Home Heating

macman

But the climate in many parts of Spain does not require central heating, you cannot possibly compare what is suitable there to the UK.
LPG does produce high levels of water vapour.

Richie-from-the-Boro

You can / should only run a maximum of one 3kW on any 13a ring, giving a max of 3kW, including the iron / TV / puter & monitor / fridge freezer and washer / drier / whatever. Putting multiple heaters on the same ring is risky. To put out 5kW+ with any electrical form you would have to buy two electrical heaters and use both the 13a and the 20a cooker ring.

The quantity of fuel burnt to reach your determined setting is acceptable, you properly chose that setting for a reason. That reason is usually that you choose to have the whole area flooded with warmth now-immediately, after which it drops to a parsimonious and economical trickle. Arrive in from work at 6pm - kick off shoes - switch on heater - 10 minutes later the lounge / hall / bedrooms / bathroom / whole flat is warm enough to get in the shower with your clothes off for a change.

Look the blown air Inverter type with all its warts is a contender for some who need that particular type of heat. It will bang out up to a 'barn sized' 5kW with a maximum working electrical draw of only 10W and a single fill covering 70 hours. For some that's a good portable bet to accommodate an individual lifestyle choice in cold rented accommodation.

Alisha2008

macman wrote: »

But the climate in many parts of Spain does not require central heating, you cannot possibly compare what is suitable there to the UK.
LPG does produce high levels of water vapour.

Sadly the part I am from DOES requiere central heating, but we never were able to afford it. It's not as cold as the UK but temperatures in winter are around 7-10 degrees during the day and 0-5 during the night.

I've been 6 years in the UK (in a house with central heating) and I can't believe I lived like that before,winter was a real torture (for me at least, each person has a different tolerance or perception of coldness).

grahamc2003

toolmaker54 wrote: »

We have lived like this in our house for years all we have is a gas fire in the living room and nothing in the rest, solid walls but we do have double glazing and oil filled and convector heaters.
It is instant heat we use, if we are out we just leave coats on until the fires heat the rooms we use. If you have a powerful convector heater its surprising how quickly the room heat up, the fabric of the room is not hot just the air.

Ok so we dont follow the government guidelines on idea temps to ward off disease as read in another thread on here, but the instant heat keeps us alive and well.

Best gadget we bought last year was a dehumidifier the whole house feels different and believe it or not warmer.

Agree about dehumidifiers. If the room air is a little too humid, then when that humidity is lowered, the room suddenly feels much more pleasant. For colder temperatures, a dessicant dehumidifier is necessary, since compressor types can't extract water below about 12C.

Agree about instant heat too. Reading other threads, it seems some people think they'll die if they walk into their house an it's not 22 degrees! With a gas fire, or electric fan heater, the air can soon be warmed (in a normal sized room). Even quicker are radiative heaters like those 3 element halogen heaters, which even cut out heating the air and heat you directly (then your body will heat the air).

The only suggestion I have for the op is get an electric blanket, and forget about having a warm bedroom (assuming you only sleep there and don't use it as an office say) - that's half the house sorted! If you have one room you can get warm, then simply use it more in the cold weather, afterall, you only just walk through the hall, not sit and read in it. If the hall is very poorly insulated and draughty, you could try to sort it out (easier said than done in a very old house). Depending how much heat the hall leaks, you may find that having no heating there doesn't lower the temperature very much.

I use thermal underwear for sailing when it's cold - it makes an enormous difference, but it's not the sexiest of underwear if that's a consideration.

chris1973

Assuming kerosene can be gotten at the heating oil prices, they may be very slightly cheaper than a good electricity rate.

Kerosene is 28 second heating oil and can be bought from most local brokers. I buy a supply in the summer when prices hover around 53p, that equals 5.3p per kw/h, even panic buying in the depths of winter you are unlikely to pay more than 75p a litre (7.5p per kw/h)

No idea where / who you are buying your leccy from, but i'm sure we'd love to know if it beats that. I pay 6.2p (E7) and 20p (Peak) per KW/H from Npower on Prepayment, so whilst it may not be cheaper in your house, it certainly saves me a fortune in mine.

Most standard Electricity tariffs are around 10 - 12p per KW/H, so at 5.3p / KW/H for Kero, it still compares favourably to Electric Heating especially over a month or a quarter.

Previously I was putting around £90 - £100 in the Meter when using Storage Heaters, since turning them off, i'm putting about £30ish a month on the Key for non heating use, as i'm out at work for 12 hours during the day.

I use around 10 litres a week / 40 litres a month of Kero in the Inverters to heat the room directly as required for as long as I need it. That Kero consumption costs around £21.20 a month at 53p a litre.

I never use both heaters at the same time, I have one in the Living Area (set to 20c) and one in the Bedroom (set to 18c), the one in the Bedroom gets switched on for 15 minutes when I go to bed and comes on using the timer for the same period in the morning, one 4 litre fill in this heater lasts around 2 months.

So my Electricity and Kero use combined, costs just over £50 a month, or no more than £65 during a really cold snap, either way its better than the £90 - £100 I was paying previously, and that was before the recent Electricity rise, plus the heat is more controllable, unlike storage heaters.

Interestingly, even though the cost of Electricity has gone up by around 30% through various increases in the last 18 months, I still paid the same during the summer for Kero as I did in 2011, and the price now is roughly what it was last winter, so Kero is subject to fewer and less invasive increases than Electricity, it can also be bought during the times it is cheap and stored for winter use, unlike Electricity.

Umm...
It's a 3.2kW heater, for 250 quid.

Umm, you need to shop around more mate, don't buy anything expensive from the UK you get ripped to shreds

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130592360047?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

This price, actually probably makes it cheaper than buying a single new Storage Heater, with the added flaxibility that its portable and can be moved from room to room, or even house to shed or caravan.

The £100 i've just saved you on buying an Inverter Heater, will buy a lot of Kerosene (over 150 litres), and in this heater, that is probably enough to heat a room for the rest of the winter..

As a side note, i've used two of these heaters as my main form of heating (A Corona and one of the Italian Ones from Ebay) on standard heating oil now for two winters with no ill or adverse effects or any problems with condensation or damp. So rather than crysal ball gazing, or idle forum speculation, I'm speaking from personal experience.

The only suggestion I have for the op is get an electric blanket, and forget about having a warm bedroom (assuming you only sleep there and don't use it as an office say)

I tried doing that, the main issue was the fact that the bed and sheets always felt damp and clammy, even after switching on the electric blanket three hours before retiring it was still uncomfortable, especially the areas outside the blankets range, such as pillows and behind your shoulders. Not a pleasant experience, and I often ended up blasting these areas with an hairdryer before getting in it. I suppose it depends on how cold the OP's room is, and how much hassle they want before going to bed!.

Certainly an Electric Blanket will help during the night, but it all depends on how moist and damp the room is whilst its left unheated all day and evening, because obviously any cold and damp ends up becoming trapped in the bed.

cmorton

I have oil heating where I live in Oxfordshire and Kerosene does get dear - especially during the winter months - I had to purchase back in late February and managed to negotiate 71p - much wiser to buy in the summer if you're organised enough and try to join a local oil syndicate if you can...

cmorton

I have oil heating where I live in Oxfordshire and Kerosene does get dear - especially during the winter months - I had to purchase back in late February and managed to negotiate 71p - much wiser to buy in the summer if you're organised enough and try to join a local oil syndicate if you can...