Oil filled radiator help please

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  • Hi, we bought a Swan 2kw Oil filled radiator last winter to supplement our horrendously expensive oil central heating. We love it, so much so that we have just bought another.

    We have quite a decent sized lounge and the oil radiator heats it perfectly with the door closed. We didnt notice any particular increase in our electricity costs after using it and the thermostat clicks it on and off which saves a bit of money I suppose. It has a very low setting which is ideal as a bit of background heat. They do take a bit of time to get warmed up but this isnt a problem. Ours has a timer on it too which we never use but could be handy if its your only heating.

    We also have a fan heater in our small study which is great for a quick blast of heat but its quite noisy. I would choose the oil radiator every time.
  • welda
    welda Posts: 600 Forumite
    I bought a small 2kw Delonghi oil filled radiator for my small office when I'm working at home during winter, I also use it in the attic over night when the temps really dip (have a fear of burst pipe running down over three floors :eek:) may sound a little extravagant, rather pay a little more over cold periods!!

    Oil filled rad is ideal for my applications, on/off when required via stat.

    :beer:
  • chris1973
    chris1973 Posts: 965
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    edited 15 October 2011 at 10:07PM
    The original thread is almost 5 years old, so hopefully the OP has warmed up by now. But the facts dont really change much through the passage of time, although the bills probably have (upward)

    Electricity is the most expensive form of heating there is, in real terms. As indicated on this website

    http://www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?_pageid=75,59188&_dad=portal

    I use a modern, Japanese made Paraffin fan heater. Has all of the latest safety features, probably more so than the average portable gas heater. It burns paraffin at 70p a litre, and I get around 10 KW/H of heat from 1 litre of paraffin - so 7p per KW/H - far cheaper than Electricity.

    The manufacturers also claim a 99% efficiency rating, largely due to it being completely flueless (no heat to escape through the vent / flue) making it 'almost' as efficient at turning fuel to heat as Electricity.

    Its fan assisted 3KW output heats a living room from cold very quickly, after which it falls back automatically to 800W output. Its extremely quiet in operation.

    It only draws 22W from the mains, so around the cost to run in Electricity as a large energy saving bulb.

    http://www.alternativeenergystore.co.uk/item/item/130106/23/0/Inverter-3016-Paraffin-Heater.htm
    "Dont expect anybody else to support you, maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when each one, might run out" - Mary Schmich
  • welda
    welda Posts: 600 Forumite
    Ye gods, nows theres a blast from the past "paraffin heater" as kids we had one in the bathroom, was the only room up stair where you did not need to scrape inside of window to see outside during darkest winters!! :eek:
  • chris1973
    chris1973 Posts: 965
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    edited 16 October 2011 at 6:07PM
    welda wrote: »
    Ye gods, nows theres a blast from the past "paraffin heater" as kids we had one in the bathroom, was the only room up stair where you did not need to scrape inside of window to see outside during darkest winters!! :eek:

    LOL, my Grandfather used to have one in the outside toilet as well, to stop it freezing up.

    Fortunately technology has moved on a lot since those days, and these heaters are state of the art, very efficient and dont suffer from the same level of smells and water output as the old fashioned type.

    Surprisingly, Paraffin / Kerosene is still the first choice of heating in many Japanese homes where central heating is virtually unheard of, hence where these heaters are designed and largely used.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene_heater
    http://www.kt70.com/~jamesjpn/articles/heating-homes-japan.html

    I reckon as Energy companies continue extracting urine from their reluctant to complain UK customers with similar regular rises to that which we have seen lately more people will have no choice but to resort to using the same methods of heating as our grandparents did.

    At current rates. To run a 3KW electric heater in the daytime would cost me 57p per hour. To use the 3KW Paraffin Heater costs just 21p per hour. On a 5 hour evening thats £1.05 in Paraffin versus £2.85 in Electricity, and that £1.80 per night saving is much more at home in my Bank than Npowers!. The £1.80 saving per night, means that the cost of a heater is effectively recouped in 111 nights, thats around 1 Winter season!. If you find one second hand, it will probably pay for itself in fuel savings in less than 1 month.

