Halogen heater vs central heating

chris1973

I still try a halogen heater, they are supposed to be about 5p an hour to run

Yes, advertising blurb always gives you the 'best' figure, but thats also generally based on the lowest setting / output.

In other words, 5p per hour will generally represent a 3 'tube' 1200W halogen heater, running just one 400W tube, whether that 400w tube alone will be enough to directionally heat you with the surrounding room and air unheated, depends on your own comfort level, certainly I couldn't sit still in one place for hours in a freezing cold room trying to concentrate on work related matters with just one tube of a halogen heater, in the middle of winter, but we are all individuals......

The other problem with halogen heaters is they are - by design - engineered to provide a much more directional heat, and one tube is unlikely to provide enough directional heat to cover your feet, body, neck etc, and I find that if one part of you is still cold such as feet, back of neck etc, then the entire body doesn't really feel comfortable.

Personally, if it comes down to cost and 'personal' heating alone (ie heating the person and not the room airspace), then i'd be looking at a heated throw, to wrap around me whilst sat at a desk / in front of the TV etc, and perhaps a heated foot warmer if I was really feeling flush. Between both entities, they are likely to draw no more than 200w - 250w running together, and thats still 40 - 50% cheaper than even the one tube halogen heater.

Plus even the heated throw alone is more likely to keep your entire body warm, then cunningly trying to direct one bar of an halogen heater to the exact angle to heat you properly, which isn't going to happen.

Of course the heated throw is not going to keep you warm when on the move and wondering around the house, but then again neither is the halogen heater.

My electric is consistently cheaper than my gas (about £20pm cheaper and I'm much more careful with keeping gas costs down than electric)

If you start using Electric Heating with a rating of 1kw+ on a regular daily basis for long periods, then you'll probably find that margin narrows very quickly and your Electricity bills escalate, even on a decent Electric tariff, gas is still 50%+ cheaper than Electricity, and even allowing for Gas being less efficient, Gas is generally still the cheaper option for room heating than standard electricity, even after any boiler losses have been deducted and accounted for.

Have you considered just using the GCH to heat the one radiator in the room you generally occupy?, especially if the radiator in the room is fitted with a thermostatically controlled valve, and the main heating stat is also in the same room.

A halogen heater will cost the same to run as any other electric heater of the same rating, it is no more or no less efficient.

Yes, this is perfectly true but there are different ways in which that heat is received depending on the actual design of the heater. For example, a halogen heater is much more suited to directionally or 'spot' heating a person, rather than convecting into airspace.

To test this theory, take a 2kw convector heater and a dual tube 2kw 'made for pub smokers beer garden area' quartz heater into your backgarden, point both heaters in your general direction, switch them on and stand 3 or 4 feet away from them. Now, despite than both consuming the same 2kw worth of Electricity, tell us which one makes you feel the warmest.......

Suffice to say, that a 800W halogen heater 3 foot away from you, is going to warm you far better than a 800W mini oil filled radiator, situated at the far end of a 20 foot room, however whether either of the 800w options will be enough to warm you sufficiently, is down to several factors!.

macman

Where did you get the idea that electricity is 'somewhat cheaper' than gas? Standard rate electricity is around 11p per kWh, gas is around 3.5p. So gas is about 1/3 of the cost.
I suggest that you bleed the rads that are not heating up properly, and get the valves attended to if they will not turn on/off freely.

forgotmyname

If your not bothered about other rooms switch the rads off in those rooms, That should cut the cost of running the central heating.

Which room is the thermostat in though? Ours is right by the front door where you can feel the cold.

We put up pa heavy thermal lined curtain and added draft strips to the door and that did actually help cut the running costs. Before the boiler would kick in more often as the hallway by the door/thermostat would be colder than the rest of teh house so the boiler kicked in more often even though the other rooms were still warm.

No point switching the heater off in the room where the thermostat is as it will think its still cold.