Electric oil radiator question

[AdamD]

Hi all, just a question for ya

We just had a huge electric bill come through (some £750 worth)

Um, so shock aside, I have a question

My brother insists on running an oil filled electric radiator in the garage when he's in there, does anyone know how much they cost to run?
Is it alot? would that be the main reason for such a high bill?

They do definitely use alot of elastictrickery. It should say somewhere on it what power rating it is (measured in Watts).

[Taf]

Look for a label marked in kw (kilowatt)

1 kw for 1 hour = 1 unit of electricity

[etccarmageddon]

assuming a unit costs you roughly 10p an hour and it's a 2 kilowatt radiator then 20p an hour. which is £5 a day or £150 a month if on 24/7. probably the same as boiling the kettle continously.

so estimate how long he uses it for and find out the make model of it - also it may have a heat control so if he isn't running it on top whack then it may be only using 1/2 kilo watt per hour.


if you have a hot water tank - check your emersion heater isn't on all the time or used too much.

[Taf]

Tell him to put a jumper on... and hide the radiator!

---------- Post added at 18:12 ---------- Previous post was at 18:12 ----------

..or put a coin-meter in the garage for him!

[Vlad_Dracul]

Originally Posted by AdamD

Hi all, just a question for ya

We just had a huge electric bill come through (some £750 worth)

Um, so shock aside, I have a question

My brother insists on running an oil filled electric radiator in the garage when he's in there, does anyone know how much they cost to run?
Is it alot? would that be the main reason for such a high bill?

Truth is that using electricty for anything but especially heating,will always be expensive. The simple reason is that electricity is a secondary fuel, i.e you have to burn another fuel to get electricity. That is unless you use wave,solar or wind power!

You need to have a good think about what your energy consumption patterns are in the home. Do a survey, what lightbulbs have you got? Could you swap some for energy saving types? What about appliances permanenly on standby? switch them off. I have a timer on the main plug to my tv/vid/dvd/sat box. It switches it all off between midnight and 0900hrs. It makes a difference over a year. What about waste? does everyones turn lights and appliances off when not required? Could you use a biological wash powder and wash at a lower temp? Im sure others can think of more.

Have you checked your energy providers on u-switch?

[greencreeper]

I can't imagine what you were doing. Back when I first left home, I had a flat with storage heaters (I think 2-3KW each) and a 6KW hot water boiler. My bill was nowhere near yours - can't recall what it was but definitely not £750.

I'd turn off that particle accelerator for a start. The distillery too. And that fusion reactor - pricey.

[RUSTY]

economy seven?

[albert_the_dog]

Originally Posted by RUSTY

economy seven?

not for daytime use costs to much. get a calor gas heater (radiant and convection)

Atd

[AdamD]

Ok it's got a label on the side which says 1500 watts

As for times ok...

Monday, tuesday and thursday it's on from 6pm till 11pm
Wednesday, saturday, sunday it's on from 9am till 11pm
Friday it's on from 6pm - 1am

[Ramrod]

Maby the meter was misread........we just got a £450 rebate from the elec. co. for last years usage......they had transposed the economy 7 with the daytime meter readings for the annex
Our accountant noticed the sudden jump in elec. cost and queried it

[r1ch]

I make that 91.5 KWh per week, so at 10p a unit: £9.15 a week or about £110 a quarter. That's assuming that it's on full blast for those times though which it might not be if he uses the thermostat.

[AdamD]

Originally Posted by greencreeper

I'd turn off that particle accelerator for a start. The distillery too. And that fusion reactor - pricey.

LOL, needed a laugh, thanks

Yea I agree, it's odd

I'm gonna look into it more.

[r1ch]

BTW - was this an actual meter reading or an estimate? Quite often if they estimate for a few bills you can end up with a monster (or tiny) bill when they actually come and read it. If they were estimating for a while based on what you used to used before your brother started using the radiator and then they came and read the meter that could explain the extra.

[Paul]

Read your meters and then call the supplier. Most likely a mistake otherwise I would be looking for long extension leads trailing through to your neighbours as it seems you are paying for your entire streets consumption