    In addition, If national demand for Paraffin rose to the point where it was 30 years ago, it could just be possible to buy Paraffin in bulk for as little as 30p a litre, and with these heaters that effectively means a 3p / KWH cost to heat rooms, which makes it less than the cost of Mains Gas, whilst at the same time being more efficient at producing heat than gas at 99% , and with lower servicing costs (just change the wick / catalyst every few years and clean the fuel filter every few months). Makes you wonder whether we can't learn a lot from the Japanese eh? :)
    "Dont expect anybody else to support you, maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when each one, might run out" - Mary Schmich
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    chris1973 wrote: »
    At current rates. To run a 3KW electric heater in the daytime would cost me 57p per hour.

    You surely cannot be paying 19p a kWh for tier 2 electricity?:eek:

    Even British gas standard tariff is only about 12p/kWh and under 10p/kWh is obtainable.
  • grahamc2003
    grahamc2003 Posts: 1,771 Forumite
    Carlo09 wrote: »
    Sorry but what your saying isn't true. Firstly all heaters will heat up air, how can the heat not get to the air? Although it will heat up a person in close proximity more due to the low surface area of the heater.

    The point of an oil heater retaining heat is, it doesn't require constant heating. Normal convective heaters heat up a heating element that gets hot (like a kettle) an then the air passes over the fins and warms up ... The heating elements lose heat quickly and therefore require constant heating. Oil however does not lose heat as fast and so the heating can be paused until the oil drops below a certain temperature therefore requiring less electricity per hour.

    Hope this helps.

    No, it doesn't help.

    You have said Soneyboy was incorrect when in fact what he said was 100% correct, and what you said was a load of nonsense.

    Why do people do that?
  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,036
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    No, it doesn't help.

    You have said Soneyboy was incorrect when in fact what he said was 100% correct, and what you said was a load of nonsense.

    Why do people do that?

    Although it was 10 months ago, and it was the first and last post, many of these people either have a vested interest or have bought a radiator filled with a 'magic ingredient' and are just repeating the sales blurb!
  • chris1973
    chris1973 Posts: 965
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    edited 16 October 2011 at 8:21PM
    You surely cannot be paying 19p a kWh for tier 2 electricity?
    Well E7 unfortunately!.

    Check out Npowers E7 Prepayment rates for Midlands area. Currently 5.334p for E7 and 18.857p daytime rates.

    Yes, it is E7, and yes I do have ancient storage heating, however its so inefficient in the old farmhouse i'm in, that I only class that as background heating, as last winter although warm enough to have breakfast in, they only managed to maintain a living room temp of 16c tops by mid evening in the living area, so some Daytime Electricity input was required for anything upto several hours in the evenings. At 17.52p (then) and 18.857p (now) its quite expensive, certainly more so than the 7p which I get from the Paraffin Inverter.

    My bedroom is also over an open carport, effectively no room underneath and outside air circulating just inches below the floorboards. I dont have to tell you how inefficient the 2.55KW storage heater is at warming that room, and basically does nothing, fortunately I get up for work at a time where I can have a 3KW Fan heater on a timer and still take advantage of E7.

    No storage heater in the bathroom, just one of those 750W heat 'n' light units which again, is totally inadequate. A quick blow through the door of the inverter and at least its warm enough to shower in.

    Supplier and meter type is controlled by the landlord, i'm unable to change supplier or change to a credit meter. As I've said on other posts, I doubt he could have found a more expensive provider if he'd tried!
    "Dont expect anybody else to support you, maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse, but you never know when each one, might run out" - Mary Schmich
  • No, it doesn't help.

    You have said Soneyboy was incorrect when in fact what he said was 100% correct, and what you said was a load of nonsense.

    Why do people do that?

    Soniboy said: "Oil heaters heat up the oil slowly, and it retains heat for a while(I see no reason for this)."

    I see a reason for this.. it's how radiators work: they heat a room by being hot themselves!

    "But you get always the same amout of heat every time for certain amount of money."

    So no type of electric heater is any more efficient than any other? No variables in there at all? But wait...

    "Termostats can help you a bit by turning on/off the heat, so you don't get too cold/hot, and it's "kinda" saves you money. "

    'Kinda' saves you money!? Great!

    Sorry Soniboy, I'm not having a go at you.

    Graham though, how is the above 100% correct? I thought Carlo explained his understanding well (whether he's right or wrong). If radiant heat isn't effective, how come so many of us have radiators in our homes? And, that oil retains heat you think makes no difference at all?

    Both Soniboy and Carlo's posts even agree on some things, so how can one be 100% right and the other 100% wrong?
    Why do people do that?

    Ask yourself.

    David
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