storage heaters v panel heaters

daveyjp

I hope their radiators are better than their spelling.

Everything they advertise as a benefit I can achieve from a £20 convector heater.

Plugs into mains, has a timer, has a thermostat, no annual maintenance required.

The other advantage of mine is when the weather warms up I can throw it in the loft and if it breaks it will cost me £20 to replace.

BTW the expensive overhyped radiators will cost up to 2 units per hour to run - the same as a 2kwh £20 convector heater.

space_rider

daveyjp wrote: »

I hope their radiators are better than their spelling.

Everything they advertise as a benefit I can achieve from a £20 convector heater.

Plugs into mains, has a timer, has a thermostat, no annual maintenance required.

The other advantage of mine is when the weather warms up I can throw it in the loft and if it breaks it will cost me £20 to replace.

BTW the expensive overhyped radiators will cost up to 2 units per hour to run - the same as a 2kwh £20 convector heater.

I know I know, but he is the boss!

Cardew

space_rider wrote: »

This is the make my of electric radiators my ex husband has just bought. Only time will tell how much they do cost him to run.

http://www.intelligentheat.co.uk/

There are loads of these firms about, selling vastly overpriced electric radiators with advertising carefully crafted to fool the uninformed, naive and gullible.

The pity is that people come on MSE(not just this thread) and recommend these systems - and stick to their guns - because they cannot bear to admit they have paid way over the odds.

JennyR68

Cardew wrote: »

There are loads of these firms about, selling vastly overpriced electric radiators with advertising carefully crafted to fool the uninformed, naive and gullible.

The pity is that people come on MSE(not just this thread) and recommend these systems - and stick to their guns - because they cannot bear to admit they have paid way over the odds.

Or could it be they come on here and recommend these systems because after trying others they genuinely are totally happy with what these have to offer? I've lived 21 years in my all electric house, I think I have the right to decide what suits me and my family best, there is no need to stoop to insulting people just because their views don't agree with yours.

JennyR68

espresso wrote: »

Can't see any prices on the website, how much did your five radiators cost?

The size of heater needed depends on the size of your room, for a quote you need to put your room measurements in. There is a rough guide to average costs for various size houses on the website.

Cardew

JennyR68 wrote: »

Or could it be they come on here and recommend these systems because after trying others they genuinely are totally happy with what these have to offer? I've lived 21 years in my all electric house, I think I have the right to decide what suits me and my family best, there is no need to stoop to insulting people just because their views don't agree with yours.

Of course it is your prerogative to spend your money in any way you wish; who has said otherwise?

However you have come on to this forum recommending a particular radiator(Royale)

I, and others, are entitled on a public forum to disagree with your recommendation and criticise the misleading rubbish on their website. Our 'views' on heat output are indisputable facts!!

The essence of those criticisms is that, despite the claims, these radiators produce no more heat for the running costs than similar radiators available at a fraction of the price.

The purpose of those criticisms is to prevent, on a Money Saving forum, others wasting their money; or if they do decide to waste their money at least are armed with some facts.

You have offered no argument against those criticisms. If you believe it is 'insulting' to have your choice criticised, then you shouldn't post on a public forum.

JennyR68

It is to be called niave, uninformed and gullible that I have the issue with.

No one is disputing the fact that, (not even the sellers of these heaters if you took time to read) that heaters of the same kw are drawing the same amount in power when they are drawing power. It's a scientific fact you'd be a fool to argue and no one is doing that.

However when it comes to the issue of heating my home with these heaters I have given plenty evidence.

I'm not arguing that the storage heaters I used to have didn't give back the heat that they drew to power them. What I am saying is they gave the heat back in such a way that it did not satisfy the needs of our house.

We did not gullibly and niavely suddenly decide to buy in to this system. We have several sets of friends who live in rented accomodation where the landlord installed a similar system 2 years ago. They after using it highly recommended it. After speaking to the supplier at his home he tells us he does minimal advertising his business is based mainly on recommendation. The heaters sell themselves when in use.

The facts are I had a 3.4kw heater in my sitting room drawing 23.8 units of power a night and not heating the room in a way that was of use to us. I now have a 1500w heater in it's place, keeping us perfectly happy and comfortable for 15 units of power at the coldest part of last week, less on milder days like today. If I can heat my house better for less units I will.

If oil fired radiators can really do the same (though I've never come across one as flexible and easy to program as these) then great for the people who are happy with them, but I tried them and I'm not. I don't have the space to clutter up with floorstanding heaters.

I could get really cheap wallpaper, it would cover my walls the same as the more expensive. Ditto for carpet. A really cheap coffee table would hold my drink the same as my oak one. I saw the same t'v programmes on my big old box as I do on my flatscreen. My lovely white bath gets me just as clean as the horrible coloured one I ripped out. But none of it would be as nice to live with. I have seen no other electric heating that is as nice to live with or as easy to use as my neat panels on the wall.

I still maintain I have the right to choose a form of heating that suits my lifestyle without being branded a gullible fool.

And if we could have some direct links to these fully programmable oil fired heaters you seem to think are out there that work (as in programming) the same could you please post them for the benefit of those with a smaller budget than me. The examples given before certainly don't match I can assure you.

Cardew

JennyR68 wrote: »

It is to be called niave, uninformed and gullible that I have the issue with.

