using portable heaters instead of turning on the heating

ButtercupDaisies

2 bed apartment, 55 sqm, 2 people, I work from home. 

Its all electric apartment (wet) so could cost a small fortune.

Had a look on Screwfix, found a portable fan heater that's 1000 watts. Lets say I run it for 12 hours a day (9am to 9pm), that'll be 84 watts a week. £100 a month with the current energy caps. 

We both spend our evenings in the living room, so I would just move the heater in there. We both have electric blankets on our beds so we don't need heating on at night.

Can someone just confirm my math is correct, and let me know whether you've had any luck using portable fan heaters as an alternative to radiators? Was it able to heat up a large room?

CSI_Yorkshire

A 1000W heater uses 1kWh for each hour it is running.

So for 12 hours a day, that would be 12kWh.  84kWh a week.  About 360kWh a month - so your £100 is about right.

A 1000W heater is not big.  It's a one bar fire in the old world - which (really roughly) is enough to heat a 10ft x 10ft space..

[Deleted User]

Had a look on Screwfix, found a portable fan heater that's 1000 watts. Lets say I run it for 12 hours a day (9am to 9pm), that'll be 84 watts a week. £100 a month with the current energy caps. 

A heater that outputs at 1000W (or 1kW) for 12 hours a day for 7 days will consume 84kWh of electricity which as you say equates to a cost of c.£100 a month.

That said, a single bar 1kW heater may do nothing more than illuminate your day as far as practical heat benefit is concerned. I live in a well insulated high EPC B property and on a cold Winter's day my gas usage may drop to 2kWh/hour but only when the house has reached its set temperature. Total gas consumption might be 50kWh a day. If I was to put a 1kW heater in my living room, I suspect that we would see a negligible increase in room temperature as the temperature of a room will only rise once the heat coming into the room exceeds the heat loss.

Robin9

You can but try it and see if its enough -  they are cheap to buy.

If they have a built in thermostat then you may well find on warmer days that they cut in and out and you dont use 84 kWh

QrizB

ButtercupDaisies said:

Had a look on Screwfix, found a portable fan heater that's 1000 watts. Lets say I run it for 12 hours a day (9am to 9pm), that'll be 84 kwatthrs a week. £100 a month with the current energy caps.

That much is correct.

ButtercupDaisies said:

Can someone just confirm my math is correct, and let me know whether you've had any luck using portable fan heaters as an alternative to radiators? Was it able to heat up a large room?

Mrs QrizB is a creative type and has a 2kW convector heater in her 15 sq.m. studio. In winter it barely copes. I think trying to keep a 55 sq. m. E-rated 1880s top-floor apartment warm with a 1000w fan heater will quickly prove impracticable.

On the other hand you might be happy to live like HertsLad, in which case you might not even need the heater.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6334019/how-to-live-without-heating-save-000s

(Please don't give him any stick, he's a remarkable person and I have complete respect for his life choices.)

anthonybax

Fan heaters can provide quick localized heat, but they might not be as efficient at heating larger spaces as compared to central heating or radiators. The effectiveness of the fan heater in heating up your living room would depend on the room's insulation, size, and any drafts.

doodling

Hi,

anthonybax said:

Fan heaters can provide quick localized heat, but they might not be as efficient at heating larger spaces as compared to central heating or radiators. The effectiveness of the fan heater in heating up your living room would depend on the room's insulation, size, and any drafts.

I'm not sure how you are using the word efficient here.

Fan heaters will be a few hundreths of a percent less efficient than other wholy in room electrical heaters (which will be 100% efficient) because they make noise and some of that noise leaves the room.

Fan heaters will be more efficient than a wet electrical system (electric boiler and conventional radiators) as these will inevitably heat some areas which don't need heating.

Fan heaters will be substantially more efficient than a gas system where 10% of the heat disappears up the flue.

If by efficiency you are actually referring to performance then of course larger spaces can be heated by fan heaters you just need more of them, or more powerful ones than are sold for £15 at Adsa.

markin

Ir panels heating you would be cheaper to run for working from home.

Swipe

If you WFH in the smallest room available, that could work.

Scot_39

Halogen or infra red might be better than a fan to heat the person / local objects - not via hot air but radiated heat.

But over time such as 12 hrs they'll both essentially just be acting to some degree - as space heating - the fan more so.

But could use less energy than a distant panel or radiator from seating position with no good circulation (studies have shown heat highest close to and above radiators all the way to ceiling height without assisted circulation. So even worse under a window or external wall mount for losses - add a ceiling fan if high ceiling or radiator fan or even just small desk fan helps ).

I'd be surprised if 1kWh x 12 enough on a cold day in a large room, let alone to heat the whole of a 2 bed flat, if left to cool unhet overnight.
Heat losses don't just happen to outside, they happen room to room too if only heating the one.

A gch boiler could easily use 5-10kWh for first hour or 2 when  say programmable thermostat kicks in to lift just a couple of degrees let alone from off in a lossy property - and still be topping up a couple of kWh average on off throughout day.

The ave gas allowance under the headline cap is 12000kWh - that's an average of 32 kWh per day - but is heavily biased to winter months heating. 

Having trouble guessing from this and other posts yourvstatus.Your other post had a 12000 kWh dual het flat - 80 % gas 9600 per year 25kWh average per day.

12 kWh is unrealistic for many properties on average for most peoples idea of comfort in winter.

Try typing on computer for hours at say 15-16C - I would need fingerless gloves to keep back of hands warm.  At 18 would be fine.

And there are secondary consequences to building and yourself of not heating properly
- including dampness, mold
- increased dust/bed mites, aggrevating asthma etc re comment about not heating bedroom.
- cold temps aggravating blood flow, circulatory diseases, increased risks to heart and blood pressure / strokes etc  

There a real reason nhs specifies 18-21c - years of studies - and sadly decades of 10,000s of premature deaths in elderly that result from cold homes.

Moderately young and healthy you might be fine.

But dampness / mold etc can lead to an almost constant cold type impact even in otherwise healthy young adults.  And destroy / ruin linens and clothes.

Get into your 50s and beyond, or have underlying health issues,  these things get increasingly noticeable and potentially far more serious.

If you think your going to struggle to heat - and have other options - buy or rent accordingly - to save or have more margin to pay bills.

We had posts few months back from couple of people in 1 bed flats getting bills for c£400pm+ this winter and still feeling cold.

There is no 1 price - EPC a guide no more - but £100pm for a 2 bed flat for 2 people - is optimistic.

MultiFuelBurner

Do you own your apartment?

Would you be able to get permission to change your system to an Air Sourced Heat Pump system especially as the wet system is largely in place (radiators)

That would be a good long term goal if you are going to live there for a few years and potentially a good selling point come sale time for EPC rating and energy use.