Electric panel heaters

macman

Since all electric heaters cost the same to run (for the same kW rating), and all are the same efficiency (100%), just buy the cheapest.

rogerblack

grahamc2003 wrote: »

A
But heaters are a blunt tool for heating. Instead of using say an 800W heater, you'll get the same heating from an 800W dehumidifier, or an 800W TV setup.

As a nitpick, a dehumidifier will produce slightly more than 800W, as you get the heat gain from the condensed water.
This is generally at best a small gain.

The extreme case would be an air conditioner.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Inverter-Air-Conditioning-Unit-AA-RATED-Air-Con-Split-System-2-9KW-snh-/190685247369?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item2c65b9f789#ht_2174wt_1344

In the best case, something like the above will produce around three times electricity input as heating.
(perhaps significantly less during colder weather)

The above is clearly ruinously more expensive than a simple electric heater.
However, it's comparable with some of these 'magic' electric heaters.

Even at a COP of 2.0 - it doesn't take very long at all to payback.
(this assumes peak rate heating, the arguments for economy 7 are seperate)

Man_Overboard_2

It is worth considering not only the power rating of a heater, but also where to place it within the room.

In the early days of central heating, I was led to believe that the idea of placing a radiator directly underneath a draughty old single-glazed window was not as silly as it might initially have seemed.

The theory was that the cold air leaking in through the window would bear down upon the less dense warmth from the radiator, and literally push it across the room, thus distributing the warm air throughout the room.

If you place your source of heat away from the 'cold spots', then the two different air masses will be slow to mix, and you will end up with the hot side staying hot, and the cold side staying cold.

Over the last couple of winters, I have been experimenting with various locations for my low-powered electric heaters, and I have come to the conclusion that the original theory holds good.