Ceramic Radiators

SPnomore
SPnomore Posts: 12 Forumite
Tenth Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
edited 23 January 2018 at 2:15PM in Energy
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Back to SPnomore's original 2016 post...

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Does anyone else get annoyed every time these £700 electric heaters are on one of the shopping channels. I know I shouldn't but I cannot help myself watching and hearing about how efficient and "green energy" they are. Right now they are doing the usual WOW WOW WOW demonstrations showing the temperature of the ceramic core still GOING UP 10 minutes after the power is switched off.

Yep, just as efficient and green as a £10 fan heater from Argos, which also have that magical feature that automatically switches itself off when it reaches the set temperature!!

Except the ceramic heater is less efficient because it carries on heating the room even when the set temperature has been reached due to heat stored in the magical ceramic core.

Anyone here, admit to buying one or more?

P.S. It is on-air right now.
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Comments

  • Cardew
    Cardew Posts: 29,058 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Rampant Recycler
    The best heaters are coated with marmite and filled with custard - not a lot of people know that!

    People on this forum have paid up to £1,500 per heater.
  • This thread made me laugh!

    On a slightly more serious note I'm about to have winter in a rental flat that's only heating is one electric heater in the lounge and one electric towel rail. Do you have any suggestions for the most economically and financially friendly option I could source for the bedroom? We've been lent what I think is an oil filled electric radiator style heater, but are halogen ones the way to go?

    Thanks in advance!!

    *ps I know for next time not to assume my lovely rented flat 'has central heating' who knew that wasn't a standard feature! I came from a place with real life radiators and I miss them.
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 8,976 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    If all you want is a quick boost when you get up or are getting ready for bed then a £10 fan heater will do the job. If you want to heat the room for a prolonged period of time then an oil filled rad wil do it.

    You do not want a halogen heater if you want heat over night in a bedroom, unless you want to read by it as well.

    If you want overnight heat get an electric underblanket as the cheapest option of all to run
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • matelodave wrote: »
    If all you want is a quick boost when you get up or are getting ready for bed then a £10 fan heater will do the job. If you want to heat the room for a prolonged period of time then an oil filled rad wil do it.

    You do not want a halogen heater if you want heat over night in a bedroom, unless you want to read by it as well.

    If you want overnight heat get an electric underblanket as the cheapest option of all to run

    Thank you for this. We don't currently plan to have heating on in the night (except once when I forgot to turn it off!). We're managing ok bundled up in lots of layers in bed, even with old drafting Windows. Quick fan burst might be an idea just while getting changed. We're running electric heating in lounge during evening when in there. Bit worried about costs but we have a financial buffer in joint account in case we do a meter reading and DD shoot up.
  • lstar337
    lstar337 Posts: 3,443 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    SPnomore wrote: »
    Does anyone else get annoyed every time these £700 electric heaters are on one of the shopping channels. I know I shouldn't but I cannot help myself watching and hearing about how efficient and "green energy" they are. Right now they are doing the usual WOW WOW WOW demonstrations showing the temperature of the ceramic core still GOING UP 10 minutes after the power is switched off.

    Yep, just as efficient and green as a £10 fan heater from Argos, which also have that magical feature that automatically switches itself off when it reaches the set temperature!!

    Except the ceramic heater is less efficient because it carries on heating the room even when the set temperature has been reached due to heat stored in the magical ceramic core.

    Anyone here, admit to buying one or more?

    P.S. It is on-air right now.
    Can these sellers be reported to the ASA?
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,741 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    What is the actual 'storage' period of these ceramic rads? An hour? Two hours? They seem careful to not state it. Being kind, they might be just the job in certain situations where you want the heating to run on a bit after the E7 cheap rate has ended, e.g. you want a bit of ongoing heat in the bedroom until you leave home at 9 am. But it's going to take an awful long time to break even on that purchase cost and most E7 homes should have proper storage heating anyway.
  • matelodave
    matelodave Posts: 8,976 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    One assumes that if it takes half an hour to cool down then it must take half an hour to warm up so you wont get much heat out of it until the ceramic core is up to temperature.

    I note Fischer are still describing their stuff as storage heaters, which they aren't
    Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large numbers
  • coffeehound
    coffeehound Posts: 5,741 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Yes I was meaning heat it during off peak. An oil-filled rad stays warm for about half an hour after switching off so you'd hope these stay warm for longer than that.
  • lstar337
    lstar337 Posts: 3,443 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    What is the actual 'storage' period of these ceramic rads? An hour? Two hours? They seem careful to not state it. Being kind, they might be just the job in certain situations where you want the heating to run on a bit after the E7 cheap rate has ended, e.g. you want a bit of ongoing heat in the bedroom until you leave home at 9 am. But it's going to take an awful long time to break even on that purchase cost and most E7 homes should have proper storage heating anyway.
    The issue is more about these TV sellers calling them "eco" and "green" and other such modern buzz words that have been commandeered for selling purposes.

    I'm assuming the presenters are not trying to deliberately mislead, but they don't really know what they are talking about!
  • lstar337
    lstar337 Posts: 3,443 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Yes I was meaning heat it during off peak. An oil-filled rad stays warm for about half an hour after switching off so you'd hope these stay warm for longer than that.
    I wouldn't count on it. These rads with funny fillings are nothing better than your standard oil filled jobby.
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