Radiators, oil filled electric vs electric rads

UnsureAboutthis

I am moving to another flat that we have recently bought.
It's on the top floor and does not have double glazing atm but does have secondary glazing.
In the living room is a relatively new and very large convector heater that I'm advised has bricks in it
to retain the heat, so that stays. However, in the hall, two bedrooms, and bathroom there are these old electric rads, quite small, about 700 to 800mm wide and about 700mm tall. One of these does not work and they are very hot to the touch,


I've been looking on and off for wall-mounted rad and was amazed about how many types there were.  We have central heating rads in the current place

The electric rads that I read about were talking about "ceramic, thermal,  infra-red etc" I found it confusing

The little bit I understood was that oil rads are more cost effective and the bit of research on that appears to be that they are cheaper to buy as well.

The current rads in the new flat are hardwired.

We are looking for 3 or 4 rads that are very efficient, cheaper to install, reliable and cost-effective.

I work from home - the sun shines in the bedrooms day times and I will use one as an office and in the evening the sun arrives towards the lounge that has a big window and is about 23 feet long,
The flat was built in the late 70's.

I look forward to reading about your tips/help/experiences and recommendations.

Albermarle

I think the first thing is that all electric heaters will be similar efficiency at the same power rating. One KWh of electricity in and one KwH of heat out ( near enough anyway).
The difference between an electric radiator and an oil filled radiator is more that the electric one will heat up a lot quicker and heat the room quicker. However as soon as you switch it off the radiator and then the room will soon get cold again.
An oil filled radiator will take longer to heat up and cool down, so will take longer to heat up a cold room, but keep it warm for longer.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

do you have a two rate/E7 meter?

Sounds as though you have storage heaters which charge up over night, on the cheaper rate.

It's a storage heater if it has bricks in though modern ones now also have a convection function.

UnsureAboutthis

Thanks all. The E7, I've read about it and the current owners are not on that. I'm not 100% sure how that works

Btw, there is a large tank, that looks well insulated, its for the hot water and has a E7 switch and standard switch

I'm looking at the cheapest to run electric heaters.

At my current flat, we are with EDF, variable rate.  In the new place, we are looking at the best tariffs.

Therefore, cheap to run for long hours electric rad/s. Then there is the water heating as well,  I think I read up that the larger/dimplex converctor heater we have can heat up on E7 overnight and use in the day, but I'm confused about that. Its also in the living room and I will be working in the smaller bedroom which is about 10 x 8 feet.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

UnsureAboutthis said:

Thanks all. The E7, I've read about it and the current owners are not on that. I'm not 100% sure how that works

Btw, there is a large tank, that looks well insulated, its for the hot water and has a E7 switch and standard switch

I think I read up that the larger/dimplex converctor heater we have can heat up on E7 overnight and use in the day,

you say current owners are not on E7, but immersion has an E7 timer and large heater is on E7, so what tariff is it, is it E10?

Veteransaver

Storage heaters are only cheaper to run if you are on E7. If not on E7 they will work out more expensive than panel heaters (because you will be heating rooms overnight when you don't need the heat)
All electric heaters are the same in efficiency terms though, oil is no more efficient, and is only cheaper to run because it doesn't put out as much heat. Ie a 2kW oil rad will not put out 2kW of heat on average, whereas a 2kW convector or panel heater will

nofoollikeold

1. I'd avoid all those electric radiators which big up on "ceramic", "thermal" etc.  As other have stated above, any electric heater will give out as much heat energy as it consumers electrical energy.  Some may heat up (and cool down) quicker than others, but this does not alter the amount of electricity consumed.  
2. There are two main types of electric heater:
2.1 Storage heaters
2.2 "Instant" heaters.
3. Storage heaters use electricity to heat a number of heavy bricks (or equivalent) inside them.  That heat can be released later via vents on the unit.  Thus if you are on a cheap overnight electricity rate, you can "store" the heat at night, and release it when you need it during the day.  Modern storage heaters are much better than old ones, as they can be set to give out next to no heat while charging, and more controlled heat while discharging.  However, they are not worth having unless you have a cheap rate tariff because they are pretty expensive to buy, and need dedicated wiring.
4. Instant heaters are just a coil of resistance wire (element(s)) inside a casing.  They heat when you turn them on, and cool down when you turn them off.  They may have oil to make them heat up and cool down more slowly (oil filled heaters).  They may have fans to blow hot air round the room (fan heaters) or just use the elements to heat the air by convection.  There are also radiant electric fires, usually fitted in a fireplace, but these are comparatively rare.  
5. I'd explore with your electricity supplier what is available by way of cheap timed rate tariffs.  If you already have an economy connected hot water cylinder, you might be able to get that supply extended to at least the existing storage heater, and possibly to new ones.  

QrizB

UnsureAboutthis said:

I am moving to another flat that we have recently bought.

How long do you intend to live in this flat?

If it's more than a couple of years, you should consider moving away from direct electric heating (panel heaters, oil-filled heaters, magic heaters with Germanic names filled with exotic clays or unicorn hair) to storage heaters or even a heat pump.

Fitting storage heaters might cost you £3-4k but could save you £1000 a year in electricity costs.

There are some comparative energy cost calculations at the link in my signature.

UnsureAboutthis

Thanks all - read through the info - very helpful. I will consider the converter/brick heater and E7 or whatever else is around. Cheers for the heads-up about the heater with bricks in it aka "Storage heater."

I will keep an eye on this thread and may ask more questions.