No one is disputing the fact that, (not even the sellers of these heaters if you took time to read) that heaters of the same kw are drawing the same amount in power when they are drawing power. It's a scientific fact you'd be a fool to argue and no one is doing that.

And giving out EXACTLY the same amount of heat - which is the important issue!

However when it comes to the issue of heating my home with these heaters I have given plenty evidence.

I'm not arguing that the storage heaters I used to have didn't give back the heat that they drew to power them. What I am saying is they gave the heat back in such a way that it did not satisfy the needs of our house.

We did not gullibly and niavely suddenly decide to buy in to this system. We have several sets of friends who live in rented accomodation where the landlord installed a similar system 2 years ago. They after using it highly recommended it. After speaking to the supplier at his home he tells us he does minimal advertising his business is based mainly on recommendation. The heaters sell themselves when in use.

That IS a surprise - a salesman actually praising the product he sells!

The facts are I had a 3.4kw heater in my sitting room drawing 23.8 units of power a night and not heating the room in a way that was of use to us. I now have a 1500w heater in it's place, keeping us perfectly happy and comfortable for 15 units of power at the coldest part of last week, less on milder days like today. If I can heat my house better for less units I will.

If oil fired radiators can really do the same (though I've never come across one as flexible and easy to program as these) then great for the people who are happy with them, but I tried them and I'm not. I don't have the space to clutter up with floorstanding heaters.

I could get really cheap wallpaper, it would cover my walls the same as the more expensive. Ditto for carpet. A really cheap coffee table would hold my drink the same as my oak one. I saw the same t'v programmes on my big old box as I do on my flatscreen. My lovely white bath gets me just as clean as the horrible coloured one I ripped out. But none of it would be as nice to live with. I have seen no other electric heating that is as nice to live with or as easy to use as my neat panels on the wall.

I still maintain I have the right to choose a form of heating that suits my lifestyle without being branded a gullible fool.

And if we could have some direct links to these fully programmable oil fired heaters you seem to think are out there that work (as in programming) the same could you please post them for the benefit of those with a smaller budget than me. The examples given before certainly don't match I can assure you.

Once again you are trying to ‘move the goalposts’.

As said previously I am not, and have not, argued the merits of Storage heating versus electrical heating on a ‘normal’ 24/7 tariff, there clearly is a case to be put for both types of heating.

The website clearly implies that these heaters give more heat than normal heaters and is obviously designed to fool the uninformed, naive and gullible.

It is your defence of the garbage on the website which is the issue. e.g “I personally don't need to know 'how' it works, just that it does. --- The results being it does exactly what it says on the box. Or the website in this case.”

You apparently don’t know ‘how’ it works, however “you don't throw £1000 + at an electric heating system without any thought”.

Well what thought did you give? What research? How did you conclude that the running cost would be much less than oil filled radiators? You could apparently assure us on that last issue – but have singularly failed to provide any assurance!

If it is your ‘lifestyle choice’ to have those radiators, obviously that is your prerogative. It is the justification of your choice on grounds of economy that is the objection; especially when that unchallenged advice is likely to be accepted as accurate.

JennyR68

I am still clueless as to how my dvdr can record a program on to it's hard drive and then I can transfer it in on to disc. Doesn't mean it doesn't work! I think more important is a salesman that lives with and uses the product he sells. My husband sells vacuum cleaners as a side on to his business as a carpet cleaner, not cheap ones, why? because he found them to be the best domestic cleaner on the market and he has great faith in the product. Does that make him a 'bad salesman'?

O.k lets go back to the beginning shall we - in answer to the original question. Re storage heaters versus panel heaters.

Storage heaters are only cheap to run because of economy 7 tarriff. They use a large amount of units but do not always satisfy the heating needs. If you have access to an E10 tarriff you might find o.k with an afternoon boost but I personally found they were not sufficient on E7.

It is possible to heat more effectively and more cheaply to suit your personal needs using other forms of electric heat.

I personally love my heaters (Royale) and can confirm in terms of performance they do perform as economically as claimed by the seller. There is no gimmericky in the running figures quoted.

I cannot comment on the performance of other cheaper heaters as to whether they are also as economical as to run as have not tested them, but perhaps others who have and actually have some real running figures may be able to advise.

But as for initial question, it can be possible to heat your house using less fuel and less money more effectively than in the use of storage heaters. Freeing you up to enjoy the cheapest tariffs you can find like everyone else instead of being tied to E7.

Personally I have reduced my total consumption from an average of 52 units per night + day to as little as 51 units altogether at this time of year whilst heating more of my house. On the cheapest standard tariff I can find this makes a considerable saving than when I was on E7 with storage heaters.

JennyR68

Cardew wrote: »

You could apparently assure us on that last issue – but have singularly failed to provide any assurance!

I'm most sincerely sorry for not picking up this point before, it's probably to do with the fact that when using my delonghi dragon thermostatic heaters to boost a little on an evening in 2 rooms they guzzled about 3 units each. I've never dared try a 24hr test on them, but once my transfer is over to the cheaper rate I'll give it a go and post my findings. Might be useful to somone. Actually seeing as we're passing one on to hubby's mum the info might be useful to her.

BTW decent storage heaters can be £400+ each, I know, last one we got was. So my system not so bad in terms of cost of heaters when your comparing, their not a 'cheap' buying option!