Heat a Single Room Gas vs Electric

roly79_2

Morning All,

I'm getting increasingly bored frustrated and disappointed of the usual advice given by energy companies to turn off lights and wear a jumper which we likely all do and have done for many years. I want some serious practical advice (hence why im on here)

What is the cheapest way to heat a single room Gas or Electric at Estimated prices this winter. Is the old adage that Gas is cheaper now wrong with Gas prices rising more than electric ?.

The same question could be asked of cooking Gas Hob vs Portable Electric Hob ?

I fully understand its a pretty much impossible question but there must be a general consensus. Maybe an oil filled electric radiator is best as retains more heat than a fan heater
or would an open Gas fire be best

Majority of us are going to be on the price Cap come October so knowing this or even rough guesses could be very handy and would help in advising others rather than telling people to insulate there loft or put on a hat

Thanks in advance

Coffeekup

roly79_2 said:

I'm getting increasingly bored frustrated and disappointed of the usual advice given by energy companies to turn off lights and wear a jumper which we likely all do and have done for many years.

What is the cheapest way to heat a single room Gas or Electric at Estimated prices this winter. Is the old adage that Gas is cheaper now wrong with Gas prices rising more than electric ?.

The same question could be asked of cooking Gas Hob vs Portable Electric Hob ?

I fully understand its a pretty much impossible question but there must be a general consensus. Maybe an oil filled electric radiator is best as retains more heat than a fan heater
or would an open Gas fire be best

Majority of us are going to be on the price Cap come October so knowing this or even rough guesses could be very handy and would help in advising others rather than telling people to insulate there loft or put on a hat

That's not true I know a family that has the thermostat set to 22*C and all inside walk around in shorts and t-shirts all winter, they also don't like to go out because it's cold.

Unfortunately you're not going to like this. As for your question there is too many variables, but the absolute cheapest way to heat the room is not heat it all. Sit under a blanket with extra layers on. I did last winter, the winter before and the winter before that.
Gas is still cheaper than electric....

You need to stop cold coming In and or heat escaping as it'll just cost you continuous money trying to heat a space with the temperature never getting up to the desired level.

I think the only way to find out is do these tests for yourself in the room your thinking of heating and make notes

k_man

roly79_2 said:

Morning All,

I'm getting increasingly bored frustrated and disappointed of the usual advice given by energy companies to turn off lights and wear a jumper which we likely all do and have done for many years. I want some serious practical advice (hence why im on here)

What is the cheapest way to heat a single room Gas or Electric at Estimated prices this winter. Is the old adage that Gas is cheaper now wrong with Gas prices rising more than electric ?.

The same question could be asked of cooking Gas Hob vs Portable Electric Hob ?

I fully understand its a pretty much impossible question but there must be a general consensus. Maybe an oil filled electric radiator is best as retains more heat than a fan heater
or would an open Gas fire be best

Majority of us are going to be on the price Cap come October so knowing this or even rough guesses could be very handy and would help in advising others rather than telling people to insulate there loft or put on a hat

Thanks in advance

Oil filled radiators are also much slower to heat up, so deliver similar heat, but over a longer period.
This can be a significant disadvantage if you only need to provide heat for short periods.

ZolaBuddy

Heating one room to the detriment of all others is fine in order to keep fuel bills down, but if you have any form of heating, especially central heating, make sure you keep a certain amount of heat active on a daily basis in order to keep pipes/radiators from freezing during cold snaps.

funny.money

roly79_2 said:

Morning All,

I'm getting increasingly bored frustrated and disappointed of the usual advice given by energy companies to turn off lights and wear a jumper which we likely all do and have done for many years. I want some serious practical advice (hence why im on here)

What is the cheapest way to heat a single room Gas or Electric at Estimated prices this winter. Is the old adage that Gas is cheaper now wrong with Gas prices rising more than electric ?.

The same question could be asked of cooking Gas Hob vs Portable Electric Hob ?

I fully understand its a pretty much impossible question but there must be a general consensus. Maybe an oil filled electric radiator is best as retains more heat than a fan heater
or would an open Gas fire be best

Majority of us are going to be on the price Cap come October so knowing this or even rough guesses could be very handy and would help in advising others rather than telling people to insulate there loft or put on a hat

Thanks in advance

I can't answer your question re cost but as I said previously on another thread this is exactly what we did last Winter.  We have a large 5 bedroomed house, very large lounge.  We converted one of the smaller bedrooms upstairs into a 'cosy snug' and heated it with an oil filled rad, so the only room in the house that was being heated. We didn't find it a hardship and our last bill from EDF, which was end of March btw, we were in credit.  I have bought,  ready for this Winter, one of the plugs that you can programme to show actual cost, as I think I will be happier knowing exactly how much we are paying to use the heater.

macman

roly79_2 said:

Morning All,

I'm getting increasingly bored frustrated and disappointed of the usual advice given by energy companies to turn off lights and wear a jumper which we likely all do and have done for many years. I want some serious practical advice (hence why im on here)

What is the cheapest way to heat a single room Gas or Electric at Estimated prices this winter. Is the old adage that Gas is cheaper now wrong with Gas prices rising more than electric ?.

