Would oil filled ratiaters be cheaper than oil?

martin57

Hi there,

Considering the high price of oil at the moment (£249 for 500 litres a few days ago) would placing an oil filled ratiater in each room be more ecnomical and cheaper to run?

martin57

ballyblack

If you refer to the oil filled electric heated radiators?

NO!

wacko911

Never done the maths but in some cases it could be (eg a pensioner heating one room).

An electric heater will have a rating in watts. Eg. 2000w. A kilowatt hour (KWh) of electrictiy is what a unit is, I think this is around the 11p mark from NIE on the standard tariff. So to run a 2kW heater for 1 hour would cost 22pence.

If you then want to work out how long a tank of oil lasts and compare this to running an electic heater for however many hours a day, then you will get your comparsion, but as the previous poster suggests it will prob work out more expensive to heat a house using a electric, but if you just looking to heat a room and save on the oil then it might be wise. Also look out for infrared heaters they are cheap to buy and cost less to run AFAIK.

motorguy

wacko911 wrote: »

Never done the maths but in some cases it could be (eg a pensioner heating one room).

An electric heater will have a rating in watts. Eg. 2000w. A kilowatt hour (KWh) of electrictiy is what a unit is, I think this is around the 11p mark from NIE on the standard tariff. So to run a 2kW heater for 1 hour would cost 22pence.

If you then want to work out how long a tank of oil lasts and compare this to running an electic heater for however many hours a day, then you will get your comparsion, but as the previous poster suggests it will prob work out more expensive to heat a house using a electric, but if you just looking to heat a room and save on the oil then it might be wise. Also look out for infrared heaters they are cheap to buy and cost less to run AFAIK.

If you only wanted to heat one room, it would probably work out cheaper to turn off the radiators in the other rooms, then have the OFCH heat just that one radiator....

dmxdave

PLUS in most cases the OFCH will heat the domestic hot water as well rather than having to use the immersion

sassybooboos

i used oil filled radiators whilst waiting for new central heating to be put in. had which to be fair were on most of the time for about 2 months bill was over £400. nearly passed out.

wacko911

Has anyone any idea how much wood pellets cost to run. Looking in to it but hard to find any real numbers.

Think its 30%+ cheaper than oil as of last year so may be worth while making the switch with the aid of grants.

butterflymum

wacko911 wrote: »

Has anyone any idea how much wood pellets cost to run. Looking in to it but hard to find any real numbers.

Think its 30%+ cheaper than oil as of last year so may be worth while making the switch with the aid of grants.

Was wondering about this as well, but had read that the bulk quantities they are delivered in requires storage space of three times size of oil tank, plus ease of access required for delivery;

http://www.actionrenewables.org/site/default.asp?catid=4931&parentid=4880

But Pellet stoves, to heat say one room, do not need the same storage volume:

http://www.actionrenewables.org/site/default.asp?catid=4934&parentid=4880

and some general info:

http://www.actionrenewables.org/uploads_documents/WoodHeating.pdf

butterflymum

Cost indications boiler:

http://www.actionrenewables.org/uploads_documents/LgeDomesticWoodBoiler.pdf

and stove:

http://www.actionrenewables.org/uploads_documents/WoodPelletStove.pdf

declanh

wacko911 wrote: »

Has anyone any idea how much wood pellets cost to run. Looking in to it but hard to find any real numbers.

Think its 30%+ cheaper than oil as of last year so may be worth while making the switch with the aid of grants.

From what I have heard the cost of wood pellets seems to (unfairly) track the cost of oil. So while the cost of oil rises so does wood pellets - the saving is there but the difference remains constant so the savings dont appear to grow.

From what I heard on a radio article about this the cost tracks the price of oil "cos it can" and it enables max profit for the wood pellet suppliers.

This of course could be 100% wrong, as its just what I heard on the radio and I have not researched it.

D

wacko911

Thanks, didnt think anyone else had heard of it.

found this info on a local site
Price comparison and savings
Unit Cost / unit £ Fuel Price/kWh Savings
Wood Pellets tonne 118 2.58 -
Coal tonne 200 3.03 +15%
Gas kWh 3.06 3.21 +20%
Oil litre 0.36 3.70 +30%
LPG litre 35.29 5.22 +51%
Electricity kWh 11.51 12.09 +79%

Figures based on the assumption of 18,000kWh
consumed for heating per year. Figures correct at September 2007

That didnt format so here is the link: http://www.greenenergyltd.com/viewproduct.asp?id=18&title=Comparison_of_Fuels

Looking like a 5 year payback, maybe a lot less if they dont keep hiking up the price with oil!!

PS Sorry for hijacking the thread.