Which electric heater?

Kookygirl · 5 April 2018 at 6:31PM

Good evening,

I'm looking for thoughts from people with experience of electric heaters as a main source of heating. I have pretty much ruled out any other type of fuel based on my property/circumstances. So this thread is not about what fuel to go for but rather what electric heater to go for.

I have decided the storage heaters that came with the house have to go, I tried them for a few days and then switched them off over winter. They are not cheaper to run (even with economy 7), very inflexible and bordering useless in terms of output. I found portable electric heaters cheaper for what I got out of them. In the storage heaters defence they are old and from what I understand technology has come a long way.

I am now looking at upgrading all the electric heaters in the house for next winter. However I am struggling to find any meaningful information online on what type to go for, most sites giving info sell heaters themselves so I can't help but feel the info is somewhat biased... Primary concern is cost to run, but I also want it to be flexible and controllable. I also don't want to spend more than £500 a heater, ideally much less. Has anybody got any recommendations/advice?

Thanks

Owain_Moneysaver · 5 April 2018 at 6:55PM

All electric heaters are 100% efficient for all practical purposes so ignore the spurious claims about continental clay-filled magic heaters.

http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-elec/pel00023/convector-heater-with-timer-turbo/dp/HG00917

Less than £20, thermostat, timer, turbo fan, wall mountable.

If you want to spend money then look at Dimplex or Elnur
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/ERRX14E.html

£330 + VAT.

It may be worth checking your storage heaters are set up and operating correctly and that, if applicable, your E7 control timeswitch is correctly synchronised to your E7 off-peak meter period.

If you do choose to go to panel heaters then make sure you change off the E7 tariff as peak rates on E7 are higher than single-rate tariffs.

Cardew · 5 April 2018 at 7:34PM

Post above is absolutely correct.

All electrical heating is 100% efficient thus a £10 fan heater, to a £1,000+ heater - filled/coated with any ingredient known to man - will all produce EXACTLY the same amount of heat for the same running cost.

FullForce · 5 April 2018 at 7:54PM

So the only variable is whether you pay full price for your electricity, or get 7 hours of cheap rate on Economy 7 (typically about 50% of the price)

Of course, the only way to have electrical heating when you want it, yet only use electricity in the cheap rate period, is to use storage heaters - it's why they were invented.

Sadly, the OP has already decided this type of heater has to go.

I always wondered what it would be like to win the Lotto jackpot; now I know.

:cool:

Kookygirl · 6 April 2018 at 9:59AM

Thank you for your responses.

Cardew wrote: »

All electrical heating is 100% efficient thus a £10 fan heater, to a £1,000+ heater - filled/coated with any ingredient known to man - will all produce EXACTLY the same amount of heat for the same running cost.

I have read this numerous times online, yet my experience with various portable heaters has suggested otherwise (in terms of cost). An old 2.5kw portable heater cost more to run than the new 2.5kw heater I bought, however I put this down to technological features such as accurate digital thermostat, quick to heat up etc. And this is what I was trying to find out with my original post, though I did not make this very clear. Certain features can make heating a house with electricity more cost effective and I am looking for recommendations in that area.

FullForce wrote: »

So the only variable is whether you pay full price for your electricity, or get 7 hours of cheap rate on Economy 7 (typically about 50% of the price)

Of course, the only way to have electrical heating when you want it, yet only use electricity in the cheap rate period, is to use storage heaters - it's why they were invented.

Sadly, the OP has already decided this type of heater has to go.

I always wondered what it would be like to win the Lotto jackpot; now I know.

:cool:

Rather happily actually decided they have to go, the day I moved in I plugged in an energy monitor, and programmed in my economy 7 tariff. I can now see exactly what I'm spending every day down to the penny, thank god really otherwise I would have used the storage heaters all winter and gone bankrupt by now. They cost far more to use than my portable heaters on a daily basis compared to the heat they put out. Not only that but they were rather useless, producing heat when I least needed it and none when I really needed it, no matter how much I played with the controls. I can now understand why my neighbour said they ripped all their storage heaters out after being stung with a £1500 quarterly bill to heat a small 3 bed house. Definitely need the lottery to run these things! Having said that, as I said in my original post, mine are probably quite old, and I suspect modern storage heaters have probably improved somewhat.

For example there are 5 broad categories of storage heaters incorporating different technology, including automatic combination storage heaters, quantum storage heaters, fan-assisted storage heaters and some are apparently more efficient than others due to technology they incorporate. This is what I am particularly interested in, the best technology that leads to value for money, not just cheap bills. Value for money for me is an equilibrium between cheaper bills without compromising on flexible useful heat. I'm prepared to pay a bit more to be comfortable.

jk0 · 6 April 2018 at 11:46AM

Kookygirl, you don't work for Fischer, do you?

