economy radiator company

HappyMJ

If they were around £100 with all those features then it would be worth it but the problem is the economy radiators cost about £2,000 for a standard 3 bed house. It's between £300 and £360 per room. That's far too much when nice looking oil filled radiators are available with thermostats and timers for between £50 and £100 per room and there are no installation costs.

[Deleted User]

moneysaverbloke wrote: »

My gosh. So, next time I feel chilly, I can just switch on my 2400w steam iron. My lounge will be heated just as affectively as when I use my 2400w radiator (measuring about 1400x600)

Wish I had known that in my days as a heating engineer (ex heating engineer as I said) Incidentally, I have posted about the results of test figures from at least two different firms, so if I am here to promote my own business as Cardew seems to think, I'm not very good at it am I?!

Anyway, I'm cold. Must go and switch the toaster on.

Prior to our new CH install an evenings ironing [the wife not me :eek:] warmed up the living room nicely

Lockster

Is there any chance you can point me to a website which sells these oil radiators for £10 to £20. The one I got cost me £60 and it has a temperature setting on it but this just controls the heat of the oil not the temperature of the room (i.e. The room is still cold but it is nice and warm around the radiator). I dont like convector heaters (or at least mine) because it doesnt appear to heat anything from knee height down. Or is this due to the fact I have a crappy stat on this too?

I agree it's easy to get the simple plug timers its more the constant room temperature that i am interested in.

Mister_G

Hi

Not sure about ones with built in thermostat, but I've used these plug in ones on oil filled radiators without thermostats and they work well.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Plug-Thermostat-Tubular-Heater-Timeguard-ET05-/160654766318?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item2567c530ee

They also have the advantage that you can position them away from the radiator.

It's probably dearer than the built in solution, but I happened to have the radiators already.

Hope that helps.

Lockster

Thanks Mister G that is pretty much what i was after.

Now I have another question now I have decided not to buy expensive radiators ...

I want to keep my lounge at a comfortable heat, lets say 21 degrees. I have 2 options oil filled, or oil free.

I know that the will both use the same amount of energy to heat up the room to the same temperature, but which one would be better for a lounge during several winter months?

I was thinking an oil filled one would be better over time because after the long wait for the oil to heat up and raise the temperature in the room to 21 degrees so it turns off, when the temperature drops to say 19 degrees (which will also take longer as the radiator is still kicking out some heat) it will take less time and energy to heat the room back up?

Am I on the right track, or is the fact oil free ones heat up quicker and will be turning on and off more regular better? I expect there to be small difference between them if anything but someone may have evidence to support a particular motion?

Also something that is bugging me, what is the difference between an oil free radiator and a convection heater? Surely they are the same, and to be extra pedantic oil radiators heat the oil using convection as well so surely they are all the same arent they?

Anyway I would still like to know what is cheaper to run for keeping a constant heat in a lounge, oil or oil free?

Thanks

Paul

HappyMJ

Lockster wrote: »

Thanks Mister G that is pretty much what i was after.

Now I have another question now I have decided not to buy expensive radiators ...So why post on this thread. Start a new thread for better replies.

I want to keep my lounge at a comfortable heat, lets say 21 degrees. I have 2 options oil filled, or oil free.

I know that the will both use the same amount of energy to heat up the room to the same temperature, but which one would be better for a lounge during several winter months?Either it's up to you. Convector heaters are fast. Oil filled must heat the oil first so are a little slower.

I was thinking an oil filled one would be better over time because after the long wait for the oil to heat up and raise the temperature in the room to 21 degrees so it turns off, when the temperature drops to say 19 degrees (which will also take longer as the radiator is still kicking out some heat) it will take less time and energy to heat the room back up? Why not get one of each. Turn the convector on first get the room up to temperature quickly then turn the oil filled one on to maintain the temperature.

Am I on the right track, or is the fact oil free ones heat up quicker and will be turning on and off more regular better? It's your choice... I expect there to be small difference between them if anything but someone may have evidence to support a particular motion?

Also something that is bugging me, what is the difference between an oil free radiator and a convection heater? Nothing it is a marketing thing. They are the same. Surely they are the same, and to be extra pedantic oil radiators heat the oil using convection as well so surely they are all the same arent they?

