electric heater v radiator help

trevor8

Hi i have moved into a house which has gas heating via radiators in all but the garage which has been converted into a bedroom.I have a electric fan heater a 2000w model in there at the moment, a couple of questions does anyone know how much using this type of heater costs a hour and would it be worthwhile to run a radiator through to the garage.Any help would be very appreciated.

hobo28

A 2000w heater will every hour use 2kWh of power. Just multiply this up by the electricity tariff.

So if they charge 9.5p per kilowatt-hour then each hour the heater is on will cost 19p.

Personally I would say if its a bedroom, I'd put a gas radiator into it. I don't like electric heaters. They tend to be fine for occasional use but I certainly wouldn't want to keep it on all night.

Cardew

Agree with the above but a couple of comments.

When it is running it will be using the full 2kW and cost 19p(or whatever the cost of your electricity)

However most(all?) fan heaters have a thermostat so switch on and off as the room reaches the set temperature; so obviously will use less than 2kWh each hour some of the time.

Again most 2kW heaters have 2 settings - 1kW and 2kW and if on the lower setting it will cost 9.5p an hour to run.

Certainly if the bedroom is used full time it would be better to get run a pipe through and fit a radiator. If is for occasional use then the situation is less clear cut although a gas radiator will enhance the value of your property.

You need to ensure that your boiler has the capacity to run an extra radiator; a garage will probably have poor insulation, so it might need a big radiator.