Ceiling Fan Heater Idea?
Oh! I nearly forgot to mention… I was looking at a secondary heat source in case my radiant floor wasn’t quite enough, I thought of a heater tied to the ceiling fan, since everything has to have double purposes and space is limited… I didn’t really know if they existed but I Googled it and found several, HERE for example. Does anyone have experience with these? How well do they work? They are sort of expensive but might be worth the cost to have the dual purpose/space savings (I’m not sure where else I can actually incorporate a space heater without taking of wall/floor space). I see very mixed reviews but it seems like it could be perfect supplemental heat for me while playing double duty in the summer as a fan… Thoughts? 
Have you ever been in a bathroom with a heater in the ceiling? One of those big heat-producing lightbulbs? They do heat up a small space quickly – but according to my Grandma, they’re expensive to run!
Another option might be a kickspace heater. I’ve never seen one in action, but they’re tiny, can be installed under kitchen cabinets, or in other tiny spaces, and they have a fan, so you would get that instant “heat is on” feeling – which you don’t get with radiant floor heat. http://www.amazon.com/Qmark-QTS1504T-Space-Heater-Forced/dp/B001MXC2NC
I haven’t actually been in an area with a ceiling heater. Heat rises so I would think it would be best to have the heat source on the floor OR tied to a fan to push the air down… but i have no idea how it goes in reality. I wondered about how much it would cost to run, some reviews of the exact same product say its SO expensive and others say it costs nearly nothing to run… they aren’t too helpful :).
I LOVE the kickspace heater, I may just have to put one of those in my bathroom anyway! I hate mornings and a cold floor never helps that feeling, that would be REALLY nice there! And the instant heat ‘feel’ is a big deal, so much of our comfort is just in our head :). Thanks so much for the feedback, very helpful!
I would avoid using any sort of heating device that introduces the heat up high. You don’t have an especially high ceiling, but any heater you choose should be installed to take advantage of heat’s proclivity to rise. With that fan, you’ll need to run the fan along with the heat to blow the warm air down from the ceiling, and it probably will end up being costly.
The radiant floor is a pretty great setup, really. One thing that will probably help a lot in winter is to put up some sort of skirt or wind block around the gap between the bottom of the trailer and the ground. It might be worthwhile to spend a winter in the trailer first, then figure out if and how much supplemental heating is required.
I totally hear you Jobathan, that’s definitely the main concern of mine, introducing heat high up…because heat rises… it still seems like a possibility to accent the floor heat… and my loft space is up high which really is the concern, that I would be sleeping too cold (the heated floor doesn’t go into the loft area). I definitely think its worth living in before purchasing, to see if it gets too cold… by all accounts the floor heat SHOULD be enough… Solid ideas, thank you for your two cents!
Another idea might be one of those heated towel racks for the bathroom. Looks good, heats the room and holds the towels. I also remember seeing one of those oil-filled radiators in a picture of someone’s tiny house. There are also electric fireplaces. From what I have heard about them, the fan is often noisy but it would be best to see one in person to judge it. How many watts/btu’s will you need to heat the tiny house on the coldest day of the year?
Oh! I haven’t seen the heated towel racks, do you have a link for that by chance, that sounds awesome, AND it would give me a warm towel in the morning… I would probably use it to warm my pants too in the mornings… I hate being cold in the morning! Thanks for the suggestions! 🙂
Well I disagree, Jonathan. For a traditional sized house you may be correct, but for these diminutive structures, the heat produced by the light bulb itself adds to the warming of a person in the loft! Added to that the idea most ppl seem to be avoiding is any type of gas in such a small space is going to add to the impact of breathing toxins.
I think the fan heater is an excellent idea, (that is why you change the direction of the fan in winter- to push heat down instead of suck it up).
I would like this arrangement and I think I am ready to spend my winter in a tiny house loft with one just like it!
Let me say too that I spent last winter in a loft bed near the ceiling with a ceiling light that was on most of the time. The amount of heat put out by one light bulb was pretty much all I need to keep warm for the cold season. So I KNOW it works.
This is super reassuring to me, I don’t like being cold! I can handle a light bulb 🙂 Thanks Annie!! I agree too that gas is a bad idea, I know lots of people use it but it just doesn’t make sense to me… I’d rather pay/use a nominal amount of voltage to heat the space then risk breathing in fumes over time… the definition of ‘nominal’ here probably varies… It’s all a balance… 🙂 Thanks for the input!!
That looks really effective! I’d never have thought of doing something like that.
I still wanna try it out, seems like such a good idea!