Convector heaters

poolygal

Hi,

Looking for some advice/opinions from any electricity experts out there. I live in a small flat with storage heaters. Not on an E7 tariff, but still have the double meter. The flat is very well insulated and never freezing cold, and I'm quite hardy. I find the storage heaters make the place too hot on all but the very coldest days. I rarely have it on in the bedroom, and just use a small fan heater for 5-10 mins, gets the room nice for me for the whole night. The hall storage heater is never on.

I also hate the planning, turning up, turning down and lack of instant heat associated with storage heaters. I was wondering if a convector heater for my living room would be a good investment. I've seen some with timers and thermostats, I was thinking that setting it to come on about 6pm (I'm out all day during the week) for a couple of hours would heat the flat sufficiently. Anybody tried this? Or have any idea if convector heaters would be economical if they were used in this way?

Thanks so much in advance for any opinions or comments.

sophieschoice

I can thoroughly recommend this one which also doubles up as an aircon unit in Summer
You wouldn't need to set it at all because it heats the place rapidly.
We bought one last year and have just ordered another.
Usual price is between £599 and £679 (google it and see!) so this is an absolute steal
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10377502&fh_view_size=10&fh_start_index=20&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB&fh_search=airforce&fh_eds=%C3%9F&fh_refview=search&ts=1260582336934&isSearch=true
picture is here
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9271803&fh_view_size=10&fh_start_index=20&fh_location=%2f%2fcatal!!!1%2fen_GB&fh_search=airforce&fh_eds=%C3%9F&fh_refview=search&ts=1260582385453&isSearch=true
only available for home delivery so add £10

penrhyn

Using your storage heaters in conjunction with Economy 7 would be the cheapest way to go, I agree though that a degree of forward planning is required.
Its should be possible to regulate the charge so you flat does not get too hot.
There are loads of convector heaters out there from around £20, if i was looking for one as a back up I'd go for one with a timer/thermostat and a fan boost.
I did recently see a nice dimplex panel heater that you may like to look at.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4151010/Trail/searchtext%3EDIMPLEX.htm

poolygal

Thanks for the replies, I'm a bit rubbish when it comes to things like this! I've only lived in this flat for a year, always had gas central heating before that.

Penrhyn, I've tried having the storage heaters on at the lowest level, but the flat is still too hot. The heaters are working properly - checked a friend's who also has them, they gave out roughly the same level of heat, but her flat is not as well insulated as mine. Maybe I'm just lucky! I think my main problem is I begrudge paying for the storage heaters when they're making the place uncomfortably hot. As well as not being able to switch them on instantly if there's a sudden cold day, you also can't switch them off quickly if you're too warm.

And sophieschoice, £600 down to £150? Bargain!

factoryworker

poolygal wrote: »

Hi,

I live in a small flat with storage heaters. Not on an E7 tariff, but still have the double meter. .

Hiya,

I hate electric heating - commonly put in by cheapskate builders because cheaper than running a gas line in; great for them but not the occupants;

You say your not on an E7 tarif but have a double meter; can i check do you mean you have 2 seperate supplies? You need to consider this first as the seperate supply, i guess purely for heating, will be at a very low unit rate compared to normal; i.e. about 8p against 14p; do you pay different unit rates and what are they; what are the hours they are charged at? This will dictate your thinking, but ultimately because of your hardy/absent from home nature you will still be better of with a plug in heater for 2 hours at high rate,, than strorage for 6 hours at low rate...both from an environmental/cost viewpoint and comfort factor