plug-in electric heater efficiency

richardc1983

By non oil filled would a fan heater or convector heater be better for you?

Some convector heaters have a built in fan to assist the warm up times which can be operated independently... best of both worlds?

Would you also want a halogen heater... not so good at warming the room up, but great if your sat in front of it as they heat via infra red which is like sitting in front of the fire.

richardc1983

Halogen heaters: Google search provided...

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=halogen+heater+1200w&hl=en&scoring=p

3 heat settings, low, med, high and oscillation to cover a wider area... again effective if you are going to sit in front of it like you would a gas fire as they warm the body...

Convector heaters on google returned...

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=convector+heater+with+fan&hl=en&scoring=p

Ignore the top 2 results and look at the others with the built in fan I mentioned earlier.

Argos sell very similar range but the prices are more expensive.

Not much diff in manufacturers, they all heat the same, all adjustable thermostats some even have built in timers, if it doesnt have a timer you could use one of those timer plugs to adjust when it comes on and off as you need.

I would certainly consider a halogen heater as they heat the body directly.

I have had these before but cant seem to find them anywhere over here but they are much better than halogen as the halogens waste a lot of the energy as a bright light but the quartz ones dont, the tubes glow reddy/orange rather than being a bulb...

http://office.benfranklin.com/Prismatic-quartz-tower-heater-with-two/M/B00007L9TN.htm

Hope that helps.

somefunky

thats brilliant richard - thanks a bunch

uptomyeyeballs

Not sure exactly how they differ on efficiency ratings, but Halogen heat will be almost instantaneous feel, but you'll generally have to wait a little longer for an oil heated one to produce results. I have a 1.6kW halogen model (in 400W steps) and I find it only needs a blast of about 10 minutes to heat a room. They are quite bright though as well, so prolonged usage is a little off putting.

lucky11_2

'..as little as 1p per minute' to run? :eek:

richardc1983

WHere have you heard that?

Swipe

lucky11 wrote: »

'..as little as 1p per minute' to run? :eek:

Exactly what I thought when I read that. Maybe they mean per hour but that seems way too cheap.

Cardew

1p a minute = 60p an hour = 6kW

lucky11_2

richardc1983 wrote: »

WHere have you heard that?

Panel heaters on the homebase link.. "A cost-effective option, running costs can be as low as 1p per minute. "

It'd cost me about £60 a week to keep warm with one of those! _pale_

Cardew

The only panel heater I can see is here:

http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Browse?storeId=20001&langId=-1&c_2=2%7Ccat_14047008%7CHeaters%7C14290502&c_1=1%7Ccategory_root%7CHeating+and+Cooling%7C14047008&c_3=3|cat_14290502|Panel+heaters|14290594

This is 1.5kW - approx 15p and hour when on continuously.

Can you post a link please.