Please recommend oil filled or electric heater

angelphace

Hi,

We recently moved to a very old and large farmhouse (5300 sq ft), which is proving very difficult to heat. We have an old heating system which is fuelled by an oil boiler, which is very costly to run and doesn't work well in some parts of the house. There are actually only a few rooms that we use on a regular basis and until we can change our heating system I would like to get some temporary heating that I can plug in and move from room to room as necessary (about 4 units). I'm not sure whether to go for oil filed radiators or plain electric heaters. Which would do a better job of heating up the rooms and can anyone recommend particular models?

Many thanks in advance.

macman

Since all electric heaters are the same efficiency (100%), they all cost the same to run and output heat at the same rate (assuming the same kW rating), whether oil-filled rads or convectors. So just buy the cheapest.
The difference with an oil-filled rad is that it gives out some residual heat after switch off-but then it takes longer to warm up, so it is not more efficient.
However, the cost of electric heating per kWh is going to be higher than even your inefficient oil CH system-so why not spend the money on getting that serviced or sorted?

angelphace

Thanks, Macman. During a cold spell earlier this year we got through £1200 of oil in 6 weeks! I doubt even running four electric heaters for 24 hours per day would come to that (or at least I hope not - there are only four of the twenty or so rooms in the house that i want to heat). I appreciate that all electric heaters have the same efficiency. Are any better than others in the way in which they transmit the heat around the room though?

We are planning to do major renovation works to the house in two years so will rip out the entire existing system then and replace it with something else. In the interim I just want a quick fix to warm the house this winter. It's absolutely freezing at the moment!

tyllwyd

We just bought one of these
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4151034.htm
It looks old fashioned (which is also why we liked it!) but since it is radiant heat it warms up really quickly.

lstar337

I've had this for a year or so, no problems.

http://www.screwfix.com/p/7-fin-oil-filled-radiator-1-5kw-240v/92239?cm_sp=Search-_-SearchRec-_-Area3&_requestid=198302

teddysmum

We are very happy with our Delonghi Dragon 3 oil filled radiator. It heats up quickly, has a thermostat ,a timer and very sturdy wheels, making it easily portable.


Makro (direct) have it at a very reasonable £96; cheaper than Amazon etc and including delivery.

ed110220

angelphace wrote: »

Thanks, Macman. During a cold spell earlier this year we got through £1200 of oil in 6 weeks! I doubt even running four electric heaters for 24 hours per day would come to that (or at least I hope not - there are only four of the twenty or so rooms in the house that i want to heat). I appreciate that all electric heaters have the same efficiency. Are any better than others in the way in which they transmit the heat around the room though?

We are planning to do major renovation works to the house in two years so will rip out the entire existing system then and replace it with something else. In the interim I just want a quick fix to warm the house this winter. It's absolutely freezing at the moment!

Wow, you must practically live in a bus shelter in terms of heat retention to get through that much oil! But in any case as electricity is more expensive than oil per kWh, the only way the electric heater will work out cheaper is if it gives out less heat, which may work if you only want to heat a few rooms, but why not just switch off the radiators in the unused rooms?

If you're renovating, insulate, insulate, insulate!

macman

4 x 2kW electric heaters running 24/7 will cost you around £750 per month if at full output all the time. That's 192kWh per day, or nearly 6,00kWh per month. And that will barely heat 4 rooms, compared to your oil CH. Do the maths.
As above, first job is to improve the insulation.

fluffymuffy

I live in a big detached stone house with solid walls, single glazing and no wall insulation. Last winter we spent £2000 on oil and another £600 on boiler repairs and servicing.


We now heat our house with electricity (regular tariff, non of this Economy7 nonsense)- using

1 air source heatpump (£600 from Vyair, DIY install, dead easy) used 7am to 10pm
2 oil filled radiators on 24/7 on lowest setting
2 Honeywell energysmart fan heaters set at 18 from 7am to 10pm
1 bathroom fan heater 2kW to be used as needed

Curtains are kept closed all day. All windows have thermal curtains (these are thin plastic things, not fluffy thick ones). As many draughts as possible have been blocked. When its windy I go round with a candle lookig for things to block up.

We are here all the time. Every room has a digital thermometer. No room is allowed to get colder than 16 degrees or hotter than 20.

Heating costs = £25 per week average since October. Expected to rise in colder weather. Expected cost of servicing = £0.
Expected heating costs over 6 months of winter - up to £1000.

yangptangkipperbang

angelphace wrote: »

we got through £1200 of oil in 6 weeks! I doubt even running four electric heaters for 24 hours per day would come to that

It 'aint far off

angelphace

yangptangkipperbang wrote: »

It 'aint far off

It's nearly half the price and my comment about running them 24/7 was flippant! They would be run for about 6 hours a day max so will be fine. Thanks for the input guys.