Heating and Heater costs.

Welshchris · 15-01-2009, 02:33

Hi all i wonder if someone could shed some light on something for me.

A friend of mine moved christmas time to a new place that has electric storage heating and its damn expensive. for 5 weeks electric they reckon he owes then over Â£250.

He only uses 2 heaters out of 5 to heat the flat, one of which is a convector heater also which he said he is now gonna switch off the heater and use it as a convector heater to warm the room if and when hes in there, but he needs a heater for the bedroom.

What would be his best deal, getting a convector heater or an oil filled one? which is cheaper on electric as hes only going to be using it if and hen he needs to warm the room, at the end of the day he can put it on for 30 mins close the doors etc and it will keep the room warm where as the storage heaters use 7hrs of electric every night and hes not there during the day anyway because of work so its a waste.

AbyssUnderground · 15-01-2009, 11:38

Think that a 2kW (2000w) heater ran for 24 hours at 14p/kWh would cost you Â£6.72 to run each day. Yes it does add up to a huge amount.

He would be best off just heating the room he is using, e.g. living room and bedroom, and just move the heater when needed. Use a thermostat too to keep the room at around 18-20 degrees and you will save a hell of a lot.

Electricity for heating is not cheap, always remember that. Thats why I keep getting told off for using my electric heater, but I just use it to take the chill off the room then let the central heating take over.

Welshchris · 15-01-2009, 18:29

i was told that the electric bar heaters r ok to run.

AbyssUnderground · 15-01-2009, 18:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Welshchris

i was told that the electric bar heaters r ok to run.

They're quite dangerous and inefficient too. You drop something onto it (paper, clothes) it WILL set on fire fairly easily. Fan heaters do at least have an overheat cut off.

Even so, electric heating is way too expensive!

**Graham M** · 15-01-2009, 18:36

Oil filled radiators are generally the most efficient type of electric heating

AbyssUnderground · 15-01-2009, 18:40

I agree with the above, but fan heaters are the most effective at heating a room quickly, which is generally what people would want these days to make themselves comfortable. Waiting an hour or two to get the room warm isn't very nice

**Graham M** · 15-01-2009, 18:45

But when you have to pay the bills...

Joxer · 15-01-2009, 19:45

Would a bottled gas type heater be an option? Whereas electric heating (especially fan heaters) have a tendency to dry the air gas will add moisture, this can be a problem if walls are badly insulated as it can cause condensation.

What is best can depend on the building, fan heaters do have the advantage of keeping the air moving and stopping all the heat congregating near the ceiling and can be reasonable to run if they have a thermostat.

AbyssUnderground · 15-01-2009, 19:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham M

But when you have to pay the bills...

As I've said before, heating quickly saves electricity because of "losses".

If in 1 hour, you lose 1kW/h worth of heat, and you heat the room at 1.5kW to get it to 20 degrees, you would have to heat for longer than 2kW would, meaning more losses before you hit the temperature you wanted

Its cheaper to heat a room quickly then keep it that temperature, than slowly and keep it at that temperature.