Just you have been given sound advice here, and all you want to do is shout it down.

coffeehound · 6 April 2018 at 1:25PM

How is your water heated, Kookygirl? Presumably a storage cylinder -- if so, this will again cost much less to heat using Economy7.

It may be that your current older storage heaters have one or more elements that need replacing (there are typically two or three elements in a medium size heater). These are £15 each to buy and easy to replace by a handy person or electrician. Therefore it is possible that you could improve the current situation without too much outlay. Perhaps worth having them tested by an electrician.

If money is less of an issue, then the Quantum combination heaters would suit your requirements giving heat at all times and work automatically. If properly sized, most of that heating will be at the cheap rate, with the peak-rate heating as the 'emergency' source.

Owain_Moneysaver · 6 April 2018 at 2:40PM

Fan-assisted storage heaters with a timer/thermostat on the output fan are probably the best, but they're expensive to buy and a lot bulkier than ordinary storage heaters.

https://www.storageheatersdirect.com/fan-assisted-storage-heaters/

(other suppliers available; not sure if these have connections for external controls on the fan)

Cardew · 6 April 2018 at 3:57PM

Originally Posted by Cardew
All electrical heating is 100% efficient thus a £10 fan heater, to a £1,000+ heater - filled/coated with any ingredient known to man - will all produce EXACTLY the same amount of heat for the same running cost.

Kookygirl wrote: »

I have read this numerous times online, yet my experience with various portable heaters has suggested otherwise (in terms of cost). An old 2.5kw portable heater cost more to run than the new 2.5kw heater I bought, however I put this down to technological features such as accurate digital thermostat, quick to heat up etc. And this is what I was trying to find out with my original post, though I did not make this very clear. Certain features can make heating a house with electricity more cost effective and I am looking for recommendations in that area.

You sound exactly like you have been taken in by a silver toungued salesman for overpriced electrical heaters.

The cheap heaters might not have a digital thermostat but that doesn't make them any quicker to heat up, or cheaper to run.

All it means is that the very cheap heater might have an accuracy of, say, +/- 1C e.g. if set to 20C it might keep heating to 21C and switch off until it falls to 19C. An electronic thermostat might have an accuracy of say +/- 0.5C. However the overall consumption to keep the room at a mean 20C will be the same.

If you feel that a digital thermostat will reduce costs(it won't) then plug in your £10 fan heater via this digital remotely controlled thermostat.

https://www.lowenergysupermarket.com/water-heating/heating/thermostats/661/digital-plug-in-programmable-wireless-thermostat-with-screen-les

However 'what you have read numerous times on-line' is accurate. Namely all electrical heaters are 100% efficient and any 2.5kW heater will produce EXACTLY the same amount of heat for the same running cost!

P.S.
You appear not to have learnt much from the other threads you have opened on this subject - especially as you own other 'large houses' you rent.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=59127645#post59127645

Kookygirl · 6 April 2018 at 5:45PM

Cardew wrote: »

You sound exactly like you have been taken in by a silver toungued salesman for overpriced electrical heaters.

P.S.
You appear not to have learnt much from the other threads you have opened on this subject - especially as you own other 'large houses' you rent.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=59127645#post59127645

On the contrary I haven't been taken in by any salesman, as I am not sold on any heater yet, hence why I posted this thread.

It is unfortunate that a few people on forums take things so personally when someone expresses a different experience to them and they then feel the need to attempt to cast aspersions on that person instead, thankfully I'm a little tougher skinned.

P.S. I'm flattered you looked me up.

Thank you coffeehound and owain moneysaver for your responses, I definitely found them the most objective and helpful. I will be paying closer attention to the quantum and fan assisted storage heaters.

Cardew · 6 April 2018 at 9:29PM

Kookygirl wrote: »

On the contrary I haven't been taken in by any salesman, as I am not sold on any heater yet, hence why I posted this thread.

It is unfortunate that a few people on forums take things so personally when someone expresses a different experience to them and they then feel the need to attempt to cast aspersions on that person instead, thankfully I'm a little tougher skinned.

P.S. I'm flattered you looked me up.

Thank you coffeehound and owain moneysaver for your responses, I definitely found them the most objective and helpful. I will be paying closer attention to the quantum and fan assisted storage heaters.

It seems to me that you are taking it personally. As stated by jk0 in Post#6 you have asked a question - several times;) and ignore the advice you get on MSE and elsewhere on-line. Indeed not just ignore, but 'suggest' it is wrong.

My only reason for posting again was in case other readers thought your points might be valid.

Which electric heater?

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