Economical Heaters - Electricity only

Nixie

Hi,

I need some advice. I live on an electricity only estate and have Economy 7 heating with storage heaters. We never seem to get the heat when we want it so we've decided to get rid of the storage heaters and get panel heaters as they are cheap to run, but the one we've bought doesn't even heat the living room up. What are the best heaters to buy that actually heat a room and are economical to run.

Nixie

Cardew

Welcome to the forum.

This has been covered many times on this forum if you do a search.

The first thing to note is that there is no difference in the cost of running any form of electrical heating - they are all 100% efficient.

What that means is that, for a given cost, they all produce the same amount of heat. So, as you discovered, panel heaters might be cheap to run as they are low powered, but they give out very little heat.

The difference between the types of heater is in the manner which they distribute heat. Some(e.g. fan heaters) produce instant heat. Others(e.g. oil filled radiators) are slower to produce heat, but retain heat longer. However in terms of heat produced, they all cost the same.

You would be ill-advised to get rid of storage heating as any form of heating with daytime electricity will cost a fortune!

MATH

Ordinary electric heaters will bankrupt you. IMO you would be better replacing your storage heaters with modern more econmical ones of adjust the way you use the current ones.

Are you turning the output down to minimum at night before you go to bed? When they are first heated up the radiated heat is enough to heat most spaces during the morning, having them blareing out convected heat early in the day will mean a cold house at night. If you are then out at work in the day leave the heaters at minimum output until you come home. All that lovely stored heat can then be convected out as you turn the output dial up during the evening. I've found even old storage heaters are good at retaining the heat providing you keep the convector flaps closed until the radiated heat has been used up. HTH

chas1937

As Math says shut down the output during night and keep it shut if your out during day.I do this but also use a Halagen heater later in the evening when things start too cool down to keep l/r at 72f until bedtime.

x_Wilco_x

Eco 7 heaters take a little prep (and guess work) for the following days weather - as Math says you just need to get used to adjusting the input and output controls. I lived in an electric only flat for 10 years and after getting used to the storage heating found it very economical, very reliable and maintanence free!

SarahNeedle1872

I also live on Elec only estate and have Economy 7. Does anyone know when the times for cheaper elec are? I think I read some where that it's only a tiny window, from 0400-0700 each day. Any ideas?

SarahNeedle1872

I also live on Elec only estate and have Economy 7. Does anyone know when the times for cheaper elec are? I think I read some where that it's only a tiny window, from 0400-0700 each day. Any ideas?

MATH

If it was 4 -7 it would be economy 3:rotfl: You should be getting 7 hours off-peak electricity, midnight - 7am or thereabouts. It changes depending on your energy company and metre style. Contact your suplier and ask them for the times they use. HTH

x_Wilco_x

Exactly as Math says and it doesn't matter as your meter will switch automatically and the heater start storing when the meter switches - think mine was about 11 - 6...

SarahNeedle1872

Cheers guys....

Cardew

x_Wilco_x wrote:

Exactly as Math says and it doesn't matter as your meter will switch automatically and the heater start storing when the meter switches - think mine was about 11 - 6...

But it does matter!!

Firstly some(a minority admittedly) storage heaters are not wired on a separate circuit so they automatically switch on when the house switches to E7. They are on timers that are manually set to come on during the E7 period. - there have been several posts on this.

Secondly the time they come on is important to gauge when to set the timers to switch on all the other appliances(washing machine/dishwasher etc) and immersion heater to take advantage of E7 rates.

Lastly many meters are switched to E7 by a mechanical clock . This meter can be many hours inaccurate - again several posts on this.