Are halogen heaters economical?

ffotogirl

Hello!

I hope this is the right board to post on...

I live in a rented flat and have gas & electric token meters. I know this method is a bit more expensive but it has always suited me just fine as it helps me budget and I live pretty cheaply anyway so have never felt like I'm paying over the odds.

Recently I got a 1200W halogen heater for my living room as I heard they were economical and I thought it would be cheaper than putting the heating on. Well, it's BLITZING my electric! Usually I only have to top up £5 a week but it's starting to cost around £10-15 a week.... way too expensive.

Is this normal? Should it really have increased my energy usage that much? Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks moneysavers!

penrhyn

All electric heaters are 100% efficient.
Halogen heaters have the disadvantage of not having a thermostat to turn them off when the room reaches the desired temperature.

Yours will be using 1.2 units of electricity for every hour its switched on.

Assuming you pay 15 p a unit then thats 18 pence an hour, so thats costing £1 every 5.5 hours.

Is it possible to turn off some of the CH radiators?

Cardew

As said above halogen heaters or no more or no less economical than any other electrical heater - i.e. they all have the same heat output for the same running costs.

Their main advantage is if there is one person in a room, say sitting at a desk, you can 'beam' the heat toward that person rather like a desk reading lamp.

ffotogirl

Thank you, that was very helpful

jalexa

ffotogirl wrote: »

Recently I got a 1200W halogen heater for my living room as I heard they were economical and I thought it would be cheaper than putting the heating on. Well, it's BLITZING my electric!

I'm assuming its 3x400W. How many elements do you switch on?

Raksha

So am I right in saying any electric heating costs the same? For instance, would the OP be better off with an electric convector heater with a thermostat?

penrhyn

If they are trying to heat the whole room to a given temperature, and the heater is powerful enough to do the job then yes.

Cardew

Raksha wrote: »

So am I right in saying any electric heating costs the same? For instance, would the OP be better off with an electric convector heater with a thermostat?

Firstly, as all electrical heating is 100% efficient you get EXACTLY the same amount of heat, for the same amount of electricity consumed.

If your intent is to warm a room, then a convector heater and halogen heater, will provide the same heat, for the same cost.

A thermostat is just an automatic way of switching on and off a heater.

As said above the advantage of a halogen heater is the ability to 'beam' heat. Someone I know works quite a lot on a bench in his garage. It would be impossible(in cost terms) to heat the whole garage, but a halogen heater 'aimed' at the bench is ideal.