economy radiator company

Owain_Moneysaver

Hard_Rain wrote: »

My mum, 80, living on a pension needs heating for winter. The flat she has just moved to has underfloor heatin (!) from the 70s which doesn't function well and all other flat dwellers say it is expensive so they don't use it.

I would suggest sticking with the (electric) underfloor heating and getting a social tariff for a fixed monthly amount regardless of usage if they're still available.

Some electric underfloor heating use the floor as a heat store and should be on an Economy 7 or 10 tariff anyway. Other underfloor heating is insulated from the floor slab and should be on an ordinary tariff (and will be expensive).

There may be grants available for energy assistance measures
http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/england/Take-action/Grants-and-Discounts-Database

Cardew

Hard_Rain wrote: »

Has anyone successfully used heaters from Economy Heating Co? I phoned them to ask if I could speak to any of their previous customers and they quote Data Protection regs which, I suppose, is fair enough ...

Advice please?

Rain

What do you mean by 'successfully used heaters'?

Electrical radiators are essentially simple devices, so there is no question that these radiators work, however they ain't economical.

Non-storage electrical heaters are the most expensive way of heating a property.

The point we are making is that a £10 fan heater, or £30 oil-filled radiator from Argos produces EXACTLY the same amount of heat, for the same running cost, as ANY other electrical heater.

Hard_Rain

Thanks Cardew and Owain. I'll have a look at the Energy Saving Trust - but I think I called someone like that earlier in the year when mum moved in and no form of help was available ... but you never know.

Holyoake

Hi

I am now very confused by reading all the posts in this thread. I have moved into a flat with old storage heaters and all experience I have with them has been bad so want to replace them with something that is more effecient and that I have better control over.

Has anyone replaced storage heaters with an alternative electric heating system and if so what have you used and are you pleased with the running costs?

I understand that all electric heaters are 100% effecient but I also understand from using portable heaters in the past that they are limited in how well they heat a room. So I really need some advise on how well these systems actually work or if they are just glorrified portable heaters.

Many thanks for your help

Mick_Hinton

First of all I am not affiliated to The Economy Radiator Company, I have however been using six radiators purchased from this company. I think some people are missing a salient point which is that although 1500W heater is still a 1500W heater, it's how the heat is dissipated that makes the difference and these radiators disspate the heat in the same way that a central heating radiator does. Having used these heaters for a year I can say that the statements made on Economy Radiator Company's website are correct and that the running costs for heating and hot water for me have been cut by a third in comparison to central heating. I can also say be aware of the power used by electric radiators, although proved to be cheaper to run I would not just plug them into a mains socket. If all my radiators turn on at the same time, and they can, then I would be looking at a current draw of 28A, bear in mind that the ring mains is fused / tripped to 30A that does not leave much for any other electric device. Reality is, yes they can be cheaper to run but you do need to add additional wiring to your dwelling in order to run them safely

[Deleted User]

Mick_Hinton wrote: »

First of all I am not affiliated to The Economy Radiator Company, I have however been using six radiators purchased from this company. I think some people are missing a salient point which is that although 1500W heater is still a 1500W heater, it's how the heat is dissipated that makes the difference and these radiators disspate the heat in the same way that a central heating radiator does. Having used these heaters for a year I can say that the statements made on Economy Radiator Company's website are correct and that the running costs for heating and hot water for me have been cut by a third in comparison to central heating. I can also say be aware of the power used by electric radiators, although proved to be cheaper to run I would not just plug them into a mains socket. If all my radiators turn on at the same time, and they can, then I would be looking at a current draw of 28A, bear in mind that the ring mains is fused / tripped to 30A that does not leave much for any other electric device. Reality is, yes they can be cheaper to run but you do need to add additional wiring to your dwelling in order to run them safely

If electric is 100% efficient how can the way they dissipate the heat make any difference? Do they have a turbo or something? How on earth can individual rads work like a CH system? The clue is in the word central... I'm also amazed that they heat your hotwater too. [TEXT DELETED BY FORUM TEAM]

Cardew

Yet another first time poster(with, of course, no affiliation to The Economy Radiator Company) feels compelled to join MSE to sing the praises of their radiators)

That his contribution makes little sense, doesn't seem to matter.

Note the technique. Throw in a point about the possibilty of extra wiring being required to make the post seem balanced.

£10 fan heater will give out exactly the same amount of heat, for the same cost, as these radiators.

YorksClare

Let's move on. No system of converting energy from one form or mode to another is ever 100%, which is basic physics. It is why you cannot have a perpetual motion device.

Can we please ask for folks to post the following:

If you have changed over to electric radiators, can you please say what you had before, which type of electric radiators you went for, and what difference you have noticed in your bills? Numbers for before and after, if you are okay with that, would be much appreciated.

If you changed to the radiators that are supposed to be thermostat governed, do they do what the websites claim and switch off for significant parts of the day?

Finally, if you have managed to get hold of prices for these sorts of things - and frankly I do not care how you managed it! - please could you post some on here? In my book, if the companies were only honest enough to publish a price list I would trust them a bit more...

Thank you.

Cardew

YorksClare wrote: »

Let's move on. No system of converting energy from one form or mode to another is ever 100%, which is basic physics. It is why you cannot have a perpetual motion device.

.

Just the opposite I am afraid Basic Physics states you cannot create or destroy energy only change it from one form to another.

Mr Einstien agrees.

One of most basic laws of science is the Law of the Conservation of Energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be changed from one form to another.

With most applications where less than optimum(100%) efficiency is achieved e.g. the internal combustion engine, the energy from the fuel not used for 'work', is converted to heat.
Gas boilers lose heat and unburnt gases up the flue and the boiler itself gets hot.

This is the whole point of electrical heaters achieving 100% efficiency, doesn't matter that some have a fan, the energy the fan uses is converted to heat.

The only reason perpetual motion cannot be achieved is that there will always be friction and hence energy converted to heat.

starryeyed4

I have 2 holiday apartments that are heated by electric. Downstairs has 5 night storage heaters, 1 panel convector heater and a wall convector in the bathroom. Having lived in the downstairs one for a while we find that it's warm in the morning when you get up and cold by 6pm in the evening as all the heat has disappeared in the daytime. Most holiday makers are out during the day and so arrive home to find it rather chilly. There is no mains gas available and it would cost around £8k to put oil central heating in.I only have a small budget as it has been a very quiet year, any idea's guy's? I don't think it would be very practical as it's a holiday let to have small heaters (and leads) around the place as it would be a hazard to those walking around.