Anyway I would still like to know what is cheaper to run for keeping a constant heat in a lounge, oil or oil free? Over a few hours of heating the costs are the same. The convector will turn on and off regularly and the oil filled one will cycle less often but the running times and costs will be the same.

Thanks

Paul

Whatever you do avoid buying the heaters mentioned in the title of this thread. You also have other options such as storage heating which is much cheaper than either of the options you have considered due to the use of cheap night rate electricity.

Lockster

I understand your point about posting in another thread, I apologise for this. It was slightly relevant though by the fact after reading all of the information in this thread, and plenty of reviews about radiators in general, the economy radiators are essentially a waste of money / gimmic. You can obtain a similar product which will provide the same level of comfort for half the price per radiator.

Thanks as well for the information about the oil radiators and oil free/convection heaters on average using the same energy over time because it has allowed me to decide which heater to buy.

I will stay with the same style heater as the economy radiators (oil free / convection) with a variable thermostat, but get a much cheaper moveable version so I can put it away in the summer and recover the space it uses. I have been looking Dimplex in particular at around £100 for 2kW which look ok, have a built in digital thermostat and digital program control. This itself is half the price of the cheapest economy radiator.

I hope this helps someone who is thinking of buying these economy radiators because my personal opinion now is that they are just expensive convector heaters in disguise.

Paul

Cardew

Lockster wrote: »

Anyway I would still like to know what is cheaper to run for keeping a constant heat in a lounge, oil or oil free?

Not sure what you mean by 'oil free'.

If it is a radiator it can be filled with water, oil, clay, or any ingredient. The only difference that makes is the time it takes to heat up, and the heat retention properties.

The bottom line is that all those radiators will produce the same amount of heat for the same running cost.

I have just had a look at the the Economy Radiator Company (included for for google purposes) website and the whole thrust of the the site is to imply their radiators give more heat than any other radiator - and they don't. Extracts:

Using the thermodynamic principal of the European radiator market to provide the "Best Value for Money" product on the market in the UK.

Running costs to rival the rest of the UK heating products, no longer is electric expensive "Affordable Electric Heating" from Economy Radiators.

Lesser low grade aluminium will not perform to the same standard, worse if you use steel as many competitors do, then basic physics would teach you that steel can never be energy efficient when compared to Aluminium.

I love the 'basic physics' energy efficiency comparison between Aluminium and steel!!
However the following is also on their website:

IMPORTANT STATEMENT

“All statements made are our “own opinion” based on the real life and published running costs of four test rooms which we measured on our own premises”.

You couldn't make it up;)

Lockster

Their website makes an interesting read doesn't it, and initially I didnt have much counter argument to all they describe.

The oil-free radiator bit appears to be a new marketing angle to confuse people into buying convection heaters rather than wet radiators (rads with something in them); well I agree with HappyMJ on this bit anyway, because I questioned the term in the first place.

I did actually call the economy radiator company yesterday and he confirmed that there is "no component / ingredient inside the radiator which retains heat". He also said "the magic is thanks to technological advances in the components used for heating and the controllability of the unit".

So these statements in summary: they are using components which are easier and cheaper to get hold of now (no longer using ceramic and gel as they used to, for example), they use a control which allows 7 day, 24 hour programs with a digital temperature control.

I also enquired about how the thermostat guarantees the temperature in the room and it was described as "the stat is in the bottom right of the rad and the temperature there will be cooler because it is lower in the room". Even a 10 year old knows this.

This confirmed to me that they are just convector heaters in the shape of a radiator; furthermore you can even buy feet so they become mobile convector heaters.

This is why I have decided against them!!!

TimAllcot22

Hello everyone,

So, we bought this kind of radiator from a company called Farho back in April/May this year. We looked into the Eco Rad Company but went for Farho instead. To be perfectly honest with you, we still uphold the opinion that these radiators are of a very high standard. Ok, so maybe Farho misleads people, and maybe they are 'convector' heaters, but still our running costs are massively low compared to our previous heating costs at the same time of year. I cannot speak about Eco Radiators products as we didn't get them in the end, but they sound exaclty the same. Im a woman, and I know very little about heating etc but I've noticed that these heat our living room quicker than our old oil filled ones, and therefore they must draw less electricity????? or am I stupid? I don't know, it confuses me really.