Confused about Heating Costs - Help!

JoJoB

Would anyone be able to give me the lowdown on which heaters are the most energy efficient? I am in a situation now where my flat has no heating whatsoever apart from an electric blow-heater I just put on for a few minutes to take the edge off the chill.

I have storage heaters but they have all packed up. I am going to get a new replacement for the main living area in a few weeks when I will have a bit of money coming through - I estimate this will be about £2-300.

For the bedrooms I will need some sort of plug-in heater and this is where I am confused. People tell me the blow/fan-heater I have eats up electricity badly and I should get an oil-filled radiator instead. Other people tell me that they use up exactly the same amount of leccy.

If I left an oil-filled radiator on a very low heat in my daughter's ice-box bedroom all night would this use up a crazy amount of electricity? I'm getting concerned about our cold flat with such a young baby but obviously can't have bills I can't pay.

Magentasue

There are lots of threads about this on the Gas and Elec boards. The common answers seem to be:

- electric is expensive whatever you use
- storage heaters = cheaper with Economy 7
- no storage heaters USUALLY means get rid of Econ 7
- a 2kw heater uses 2kwh whatever sort of heater
- oil filled rads take longer to heat up but retain heat so more economical as background heat
- fan and convector heaters better for when you want heat now

The oil filled radiator would work for your daughter's room - maybe best used with a timer so it comes on and off regularly? Would suggest whatever you use, you work out how much you can spend a week/month on electricity and read your meter daily to make sure you're within limits.

whatatwit

JoJo, if a heater is rated at 1Kwh or 2Kwh, then it will use the same electric as any other heater rated the same.

Personally, I like the oil ones as I feel they are a gentle heat source and they are quieter than a fan/blow heater. The oil ones do take longer to warm up, but when they are turned off, they carry on giving out heat as they cool.

Oil, would possibly be safer to be left on unattended as if a fan one gets covered then it can be dangerous.
You could also use a timer plug if needed.

Have you got something thick and heavy up at the windows?

Are you on Economy 7 as you have storage heaters? To calculate the cost you multiply the Kwh rating by your unit rate and then by the number of hours....so a 2Kwh heater on for 8 hours with a unit rate of 5p would be....2 x 5p (so 10p per hour) x 8hours = 80p
If you were to turn down the heater to a lower setting, then that would reduce the cost.

Have you got your baby in one of those gro bags, I do belive that they are quite warm.

whatatwit

Hi Magentasue, you can tell we frequent the Gas/Elec boards.

Rummer

Try getting your storage heaters checked by an electrician. In out flat they broke every year,because they had been turned off, but for £20 our electrician did something to them that got them to work over the winter. It is worth getting them checked before you cough up money for replacements.

Magentasue

whatatwit wrote: »

Hi Magentasue, you can tell we frequent the Gas/Elec boards.

This is my real home, I guess, but it is almost a full-time job keeping up because it's so busy. The utilities and Green boards are easier to keep up with but have you noticed how often the same questions get asked? Makes you realise how well the mods merge threads here.

Jojo - I'd look into Econ7. You may well have it as you have storage heaters, This means cheap electricity at night but more expensive during the day. If you are not using the storage heaters, you may find it cheaper to be on single rate. Rule of thumb is you need to be using about 25% of your total electricity in the seven hour cheap rate for E7 to be effective. It's works out at a different percentage for different suppliers - the experts are on the Gas and Elec board. Have a look there - loads of information. Also the Fuel and Heating board where the 'which is the cheapest heater to run' question comes up regularly.

JoJoB

Thanks everyone, I am on econ 7, yes. Will get one of the storage heaters checked by an electrician - the one I want to replace with new really is an old monstrosity that was very temperamental even when it was "working" so will just bite the bullet on that one I think.

Will get an oil-filled radiator too then, sounds like a good option. And thick curtains. And fix my doors so I can minimise draughts. And there is some stuff like cling-film you can put over windows isn't there?

Thanks for clarifying things for me guys!

Obukit

As people have said, any electrical heater you use outside of Economy 7 hours will be very expensive. Putting on a heater on low overnight is a bit of a false economy as it's more comfortable to sleep when it's cool overnight (which is why E7 heating is a bit useless anyway).

I think the most economical way for you to heat your house at the moment would be to use a oil-filled heater and put this on a timer plug so it comes on, for instance, between 6.30am and 7.30am, at the end of E7 hours, to take the chill off the air in the morning. If you really need it later in the evening, put it on again in your daughters room and close the door so you're only heating the one room, and wrap up warmly yourself in the rest of the house.

To work out the cost of heating, look on your leccy bill for the price you are paying per Kwh, then look at the power rating for your heater, which will be either given in Kw or Wattts (1000Watts in a Kw). So, as people have said, a 3Kw heater run during the day (domestic day rate is about 22p/Kwh at the moment) will cost 66p per hour to run - which will certainly mount up! The cheapest form of heating is lots of fleecy throws and warm tops .

Pink.

Hi JoJoB,

As your thread had dropped down the Old Style board I've moved it over to the Gas and Electric board to see if you can get more replies.

Pink