Delonghi Dragon 4 oil filled radiator worth the money?

applepad

I have seen that the 

De'Longhi Dragon 4 TRD40820T Oil Filled Radiator has come the top of some reviews, but I can buy a much cheaper oil filled radiator such as a Von haus which also has some good reviews.

I wanting a heater for a garage conversion which is a bedroom, also my glass roofed conservatory.
I understand that a 2 Kwatt radiator is a 2 Kwatt radiator, but also know that some appliances are more efficient than others.

Does anyone have one of these appliances? Can speak from personal experience? 

ka7e

I have 2, a 2kw generic one from Toolstation and a Monhouse 2900w from Amazon. They both have multiple heat settings, timers and thermostatic control and the Monhouse also has a fan setting (never used). I find them very effective at heating a room quite quickly and use them mainly to boost the room temp or to provide a "hot spot" for elderly relatives.

Both cost less than £100 and have performed well.

Belenus

applepad said:

I have seen that the 

De'Longhi Dragon 4 TRD40820T Oil Filled Radiator has come the top of some reviews, but I can buy a much cheaper oil filled radiator such as a Von haus which also has some good reviews.

I wanting a heater for a garage conversion which is a bedroom, also my glass roofed conservatory.
I understand that a 2 Kwatt radiator is a 2 Kwatt radiator, but also know that some appliances are more efficient than others.

Does anyone have one of these appliances? Can speak from personal experience? 

Is that really £175? That sounds very expensive.

Screwfix and other retailers have similar heaters around the £50 mark.

As far as I am aware, electric heaters are all 100% efficient. Oil Filled radiators may vary in the speed at which they heat up a room but ultimately they give out the same amount of heat per unit of electricity used.

ThisIsWeird

You are correct, Applepad - 2kW is 2kW is 2kW when it comes to an electric radiator. And the really good news is, they are all nigh-on 100% efficient!

Ie, all the leccy they consume, they transfer and emit as heat.

That De'L seems a nutty price to me. Yes, it has a timer that could be useful, and yes it has an adjustable thermostat - as many do. 

It may well have a neat convecting design with that 'chimney' effect, and I can see that being able to get the heat circulating around the wider room more quickly; a faster, funnelled, channel of hot air rising up from the heater will most likely circulate around the ceiling and back down the other side of the room a bit more quickly than one without this design, so it could well be more 'effective' at heating a room more quickly. But it'll use the same overall energy in doing so - ie it'll use more at the early stage of room heating. 

If you can get the air moving over the heating fins more quickly, either by funnelling it like this or by using a fan, then - yes - more heat will be extracted from the radiator more quickly. But, the electrical input will have to increase accordingly; you do not get extra heat for nothing. 

When my brother stayed with us for a few months at the beginning of the year convalescing from a broken leg, I got a 2kW oil-filled from SF for £50. Thermostat and three power settings. Worked a treat.

The only thing I can see the DeL doing better is the timer (if you want one) and a marginal increase in speed at which it might get the room up to the required temp, but you'll use more electricity in doing so. Once up to temp, one 2kW heater will be the same as another. Since you'd usually be using these for a few hours, a 10-minute (or whatever it is) faster temp arrival will not, I don't think, matter much. And certainly not at that price.

If you read the reviews, they are pretty positive, but when folk throw in terms like 'efficient', it suggests they don't fully appreciate what's going on. They are all ~100% in that regard.

I'd recommend at least two heat settings, and an adjustable thermostat. A timer if required. And a decent build quality. Half that DeL price should do all this.

grumbler

If any other much cheaper radiator doesn't have a timer, then a plug-it timer costs less than a tenner and is likely to have a better functionality.

outtatune

I bought that exact model of heater for my mum a few years ago when she was living in a cottage without central heating. She absolutely loved it.

It had no oil smell whatwoever, was silent except for the occassional tick of metal expanding, and never leaked. It also survived having a large aloe plant in a ceramic pot falling onto it.

