Thinking ahead to winter....

[Heidi17]

Hi guys, This is my first year with a hamster since I was about 7 haha! I now live alone and have a new(ish) Syrian. At the moment during summer my house is sitting at about 21 degrees, but as I live alone and sometimes have the odd weekend away or work away for a couple of days...in the winter the house can get quite cold. Last year it registered about 12 degrees after being away for a day with no heating.
Without wanting to put the whole house heating on and have an excessive gas bill....does anyone have any ideas about keeping the hamster warm enough?
I'm wondering about either a fan heater that comes on on a timer in her room, maybe for an hour and then off for 2 hours etc.... Wondering if they are safe to be unattended?
Or, a vivarium/reptile heat mat under her glass tank base? Only thing is some of these use a thermostat inside the cage, obviously she would chew this so couldn't use it. But if I had a fully glass/chewproof thermometer under her substrate for a couple of days whilst I was here and watching the temp closely.... Would you trust this?
What do other people do in the winter, I know some breeders keep them in outdoor sheds etc, do people just spend a lot on heating?!
Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[AmityvilleHams]

I definitely wouldn't use an under tank heater,since without a thermometer being used at all times(not just for the first few days,as issues can occur long after this period).

Some sort of space heater for just one room would be a much better solution,as long as you monitor the temperature of that individual room.It doesn't have to be a very expensive fancy unit,just something reliable and effective

[LokiWolf]

Paper based bedding like Carefresh or something similar is what I would recommend. ~5 years ago I had two Roborovski Hamsters when Hurricane Sandy hit, knocking our power out before a Nor'easter storm came and covered everything in snow, dropping the temperature. Our power was off for 11 days and my hamsters survived by making a deep nest in the Carefresh bedding, it was actually quite toasty in the nest when I went to check on them as I got worried not seeing them for several days. So warm deep bedding is what I suggest in winter.

[Thin Lizzy]

Are you in between houses/flats?
I'm in a flat and have other flats above, below and both sides, this so helps when it's really cold heat rises.
Having a thermometer helps, I always increase the bedding and carefresh. I use oil filled radiators, they're great, they're cheap to run and you can get ones with a timer/ thermostat. When it gets really cold and I have to go out for the day, I'll up the heat while I'm in and then turn it down before I go out so there's a continued warmth. It really works for me. There's nothing worse than turning the heating off to go out and then come back to a freezing home. Keeping that steady flow will not only benefit the Ham but, prevent burst pipes.
I've bee using the oil filled radiators for years and find them so reliable.

[cypher]

I find oil filled radiators the safest & most economical way to give a room some extra heat.
Plenty of deep substrate & lots of tissue for a nice big nest will really keep things warm too.