Heating on all day in house vs electric heater in single room switched on when needed

steve237

macman wrote: »

It is flawed, because you are only getting 16 minutes output. 16 mins from a 2kW heater only gives you 533 kW-that's about 5p, and a tiny amount of heat.
A 2kW oil filled rad will produce exactly the same amount of heat over the same period, and for the same cost.

So why is my logic flawed then? If the fan heater vs oil filled rad = same cost and heat output, why spend £40 on a new radiator from Lidl if the fan heater does the same job?

oldskoo1

Because the oil stays heated for some time after heating

Perhaps need to use it less

Swings and roundabouts but as you already have a device to make up the 40 quid might take you 10 years if you are treating this like a balance sheet.

Nadia123

I've just been working out my consumption on an unrelated issue. For the day i used £1.27 worth of gas. This is to heat a 4 bed detached at 16C - 18C, 24/7 and hot water tank heating twice a day + gas cooking.

I typically run at 16C all day apart from boosting to 18C in evening. I kept it at 16C in evening and used the gas fire instead, this was 30% cheaper during those hours of boosting.

So why not just run the CH 24/7 on a lower temp. Say 17C and boost it to 19C in the evening.



Oldskool, I'd be really interesed in which utility company supplies your gas? Just to get an idea of my consumption costs on an hourly basis, I read my gas meter and then switched on only the CH at a setting of 16 for 2 hours. Consumed 2 units which translates into 22Kwh and this works out at approximately 91 pence per hour according to Ecotricity's method of calculation)!!! Are my calculations overly excessive - this is the first winter I've spent in the UK so I'm ignorant of what is and what isn't realistic re gas pricing and usage.

macman

steve237 wrote: »

So why is my logic flawed then? If the fan heater vs oil filled rad = same cost and heat output, why spend £40 on a new radiator from Lidl if the fan heater does the same job?

I'm not suggesting that you do. Your flawed logic is in believing that you can heat a house adequately in winter with short bursts from a fan heater. It might be economic, but it won't be warm.

oldskoo1

Nadia123 wrote: »

Oldskool, I'd be really interesed in which utility company supplies your gas? Just to get an idea of my consumption costs on an hourly basis, I read my gas meter and then switched on only the CH at a setting of 16 for 2 hours. Consumed 2 units which translates into 22Kwh and this works out at approximately 91 pence per hour according to Ecotricity's method of calculation)!!! Are my calculations overly excessive - this is the first winter I've spent in the UK so I'm ignorant of what is and what isn't realistic re gas pricing and usage.

I use co-op energy

If you type that into google then click the tariff google sub result you will see the prices from that page.

2 units is a massive amount of gas in 2 hours. Are you sure the meter isn't measured in ft instead of m?

The only thing I can think of is perhaps you heated it from cold and it needed a load of gas to reach temperature. Whereas mine is on 16c constantly so only topping up so to speak.

Best to measure / read meter over 24 hours. One day using timed, next day with it on 24/7. But lower, around 16.

macman

oldskoo1 wrote: »

I use co-op energy

If you type that into google then click the tariff google sub result you will see the prices from that page.

2 units is a massive amount of gas in 2 hours. Are you sure the meter isn't measured in ft instead of m?

The only thing I can think of is perhaps you heated it from cold and it needed a load of gas to reach temperature. Whereas mine is on 16c constantly so only topping up so to speak.

Best to measure / read meter over 24 hours. One day using timed, next day with it on 24/7. But lower, around 16.

So it will cost you more than setting the timer to switch it on when it is needed.

oldskoo1

If the timer was set to 16c also yes it does. That's a fact and I've said this here or in another thread recently. However the extra payment is not even worth thinking about.

When I used to run it off the timer it was on about 20-21c. Compared to 16c constant I would argue that constant is practically the same if not cheaper. It was for me anyway.

macman

Obviously it''s cheaper to heat the house to 16C than to 20-21C, so your comparison is invalid.
The longer the heating is on, the more it will cost.

Cardew

oldskoo1 wrote: »

When I used to run it off the timer it was on about 20-21c. Compared to 16c constant I would argue that constant is practically the same if not cheaper. It was for me anyway.

If I asked you which took the shortest time to drive from London to Glasgow:

A. Drive at a steady 30mph with no stops.

B. Drive at 100mph with stops.

Could you give an answer without knowing the length of the stops?

In the same way, it is impossible to say what is cheaper with heating -

A. Temperature a steady 16C

B. Temperature at 21C in bursts

SunReader

Conventional wisdom would say plan C: electric energy is about 250% the cost of gas . A no- brainer, or is it?

Thinking more on it though, electrical heaters are 99% efficient,
even an A rated condensing boiler, in the real world outside lab conditions might be nearer 85% efficiency or less - then allow for further losses for unlagged hot pipes heating up unwanted areas under the floors in rooms that you don't need to heat and add the electrical circulator pump energy input...

The difference in heating costs using the two systems might be much less than the energy costs differential.

I'm still trying to convince my Dad to heat his bedroom overnight with a thermostatically controlled electric heater rather than heat the whole of the house overnight with central heating.