cheap to run fire

andrione1

Does anyone know of an electric heater that is much cheaper to run than central heating?

trying to cut down on gas, but don't want to freeze!

btw would need two, so need to be cheap aswell.

(i know i should research on internet but am lazy

Ken68

Gas is cheaper than electric.
If you think about it, the flames you see thru the port hole of the gas boiler, can, with the help of a pump, heat your whole house.
The same flames in a gas fire just heats one room, with some of the heat going up the chimney.
You need seperate valves on the rads, called TVR. Switch off all but the rads you use.

andrione1

thankyou Ken68, i need all my rads really, and i feel very good that gas is allright, i love my central heating.

Ben84

Rather than buy electric heaters, perhaps you should invest in some insulation for your house. Even if you already have some, many houses could benefit from having more. There are some very good offers available as energy suppliers are subsidising it. You might be surprised just how cheaply you can get it done.

geordie_joe

andrione1 wrote: »

thankyou Ken68, i need all my rads really, and i feel very good that gas is allright, i love my central heating.

I don't understand what you are trying to do. First you give the impression that you want to turn the central heating off and use an electric fire instead. Then you say you need two fires, giving the impression you want to heat two rooms.

In the next post you say you need all your radiators on, and I'm confused.

Could we go back to the beginning and could you tell us how many rooms you have and how many you need to heat?

I hope that didn't sound rude, it wasn't meant to be, but the more information you give the better the answers will be.

moonrakerz

andrione1 wrote: »

Does anyone know of an electric heater that is much cheaper to run than central heating?

The honest answer has to be - "no such thing" or "yes, buy a 500W fan heater".

The first answer applies if you want the same amount of heat out of both. The second answer applies if you literally want to spend less money !( but you will be very cold)

andrione1

geordie_joe wrote: »

I don't understand what you are trying to do. First you give the impression that you want to turn the central heating off and use an electric fire instead. Then you say you need two fires, giving the impression you want to heat two rooms.

In the next post you say you need all your radiators on, and I'm confused.

Could we go back to the beginning and could you tell us how many rooms you have and how many you need to heat?

I hope that didn't sound rude, it wasn't meant to be, but the more information you give the better the answers will be.

it doesn't sound rude, my question is confusing.

basically, i need two rooms heated overnight.
i always leave CH on all night in winter but can't afford to with the price doubling since i started doing this. if i could have two electric heaters cheap to run, i thought i would save money on using the radiators all night. i only have a couple of other rooms so i wouldn't turn them off, it wouldn't be worth it.

i am renting and my boiler only heats the radiators at 26 degrees and above and the landlord will not change the very old boiler. If i put it lower than about 27 it goes off after an hour and never (ever ever) comes back on again. i have to put it manually up to 28 then. so, it must use tons more gas than it should be, so i feel like just putting it off alltogether and using electricity until i get a modern boiler.

i just wondered if there was something new developed like the equivalent of a low energy lightbulb, or LED light, that runs really cheaply on electricity, but still does the job.

To be honest, i think my problem is the boiler not working properly. need to ask landlord again for an update. we were all told they were updating about 4 years ago and they never did it ... excuses though aplenty :rolleyes:

don't understand this myself sorry

greenbee

Have you asked your landlord for a copy of the gas safety certificate? If the heating system has that many problems then he may not be having the boiler serviced... and may not have the certificate (which you should have a copy of). If he doesn't have one, it may give him an incentive to sort the problem out. You're in a difficult situation, as the landlord won't see the benefit of sorting the boiler/heating out, so obviously doesn't see the point in spending the money, but you can't do anything about it as it's not your boiler!

andrione1

greenbee wrote: »

Have you asked your landlord for a copy of the gas safety certificate? If the heating system has that many problems then he may not be having the boiler serviced... and may not have the certificate (which you should have a copy of). If he doesn't have one, it may give him an incentive to sort the problem out. You're in a difficult situation, as the landlord won't see the benefit of sorting the boiler/heating out, so obviously doesn't see the point in spending the money, but you can't do anything about it as it's not your boiler!

thanks for that. it is due for the annual check-up, and i do get the copy every year. the boiler does work, and gets the thumbs up every year, but the servicer does always comment it's a dinosaur. i also had someone come and check the thermostat recently and say it is supposed to run at high, but he was about 16 and i think he was winging it.

everyone else i know can run their CH under 20, so i am a bit about it.

this has been an issue for so long. eventually it will conk out. i will try the landlord again.

andrione1

Ben84 wrote: »

Rather than buy electric heaters, perhaps you should invest in some insulation for your house. Even if you already have some, many houses could benefit from having more. There are some very good offers available as energy suppliers are subsidising it. You might be surprised just how cheaply you can get it done.

thanks, i do have a loft that i've never used but if i can get permission to do it from L/L i'm sure it will help a lot.

Ytaya

Getting thermal liners for your curtains can do wonders for reducing heat loss. I have an antiquated storage heater/warm air system in my rented flat. Thermal liners in all my curtains paid for themselves in the first winter.