Looking to get some heating for the holiday home. Med climate, about 10 deg C worst-case at night in winter, but usually nearer 15 deg C.
My main concern is the downstairs. It's a big space, around 80m2, and it's open-plan, plus it has a double-height ceiling around where the stairs are.
Central heating isn't an option, they don't have it in this part of the world. I'm looking at the usual electric options - fan heaters - upright heaters that heat the air (convection I think they're called? The ones that click as they heat up and cool down) - and also the oil-filled radiators.
We generally won't be looking to heat the whole space at once, and we will generally not want to heat for extended periods - more to provide a blast in the right place when we're watching TV or whatever in the evenings.. I'm concerned that due to the lack of doors, that the thermostat wouldn't actually shut off, as heat would escape into other parts of the house. So it's a double-whammy - the heater is always running on full blast, and the heat is dissipating into the rest of the house, where it becomes irrelevant (a single oil-filled radiator won't make an impact on 200m2 of floor space).
I know I can't cheat the laws of physics, but I'm looking to understand if in this case, a radiant heater (orange glow one) would be better than the convection or oil-filled type which I believe are generally regarded as more efficient. My thinking being that 1) at least the heat will be targeted towards where we are sitting etc 2) it is more suitable for short bursts of heat here and there.
Any advice appreciated. If oil-filled / convection is *always* better, I'll go with that. I've always seen the radiant ones as a cheap nasty option, but maybe they have a purpose as well.