were bundled up in appropriate clothing/bedding and their windows were left open a tiny bit. Our room isn’t heated either and we always sleep with the windows open.
    Babies aren’t as fragile as people seem to think. We are in Melbourne’s outer east.

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