Halogen Heating Instead of Storage Heaters

Roxy07

I'm finding this much cheaper to run (almost cut my leccy bill in half for heating)

I live in an all electric flat and having the house full of Halogen heaters and turning them on and off when I need heat.

Anyone do the same!?

Cardew

Do you live on your own?

macman

That is then because you are using far less heating. The halogen heaters will cost 3 times more to run per kWh than NSH's on E7.
And, if you are running them on an E7 tariff, and have not switched to single rate, then it'll cost you about 400% more per kWh on peak rate-unless you are only heating during the cheap rate hours due to shift work etc.

Roxy07

macman wrote: »

That is then because you are using far less heating. The halogen heaters will cost 3 times more to run per kWh than NSH's on E7.
And, if you are running them on an E7 tariff, and have not switched to single rate, then it'll cost you about 400% more per kWh on peak rate-unless you are only heating during the cheap rate hours due to shift work etc.

The thing is, my storage heaters are the old-fashioned brick ones which absorb heat so cost a fortune to run as they take hours to "heat up".. so I have to keep them on during the night for the bricks to absorb the heat.. which is nice on a really cold day but it isn't cold everyday even during winter, you can't turn the heat down as the bricks absorb them.. so Halogen heating suits me.

Halogen Heaters cost around 10P an hour to run. On E7 that's 70P per heater for 7 hours of heating, if you have 2 it is £1.40 and so on.. but who needs heating for 7 hours? once a place is warm you turn them off.. and with socialising, relationship, family, friends, work.. makes common sense really.

My Leccy bill has gone from a fortune to reasonable..

Roxy07

Cardew wrote: »

Do you live on your own?

I live with my partner.. why? what does that have to do with it!?

prosaver

Roxy07 wrote: »

The thing is, my storage heaters are the brick ones which absorb heat so cost a fortune to run as they take hours to "heat up".. so I have to keep them on during the night for the bricks to absorb the heat.. which is nice on a really cold day but it isn't cold everyday even during winter, you can't turn the heat down as the bricks absorb them.. so Halogen heating suits me.

Halogen Heaters cost around 10P an hour to run. On E7 that's 70P per heater for 7 hours of heating, if you have 2 it is £1.40 and so on.. but who needs heating for 7 hours? once a place is warm you turn them off.. and with socialising, family, friends, work.. makes common sense really.

My Leccy bill has gone from a fortune to reasonable..

my mum used to have them and the storage heaters and they were crap.
the room used to be real dry and hot in the morning and ended up cold at 6pm
Ive got central heating but use the halgen heater sometimes in the afternoon.
I put it on 400w which is the same electric as 4 light bulbs:)

Roxy07

prosaver wrote: »

my mum used to have them and the storage heaters and they were crap.
the room used to be real dry and hot in the morning and ended up cold at 6pm
Ive got central heating but use the halgen heater sometimes in the afternoon.
I put it on 400w which is the same electric as 4 light bulbs:)

:beer:

We felt physically sick in the mornings with the brick Storage Heaters because the place was so hot from the bricks in the storage heaters being red hot.. we like a warm place but there is such things as too warm.

And like you said, if you want to snuggle up on the sofa to watch a movie or TV show at night (like we do when we are both free and at home) it is really cold with Storage Heaters as like you said, after 6PM the bricks cool down and the place gets really icy..

Cardew

Roxy07 wrote: »

I live with my partner.. why? what does that have to do with it!?

Because you said 'when I need heat' not 'we need heat


Because unless you are sitting/standing right next to your partner, you will require two heaters to be on.


There is no question that halogen heaters have their uses, but many of us wouldn't want to go into a cold bathroom or kitchen and having to continually switch on/off heaters.

Roxy07

Cardew wrote: »

Because you said 'when I need heat' not 'we need heat


Because unless you are sitting/standing right next to your partner, you will require two heaters to be on.


There is no question that halogen heaters have their uses, but many of us wouldn't want to go into a cold bathroom or kitchen and having to continually switch on/off heaters.

There is no storage heaters in my kitchen or bathroom anyway tho..

CashStrapped

If it works and is the cheapest solution for you then who can complain. If you are comfortable and the overall cost is lower than the alternative heating options then ...great!

You are using a more expensive form of heating, but using it for much shorter periods....which...works out cheaper.

Some people like to heat the whole of their property rather than just the very localised area they are in, which is what you are doing.

Two points though.

1.A property as a structure is meant to be heated and kept warm to some extent. Just heating yourself using a halogen heater could lead to damp and mould being more common in areas and rooms which are not heated and get very cold. This depends on the type/age of the property of course.

2. Storage heaters are the cheapest all electric way of heating the whole property.

They are not old fashioned by any means. Modern ones still operate in the exact same way.

Problems arise because people do not properly learn how to use the controls and end up using them in the most inefficient way.

You should have two dials on the storage heater. An output and input.
You adjust the input according to how much heat you want to store for the next day. The higher the setting, the more heat you store and the more electricity you will use.

So, a very cold day tomorrow? Set it at 5/6. If it is due to be a bit nippy, maybe a 3 will do. Mild, but on the cold side, try 1 or 2.

However, correctly using the output is key. It should always be set to zero (or the lowest number) until you actually need the heat.

If the output is not set to zero, it will immediately leak the heat it is meant to store and you will wake up to an overly warm and stuffy house. In addition, none of the heat will have been stored and you will have no heat for the rest of he day.

So in summary, set the input for the weather due for the next day and keep the output on zero until you actually want the heat.

fishybusiness

a halogen heater could lead to damp and mould being more common in areas and rooms which are not heated and get very cold

Can also happen with Infra Red Panel heaters. Very warm people, very cold bottom corners of the room.