The tiny house is so well insulated that it is 10° warmer inside in the winter and cooler in the summer. When outside temperatures hover near freezing I do need additional heating. I tried various electric heaters that were under 1500 watts. I only kept one tiny one for the loft that is only 200 watts. I find that the ones with fans feel too cool. And the large disk one took up too much space.
My favorite heater is the flower pot heater so popular on youtube. I started buying $100 worth of votive candles by the case. I would burn 4 or 5 in each flower pot heater in glass votive candle holders. This was better than the tea lights which leave you with a pile of aluminum shells.
There was still a lot of candle wax debris and some candles that wouldn't stay lit so I decided to use up the leftover wax by making my own candles in a solar oven or at low heat in my toaster oven. I used jars and cut up and assembled wicks for them. The jar candles were better than the votive candles so I kept them going through the winter. All the leftover candles and wax that came my way was used in the process.
The heater is made using three flower pots of graduating size nestled inside each other and bolted together using lots of washers to add to the heat sink. I set it over the candles on two bricks which are in turn set on a ceramic floor tile. There is a warning on youtube about these heaters because when the tea lights are too close together they can ignite the wax altogether. But when the candles are inside a glass with the wick below the top of the glass then it is safest. I more found that they were apt to go out rather than flame up. The radiant heat and the candlelight is very pleasant to keep the room warm, but not so good for heating up a very cold room.
That's when I fire up my Little Buddy propane heater. These heaters are very efficient at heating up such a tiny space so I only have to have it on for about 10 minutes at a time. Some worry about the air quality of using such a heater, but I have had no problem with this. The drain in the shower pan allows airflow into the house too. The heater uses a one gallon canister of propane. I didn't want to keep buying the disposable kind so I tried to refill them with a $10 device. I was able to refill them, but one of them leaked immediately and there was no way to stop it from leaking. No amount of tape or glue. The gas always found its way out until I took it to hazardous waste drop-off.
So then I upgraded to a Flame King refillable canister and refill kit for just under $50 plus an extra canister ($16). Both sold on e-bay. Once I learned to refill the canister and was confident that it would not leak I had a source of free heat from all the half empty 5 gallon propane bottles people want to get rid of when they are moving. A refillable canister lasts about 3 nights. A bit longer than the disposable store bought canisters. And a win win for me and my clients who would otherwise have to do a hazardous waste drop off. I also have a back up stove that uses the one gallon canisters which I did use once when I ran out of the canisters for my stove in a drawer. I also have a stove that uses the 5 gallon bottles, but I've not yet had occasion to fire up that puppy and keep it offsite at another house. Such a stove would be useful for a household with an electric range so I've kept it. Just in case.
