Did I balls up - BTU calculation suggest not enough radiator

chrisrawles

Evening all,

Last year (when energy was cheaper) I replaced our dated ugly storage heaters for better looking thermal fluid filled electric radiators.  This week its been a struggle to get the lounge warm.  I checked a BTU calculation and I think I balled up as it suggests I need a further 1800w to warm the room.

If I am under what is required,  I assume this will cause my radiators to kick in a lot more than they should to try to maintain temperature?

If I was to add another radiator to the room,  apart from the initial outlay of buying it could, it help reduce the draw on electric and save me some £££ over time?

Reed_Richards

No.  Having your room too cold will reduce your electricity bill.  The existing radiator(s) may draw less electricity when you add another radiator to make your room warmer but combined with the electricity drawn by the new radiator, you will increase your electricity bill overall.

Mstty

I am confused as to how storage heaters on economy 7 can ever be replaced by I presume a heat when you need on a single rate tariff and be cheaper? 

chrisrawles

Mstty said:

I am confused as to how storage heaters on economy 7 can ever be replaced by I presume a heat when you need on a single rate tariff and be cheaper? 

I know an electrician who made the economy 7 circuit live like the rest of the house.  I then switched to a single rate tariff.

[Deleted User]

My take, but prepared to be corrected if others know better:

If your radiators are always on - as in they can't get the room up to the temperature you want - then they are undersized and you need more.  This will cost more to run.

If they can, but slowly, then adding more will just make it faster and not cheaper.

chrisrawles

This logic makes sense.  Thanks

macman

There was nothing sarcastic in my response. But sadly we have seen all too many people taken in by the dishonest sales patter that claims that these heaters filled with magic clay or gel are somehow more efficient than their existing 'dated' NSH's. They are not storage heaters, they are expensive convectors that run on peak rate or single rate electricity, and so are much more expensive per kWh. You've spent a lot of money just to double your bills, unfortunately.
If you want to heat a room from temp a) to temp b) then it takes the same amount of kWh energy to do so, whether you use one heater or ten, of whatever output. The only difference is the time it will take. If the existing heater won't ever get the room up to temp then you need more output, which will cost you more.

EssexHebridean

I have a feeling you’re thinking of your electric “radiators” - in real terms just bog standard electric panel heaters - as though they would work in the same way as radiators linked to a gas central heating system - There is simply no comparison I’m afraid. Ultimately, you’ve been had - as said previously, assuming you use the same electricity input to produce the level of heat you want for this winter as you did last, your costs are going to increase drastically. 

Honest advice - get shot and replace with new NSH’s - high heat retention models if you can afford it, refurbed older style ones if not. Otherwise, your alternative is either being cold with far less affordable bills, or being warmer but with truly astronomical bills. For option b, your most cost effective option would be to go and buy a perfectly ordinary oil filled radiator. It’ll deliver the same amount of heat as any other equivalently sized electric heater - but will be an awful lot cheaper to buy than another unicorn-dust powered one! 

chrisrawles

Rewind 18 months when the energy prices were lower the 'risk' I took of ditching my E7 tariff and going for single rate seemed ok.  My partner works from home so it worked out as a household we were using more units in the day vs night.    We also struggled with the out of date old NSH's due to the lack of control or night boost if it got a little cold.  We were not in a position at the time to spend £700 plus on good NSH for the entire house hence the electric radiator situation.  Like anything you live and learn.

WIth the current unit price its evident that we made a bad decision, but, it's only come to light since the cold snap has hit.  

I'm not hoping for some mild temps soon!