That's not to say of course that she wouldn't have loved a similar £50 no-name equivalent. If I was buying one for myself, assuming it was bought from a legitimate supplier and I could be sure of electrical safety, my only concern about going for a no-name brand would be the possibility it might leak oil onto carpet.

ThisIsWeird

They are all sealed, of course, and oil should not come out under any circumstance. But I'd be wary of any that are suspiciously cheap or fragile-looking.

Just checked - mine is an 'Essentials', with the box labelled 'Tukwilla'! https://www.screwfix.com/p/cy81ww-11-freestanding-oil-filled-radiator-2400w/779hf

Clearly a budget brand, but the item is solid and has no issues whatsoever. Mind you, the reviews on there are quite variable...

Grenage

I had a dragon heater when I had a parrot; it was about the only model that didn't state that it couldn't be left unattended.

Otherwise I'd of picked the cheapest thing that ticked the boxes.

apw81

I have two of the Dragons. They are absolute beasts. I haven’t used them since the price of leccy went stratospheric (haven’t much used the central heating, either), but the Dragons are performers. Heat up a room in little time, and its thermostat is accurate. 

My models are the 2.5kw ones. I don’t regret buying them, and I would recommend them, when asked. I can’t compare them to other oil filled rads because I’ve only ever had these ones, but compared to the usual convection type models I’ve had (including Delonghi ones), I prefer these by miles. 

Build quality is solid. My only negative with the two I have are the led screens emit a whining noise when dimmed. When in use, the screen is at full brightness and there’s no noise. When in standby, it dims, and I can hear it whining. It’s not loud at all and only audible under certain circumstances (namely, you need to have your ears at a certain angle to catch the sound). I don’t really live with background noise and I have sensitive hearing, silly things like this irritate me (I really should just put play a radio). I never use the timer so just switch them off at the wall to cut out any whining.

Led whining is quite a common thing, it’s not really a fault of the product. The older models with dials would probably have been more suitable for me. And I also agree with the point up above; a different brand at half the price would likely be just as good as one of these. Mine both came with a 10 year warranty.

ThisIsWeird

Grenage said:

I had a dragon heater when I had a parrot; it was about the only model that didn't state that it couldn't be left unattended.

Otherwise I'd of picked the cheapest thing that ticked the boxes.

Did it say it could be left unattended?

ThisIsWeird

apw81 said:

I have two of the Dragons. They are absolute beasts. I haven’t used them since the price of leccy went stratospheric (haven’t much used the central heating, either), but the Dragons are performers. Heat up a room in little time, and its thermostat is accurate. 

My models are the 2.5kw ones. I don’t regret buying them, and I would recommend them, when asked. I can’t compare them to other oil filled rads because I’ve only ever had these ones, but compared to the usual convection type models I’ve had (including Delonghi ones), I prefer these by miles. 

Build quality is solid. My only negative with the two I have are the led screens emit a whining noise when dimmed. When in use, the screen is at full brightness and there’s no noise. When in standby, it dims, and I can hear it whining. It’s not loud at all and only audible under certain circumstances (namely, you need to have your ears at a certain angle to catch the sound). I don’t really live with background noise and I have sensitive hearing, silly things like this irritate me (I really should just put play a radio). I never use the timer so just switch them off at the wall to cut out any whining.

Led whining is quite a common thing, it’s not really a fault of the product. The older models with dials would probably have been more suitable for me. And I also agree with the point up above; a different brand at half the price would likely be just as good as one of these. Mine both came with a 10 year warranty.

I can see that its build quality will be higher than most, and it would have to be at that price. 
I can also accept it is faster at getting a room up to temp due to its design, but cannot begin to guess how much so. This may be a useful feature, but the overall power consumption should be the same as any other oil-filled.
I'd also hope that the temp thermostat would be accurate, so it's good to have that confirmed. And if it's digital, with an actual 'degree' display, then that is clearly superior to a manual unmarked 'set it there when the room is warm enough' type.
Interesting about the high pitched noise; we had my bro's bed set sideways for better access, and the heater was placed a couple of feet behind the headboard... :-)