Electric heaters

treecol

We need to heat a hallway that was an extension. We have warm air heating so can't extend that. What are the most economical electric heaters? We'd like to leave them on timers so they come on in the morning & late afternoon.
What would you suggest, please?

Ebe_Scrooge

All electric heaters are 100% efficient. The only difference is the way they give out heat. A fan heater will give instant heat, and stop giving heat the moment it's switched off. A convector heater is almost instant, give or take a minute or so. An oil-filled rad takes longer to heat up, but will continue to give out heat for a while after it's switched off.


But in terms of running cost, there's no difference. A 2KW fan heater will burn the same amount of energy as a 2KW oil-filled heater.


The only difference in cost that you are able to get is with storage heaters, and "charge them up" with cheaper off-peak electricity. But this is only really an option if you have a dual-rate meter, so that you can make use of off-peak prices.

Cardew

Post above is 100% correct.

The cheapest option would be to have 'plug in' heaters(to a 13 amp socket) so they can be plugged in via a timer.

Nearly all heaters have a thermostat, and it really is most important to stress that a £10 heater from Argos etc will give out exactly the same amount of heat, for the same running cost, as these much hyped and advertised heaters that can cost over £1,000.

treecol

Thank you, that's really helpful. Someone had suggested one of these new panel type heaters, saying they would be best. One companies website says their largest one is for open plan rooms & larges spaces - our hall has a vaulted ceiling. I like the idea they have a number of settings, but after reading your replys, any electric heater with a thermostat will do the same at a fraction of the cost. I have some greenhouse heaters which will probably do the same!