Personally, I wouldn't put the heater on a timer. It will cycle on and off on it's own keeping the room at the temperature you want. Putting it on a timer means the room is going to probably get cooler than the heater would keep it, meaning the heater is going to have to run that much longer to get the room back up to temp.

When buying a heater, don't go cheap and don't use one someone is giving away. You want a new, good quality, name brand heater. Many hedgehog people use the oil filled heaters and IMO, they are the safest space heater there is. I've been using them for 9 years but I replace it every 2-3 years. Before getting a heater, I phoned the fire department and asked them and was told that the biggest hazards with space heaters is that with use, the wiring inside gets brittle and cracked and can then short out. Heaters with fans and moving parts are also more likely to break and wear out. Replacing the heater every few years means less risk of parts and wiring being worn out and also the heater will have the latest in safety features.

If you are concerned about a heater, have you considered a CHE setup? When used properly and well attached, they are safer than space heaters.

 

Hi Nancy. Thank you for the help. I have two very big cage's joined together lengthwise with a pvc tube, which means I would need two CHE lamps (double worry) and when I read a member had her lamp go out and her hedgy started into hibernation, that was it for me. I already have a cheap ceramic floor heater I turn on in my room constantly, so replacing it with an oil filled radiator would help with the heating bill, and not just Percy would be toasty all winter. The dogs and I would too.
If you've been useing them for 9 years, replacing them every 2-3, and you've had no problems, you've eased my mind. Thank you.

 

Right now I'm using an oil filled radiator plugged into a thermostat, and it's working amazingly for me. I have the thermostat set to 73*, and the heater set on medium with heat on high (so it'll never shut off when the power is on (aka when the thermostat turns it on)). I don't like relying on the thermostats built into space heaters, they have never been reliable enough for me. But this has been working great, and it keeps the temperature steady day and night.

 

After 3 trips to Rona and completely exhausted looking for a decent heater, this is what I have ended up with. The brand is Honeywell which I read on the forum was ok. Call me stupid, but I thought a manual one would at least have numbers on it to have the right temperature to have it shut off on. This one seems too basic and I've had to shut the house heat off to wait for it to go down to 23 degrees celcius before turning the oil filled heater on to set it. Are all the non digital one's this difficult, or am I just thinking this is difficult? It's a nice looking unit though, and I realy don't want to make another trip taking it back. Can someone tell me if I did good? Or should I head back to Rona?
Lizzardgirl, the manual says it can't be plugged into any other outlets that have another devise in it all ready. I don't think I can plug it into a thermostat.

Here's a couple of photos.

 

No, the rheostat style don't have numbers on them. They are harder to set and control because even moving the dial a tiny amount can change the temperature drastically. LG is right in that they do have a wide temperature variance. One of the reasons is that even after the heater shuts off, the oil is still hot so will continue to heat the room until the oil cools down. Rheostats don't react as quickly as digital. Also, if the room is affected by winds as our old hedgie room was, they can be annoying to try and keep set properly. One of them in my current hedgie room would work much better. Hooking it to a thermostat would be a good idea but you would have to have a thermostat that will handle a space heater. The type of thermostats used to control the CHE's would not be safe for a space heater. Canadian Tire used to sell a thermostat that was made for air conditioners and space heaters but it was digital so I'm not sure if it would turn off if the hydro blinked off or not.

Do you commonly have power outages or your power blink off? If not, I'd go with a digital. I have this one. http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/3 ... ?locale=en and it is the best one I've used so far.

 

We do have power outs quite often, especialy in winter. They don't last long, but I have to reset clocks when I get home about 4 times a year or so. I wouldn't be relaxed going to work with a digital one that wouldn't go back on. Our house is really cozy warm, and we shut the house temp down to 17 last night and Percy's room stayed at 23.5 celcius all night.
If you see anything negetive withh this heater that can be danger or not good for Percy, please let me know and I'll take it back.