Oscillating halogen heater.

zaksmum

I've just had an astronomical:eek: gas bill, £249 for the quarter compared to £161 for the same period last year.

A neighbour recommended buying one of those oscillating halogen heaters that cost about £12. She reckons they are very effective and heat rooms really well.

Also it seems they are very economical to run, much cheaper than say an electric fire.

Has anyone on here got one? Are they really cheap to run?

There's no way I can risk another bill like that, so I have to find some alternative to my gas central heating, at least some of the time.

And I really would prefer not to freeze in this weather!!

totalsolutions

Sorry but gas is the cheapest source of energy. Your neighbour says effective but I don't know what that means a £1 worth of electricity is £1 worth of heat. How big is your room and what about draughts and poor windows etc, chimney stacks in the room, what temp do you keep up?

1Kilowatt is 1 unit and 1 unit might cost 15p. That heater might be 2KW so 30p / hour or 8 hrs is £2.40p (or £216 / quarter thats 8hrs per day for 3 months) + the motor and fan running costs..not much

richardc1983

The only benefit of them is that they are lower powered than say a fan heater or a convector heater however if its rated at 700watts then you will get 700 watts of heat for every 700watts consumed.

I had one before whilst its a nice warm glow they give off and the radiant heat they give off can warm your body nicely and make you feel warmer than say a convector heater being on, it didnt actually raise the temperature of the room and I had to sit right in front of it to feel the heat.

CHeck out the electricity utilitiy forum, lots of posts on their about heaters.

ariba10

What about a thicker jumper?

27col

It does not matter what electric heater you buy. They all cost exactly the same to run as they are all equally efficient. The only reason for choosing one type over another is the convenience of use. Having said that, my mate swears by his oscillating halogen heater for convenience of use. You pay your money and take your choice. Electricity is about 5x as expensive as gas for the same amount of energy.

zaksmum

Won't bother buying one then. Thanks everyone for that.

Got two jumpers on at the moment, ariba10! I'm letting the dogs sit on the sofa next to us, so we can all keep warm together...why waste dogs' body heat???