halogen heater query

myself321

hi there

are halogen heaters economic i am looking at one that has 3 bars with 350w per bar ?

Cardew

I have just posted this on another thread - so to save typing!

These, like any form of electrical heating that runs on daytime tariff, is the most expensive form of heating to run you can buy.

It can't be said often enough that any form of electrical heater on a daytime tariff produces exactly the same amount of heat for the money. So it doesn't matter if it is oil filled radiator, convector heater, panel heater, the most expensive hyped system on the market or your grandmother's old 1 bar electric fire.

Add to that list halogen heaters! No more economical or less economical.

The advantage of these heaters is they can 'direct' heat towards a person - say in a bathroom or someone working at a bench in an unheated workshop.

grey_lady

I found that running one of my wall heaters used up 3 times as many units as running my halogen heater which was enough to heat my living room by itself.

hth

TimBuckTeeth

With 3 bars on it is 1050W so comparable power to some smaller flat panel heaters/electric radiators.
The benefit of a halogen heater is that they give off radiant heat, so if you are sitting close enough to it you will feel the heat, even if the room itself is cold, with a radiator the room air temperature has to be increased to a comfortable temperature. So depending on how it is used it may be possible to use less power.
The disadvantage of halogen heaters is that they can burn things that get too close to the front grill so are not suitable for unattended use, and the cheap ones, £15 or so are pretty poor quality and flimsy.

melancholly

Cardew wrote: »

Add to that list halogen heaters! No more economical or less economical.

was just looking for info on halogen heaters - found this article online which seemed quite convincing, but now this comment makes me not so sure!
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Focus_Halogen_HEAT__Review_5595237

anyone had any experience of using them and the impact on bills? turning the heating on gets the whole house so for the odd hour a heater in an individual room is a better option - but electric heaters cost a fortune!

sugarplumfairy

Hi I have storage heaters as my main source of heating but as these are old and don't work properly, I have for the last few years been using halogen heaters. I find them a lot more economical than say storage heaters (can't comment on central heating etc) and as someone else said as they give off a radiant heat you fell warm as soon as they are on. I have also noticed that a lot more people who have central heating are using them as they are instant heat. They also save having to have a light on in the evening, so can be used as a security measure, set them to come on befre you get home of an evening, it will look as if someone is home and the place will be nice and warm. I would prefer to have central heating but that isn't an option for me as we are not allowed mains gas in our flats and oil seems to be too expensive. All in all I do reccomend halogen heaters and several people I know have since bought them.

TimBuckTeeth

sugarplumfairy wrote: »

......
They also save having to have a light on in the evening, so can be used as a security measure, set them to come on befre you get home of an evening, it will look as if someone is home and the place will be nice and warm. ........

I would not recommend setting them to come on before you get home, they shouldn't really be used unattended, especially the freestanding flimsy cheap ones. For security I would set lights to switch on with a timer switch, much safer and cheaper to run.

The surface of the halogen tube is red hot and will easily set fire to things if placed too close or something falls onto it. They do have tip-over safety cut out switches, but if one falls over the residual heat would damage a carpet.

tcb1973

Regarding the impact of these !!!!!!s on the bill. I ran two, one upstairs and one downstairs as and when I felt like it, due to being told that they were super cheap (3p per hour per bar).

Just got my leccy bill - doubled! usually around £50 to £70 quid - this quarter £113 smackers.

Turning them off!

eliza332

Is it cheaper to run Gas Central heating throughout the house to keep warm or to use a Halogen heater only in the room you are in?

Cardew

eliza332 wrote: »

Is it cheaper to run Gas Central heating throughout the house to keep warm or to use a Halogen heater only in the room you are in?

Welcome to the forum.

Why run CH throughout the house? simply turn off the radiators in the rooms not in use.

Any form of electrical heating appliance(including halogen) is about 3 times more expensive than gas.

Ken68

eliza332 wrote: »

Is it cheaper to run Gas Central heating throughout the house to keep warm or to use a Halogen heater only in the room you are in?

Central heating, I would have thought, provided you have sufficient insulation.
I use one in the morning for about 10 minutes.
Better still, though the fire brigade aint impressed is a covered electric blanket 'throw', say 80watt.
Since using this, mainly in the evenings, my gas kwh's have dropped 500 in one month.Potential to save hundreds of pounds p.a. Autumn and spring use mainly.
Ideal if you live solo and as long as you take care not to ruck the blanket and of course at your own risk. Used in millions of beds nationwide every night, so can't be that much risk.