The same question could be asked of cooking Gas Hob vs Portable Electric Hob ?

I fully understand its a pretty much impossible question but there must be a general consensus. Maybe an oil filled electric radiator is best as retains more heat than a fan heater
or would an open Gas fire be best

Majority of us are going to be on the price Cap come October so knowing this or even rough guesses could be very handy and would help in advising others rather than telling people to insulate there loft or put on a hat

Thanks in advance

It's not an impossible question. Yes, gas prices have risen faster than electricity. But gas per kWh is still about 250% cheaper than electricity. Even at maybe 80% efficiency vs 100% for electricity, gas is still cheaper. This applies for both heating and cooking. If you already have a gas hob, you'd be crazy to change it.
Oil filled rad vs fan heater: both cost exactly the same to run per kWh. An oil filled rad cools down slower, yes, but it heats up slower too. A kWh of heat energy is a kWh, however fast or slow you produce it.
If you want to heat only one room, a gas fire is a good option, compared to running a gas boiler and pumping hot water round a system where most of the rads are turned off.

Section62

roly79_2 said:

or would an open Gas fire be best

Generally open fires are not a great idea as a lot of the heat goes straight up the chimney, and room heat continues to be lost by the same route even when the fire is not burning.

Balanced flue gas fires avoid that problem, but if you don't already have one then you have the costs of buying and installation to account for - plus there are limitations on where you can put one.

Everyone's circumstances will vary, but if you already have gas central heating with a reasonably efficient boiler, for the next 12 months it is doubtful that anything will be more economical than using the gas CH with radiators turned right down (or off) in the rooms you aren't using.

Similarly with the hob - even if the fuel cost of electric vs gas is cheaper, you have to account for the cost of buying the electric hob.  There are also safety and health issues to bear in mind.  For cooking, the greatest potential saving is looking at where you can use a microwave to cook food, rather than the hob (or oven).

Xbigman

This is exactly my plan for this winter. I'm using a cheap electric heater but it really doesn't matter as all eclectic heaters are pretty much 100% efficient. I personally wouldn't go for a fan heater because the noise from the fan would probably become annoying after a while. 
There are two issues that are raised when these discussions start. Frost damage and Damp/Mould. It depends where you live and how you live. I'm in a mid terrace three bed and single. I don't have a damp or frost problem as the house never goes below around 8c or 9c. What property you have and how cold it gets is for you to judge but I would say that if you really can't afford to heat more than one room then try it. Possibly using a little electric heater for a bit of extra heat in Autumn and Spring and then just using the main central heating for the coldest 10 weeks of the year (23rd Dec to 3rd March) could be a compromise in colder properties. 
If you do cut right back because you have little choice and you get a bit of mould in an odd room or corner of the property then ask yourself which is cheaper - central heating or disinfectant and elbow grease.


Darren

Olinda99

If you do decide to heat a single room then every so often open all the doors and windows to the rest of the house and let the cold winter are blow through! 

Not when it's raining of course.

BUFF

then there is the question - do you actually need to heat the room or just the person?
(p.s. not heating buildings at least some can lead to fabric issues & may contravene your home insurance contract)

j2009

macman said:

 It's not an impossible question. Yes, gas prices have risen faster than electricity. But gas per kWh is still about 250% cheaper than electricity. Even at maybe 80% efficiency vs 100% for electricity, gas is still cheaper. This applies for both heating and cooking. If you already have a gas hob, you'd be crazy to change it.
Oil filled rad vs fan heater: both cost exactly the same to run per kWh. An oil filled rad cools down slower, yes, but it heats up slower too. A kWh of heat energy is a kWh, however fast or slow you produce it.
If you want to heat only one room, a gas fire is a good option, compared to running a gas boiler and pumping hot water round a system where most of the rads are turned off.

This advice is spot on.

If you only want to heat a single room a gas fire (not an open gas fire as they are only about 20% efficient) is the cheapest way.

If you don't have a gas fire it's still cheaper to turn down the other radiators in the house and use the central heating versus electricity, if you set the thermostatic vales low (or adjust the lockshields) you can just have the radiators in other rooms on a little to keep things dry, but with most heat going to the radiators in the room(s) that you use most.