A typical oil filled heater is also often referred to as a column heater, due to the columnar structure of the heating columns, often referred to as fins. These are a very common form of convection heating found in many homes and households, where they do a fairly good job of heating up a room.
They are referred to as oil filled heaters precisely because oil flows freely through the empty columns of the heater. There is a heating element at the bottom of the heater, and as the oil flows over it, it is heated up and then it carries this heat around the heater. The oil itself retains the heat for a long time, thus making it fairly efficient at transferring heat around the heater, and then out into the room.
The design of the columns on the oil filled heater is deliberately shaped to give a lot of surface area, thus transferring the heat from the heated oil much more readily through all the increased area the heat can emanate from.
Oil filled heaters are powered by electricity, thus making them slightly more expensive to run than a reciprocally sized gas heater. They are normally used in rooms where it is not safe to run a gas heater, especially an unflued one, such as in bedrooms or studies. Due to the very nature of the oil heater and the lower surface temperatures of the heater itself, they are usually considered quite a bit safer than electric fan heaters or radiant bar heaters, and as such are also a great heater to put into a children’s room or a nursery. Even though they are fairly safe to operate, care must still be taken not to dry laundry by hanging it over the heater as the temperature can sometimes be hot enough to damage certain synthetic materials, or have them catch on fire.
A thermostat monitors the current temperature in the room, and shuts off the heating element whenever the temperature reaches the desired degree, thus minimizing extra running costs.
Typical oil heaters range in size from 300 watts to 2400 watts. The larger units cost more initially to buy and also to run, though they are quite adept at heating up larger spaces of course. They are moderately cheap to buy, with typical costs for a 2400 watt heater anywhere from $50 to $75. It is often fairly easy to pick up second hand units as well, and surprisingly enough because of the hardiness of the heaters they are usually a pretty good buy.