Energy saving efficient freestanding heater

snowtop

Please can you help with advice on most efficient electric heaters - I'm a very cold person and our warm air heater which we use when we only want to heat one room is ok. however I was told today that halogen heaters are cheaper to run. I would really appreciate any advice we are pensioners and at home all day so the energy bill is a very real concern. I have changed energy supplier to get the best rate for when the central heating is on in an endeavour to reduce bill. Thank you.

rogerblack

snowtop wrote: »

Please can you help with advice on most efficient electric heaters - I'm a very cold person and our warm air heater which we use when we only want to heat one room is ok. however I was told today that halogen heaters are cheaper to run. /QUOTE]

It depends.
Firstly, all electric heaters are the same efficiency - 100%.
The difference is how that heat is distributed.
Convection or fan heaters simply heat the air in the room.
They heat you indirectly - and need to heat the whole room up first.

Radiant heaters also radiate the heat, in addition to heating the air directly.
This means that any exposed skin or clothing facing the heater gets warmed a bit.
In some cases, this can mean that the room can be a bit colder, while you feel at the same temperature.
Similar to the way you can be nice and warm in the sun on a cold day outside.

However - a vastly more energy efficient way of doing things is to get an electric throw, or similar.
This can keep you nice and warm on a tiny, tiny fraction of the normal power needed to heat the room.
I'm currently snuggled up on the sofa having a rest, on top of the electric blanket. It's keeping me warm using 40W, rather than the 6000W or so it'd take to warm the room to a similar level of warmth using a convection heater.

Under no circumstances buy a heater costing several hundred pounds - unless it's actually a heat-pump. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERGDORF-INVERTER-12K-BTU-AC-HEAT-30-50-LESS-2-RUN-/260890604426?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item3cbe4ab38a - for example - will heat at around a third of the cost of normal heaters.
(but gas central heating will be about the same rate)

In addition.
Check that this saves you money!
You may find out that if you actually go and do a reading before and after an evening, that the gas central heating, if you turn off the other radiators but the living room one - may be cheaper!

snowtop

Many thanks for taking the trouble to explain how these heaters work: I will do exactly as you suggest.. wouldn't have occurred to me to buy an electric blanket... and I will have an experiment with the meter readings as well.

So grateful.

bengasman

If you want to save money, look at draught proofing and insulation, and turning down the heating in unused rooms; most home can easily save 20-30% that way.